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Best Brisbane Injury Lawyers Splatt Lawyers Welcomes Queensland Workers’ Compensation Scheme Review

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Best Brisbane Injury Lawyers Splatt Lawyers Welcomes Queensland Workers’ Compensation Scheme Review

March 07
23:29 2023
The review will involve consultation with important stakeholders and is anticipated to be finished by June 30, 2023.

The best Brisbane injury law firm, Splatt Lawyers has applauded the Queensland Government’s decision to review the state’s workers’ compensation scheme independently. 

The review will analyze the scheme’s performance, including how effectively it meets its objectives, how psychological injuries are managed, and other emerging issues.

Principal of Splatt Lawyers, Kerry Splatt, welcomed the review, which former Queensland Industrial Relations Commissioner Glenys Fisher and Professor David Peetz, Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations at Griffith University, will conduct.

Out of Australia’s centrally funded schemes, Queensland’s Workcover scheme remained the best in Australia, he said, describing it as efficient, with the highest injured worker payments and the lowest administrative costs. 

“The Queensland workers’ compensation scheme is the best in Australia,” said Mr. Splatt. “It is financially sound and is, without doubt, the fairest scheme for employers and injured workers.”

Unlike other states, Queensland has retained the common-law system, while most other Australian states have done away with significant common-law benefits.

Mr. Splatt said that was due to the previously adversarial litigious regime’s high cost and poor communication between critical stakeholders, such as insurers, legal professionals, and medical professionals.

“If they actually spoke to each other, they’d have a better chance of achieving more positive outcomes for injured workers,” Stated Mr. Splatt. “Queensland has retained full common-law benefits, which is in the best interest of both the employer and employee, mainly because of the proactive communications between the stakeholders.”

Why is Queensland so good at workers’ compensation?

An active member of Queensland’s legal community, Mr. Splatt has been involved with various committees at the Queensland Law Society, Australian Lawyers Alliance, and Law Council of Australia. 

He believes Queensland has the best work accident compensation system in Australia for myriad reasons, including the proactive stance taken by the Queensland legal profession in working cooperatively with insurers, the medical profession, and the government. 

“All stakeholders have constructive meetings with each other to determine the issues and always seeking to resolve issues which concern other stakeholders,” Mr. Splatt said.

According to Mr. Splatt, Queensland offers the lowest premiums yet retains full common-law access for injured workers. That’s because all stakeholders understand the importance of rehabilitating injured workers at the earliest possible opportunity, so the focus is on getting the injured worker back to work as soon as possible. 

Mr. Splatt believes that the legal profession’s emphasis on the earliest possible rehabilitation for injured workers was instrumental in the Queensland system’s success. “As well as its commitment to encouraging injured workers to cooperate with QLD Workcover, to take advantage of the excellent rehabilitation services provided.”

Queensland’s low court rate was another critical element to its success. “Very few matters now go to court, and the adversarial system has now been effectively eliminated, thanks to the mandatory pre-litigation procedures, whereby all matters must proceed to a mediation process, and realistic offers made before matters can proceed to court.” Mr. Splatt exclaims.

Mr. Splatt made it clear that Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme performed so well because of the proactive measures taken by insurers and the legal profession to weed out frivolous claims. “A major contributing factor to reducing frivolous claims was the introduction of claim farming legislation, which prevents lawyers or their agents from trolling for workers to make claims,” he said.

“The ongoing reviews and cooperation between all stakeholders are remarkable, and no other state has replicated this.” He added. “All stakeholders seriously listen to each other and implement sensible reforms to ensure that claims are resolved in a time and cost-effective manner.”

Mr. Splatt also says that most other workers’ compensation schemes were a mess because they had abolished the common-law systems, which had been effective at containing costs, identifying fraud, and ensuring the administration and legal costs associated with claims remained low. 

“Queensland should be proud of the fact that it has one of the lowest litigation rates of workers’ compensation claims in the common law world, and this is due to the cooperation between the stakeholders,” Mr. Splatt said. 

The Queensland Workcover review, which will include consultation with key stakeholders such as registered industrial organizations, peak legal bodies, and scheme insurers, is due to be completed by 30 June 2023.

Media Contact
Company Name: Splatt Lawyers
Contact Person: Michael Ford
Email: Send Email
City: Brisbane
State: Queensland
Country: Australia
Website: splattlawyers.com.au

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