Employers will be required to cooperate and communicate with labour-hire providers on suitable employment options for injured workers, under a South Australian Bill that also includes special arrangements for self-insured companies, and enhances benefits for those with dust diseases and terminal illnesses.
The start dates for a range of new WHS clauses have been postponed in Western Australia, while a Bill providing presumptive compensation to certain workers with PTSD has been reintroduced in South Australia.
An Amendment Bill curtailing injured workers' access to benefits, and reversing the effects of Supreme and High Court judgments, has helped contain the forecast hike in insurance premiums in South Australia, but constitutes a "betrayal" of workers, according to one party.
A former Federal Court judge has rejected submissions that a ruling in favour of a worker injured by opioid medication encourages a culture of litigiousness and sickness, but recommended that consideration be given to amending South Australia's Return to Work Act if the man's claim is upheld in upcoming proceedings.