Businesses and community sector providers will be spared significant increases to workers compensation premiums after agreement was reached on reforms to the state\u2019s workers compensation scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agreement builds on the breakthrough compromise put forward by crossbench members in the Lower House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The compromise agreed to includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without these reforms, premiums for employers facing no claims against them were expected to rise by at least 36 per cent over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most significant reform to workers compensation in a generation will prioritise prevention and improve return to work. This work over the past year includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The announcement follows extensive consultation with business and unions, as well as the community and not-for-profit sector over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charities, community organisations and business groups who have supported the reform include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agreement will allow the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment (Reform and Modernisation) Bill 2025 <\/em>to pass the Upper House in February.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis compromise position allows us to stabilise the workers compensation system and return it to a secure footing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe scheme has been in dire need of modernisation. It has been failing injured workers, employers, the non-profit sector and taxpayers for too long. Continuing to do nothing was not an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to thank all those members of parliament who have worked collaboratively with the Government to help solve this diabolically complex problem. Especially Alex Greenwich and the other independent members of the Lower House crossbench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI also want to acknowledge Business NSW, and all of the state\u2019s major business organisations, as well as NCOSS and the state\u2019s leading charities and not-for profits for their strong and relentless advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFinally, I acknowledge the massive role the Labor caucus has played in delivering this reform. As well as the state\u2019s union movement for its professionalism and engagement through many difficult conversations we had during 2025.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis agreement ensures early support to injured workers, a road to recovery and return to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt puts the scheme on the path to sustainability so that it can continue to care for injured workers and be affordable for business to fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe reforms will help small businesses and not for profits, especially in regional areas, retain staff and create jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are supported by a $344 million investment in injury prevention and a more person-centred claims management process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe hard work of implementation has already begun, and we will work in collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure the reforms are delivered effectively for workers and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are providing certainty to ensure workers have the cover they need and through this sensible reform they can now get on with the job knowing that a secure safety net is in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe welcome support to enable us to protect the scheme for generations to come. We can now get on with reform, as we scale up prevention efforts and wraparound support services for people navigating the claims process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that we continue to support injured workers and help them recover. To achieve this goal we are delivering a sustainable workers compensation scheme and we will continue to work with all stakeholders to deliver exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Businesses and community sector providers will be spared significant increases to workers compensation premiums after agreement was reached on reforms to the state\u2019s workers compensation scheme. The agreement builds on the breakthrough compromise put forward by crossbench members in the Lower House. The compromise agreed to includes: Without these reforms, premiums for employers facing no … Continue reading “Agreement reached on workers compensation reforms”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36563,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36562\/revisions\/36563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}