This review was conducted on the recommendation of the Victorian Ombudsman back in 2019, and in turn this review made 22 recommendations for reform, of which 19 were accepted in full, including five that require legislative change. That is what is covered in this bill here today. That is what we are talking about before the house this evening. In addition to this there was a separate review that looked at the adequacy of compensation and support arrangements for families impacted by workplace-related deaths. This review, importantly, made 10 recommendations, of which the government has accepted eight. These recommendations also form part of this bill.

We on this side of the house believe that WorkSafe Victoria and our WorkCover system should work for the Victorians that need it. Nobody ever plans to get injured at work, and when they do get seriously injured on the job it is absolutely critical that these workers get the support they need to recover and, more importantly, to return to work. When you have the worst happen and you lose a loved one in a workplace accident, you should be entitled to the support you and your family need, including grief entitlements, child pensions, counselling and other supports. The WorkCover scheme is a proud Labor accomplishment. It is something that we are really, really proud of and that we on this side of the chamber accept needs constant improvement and modernisation to best deliver support to injured workers. I have said time and time again here in this place that evidence of being a really good government – a long-term Labor government – is that we are always seeking ways to improve, reform and modernise policy and legislation here in this state. We must constantly be looking at how to do things better, and this bill before the house and these reviews are evidence of that.

What we do know is that sometimes the experiences that people have in navigating and engaging with the WorkCover system, including interacting with WorkSafe agents, are more challenging than the injuries they sustained that led them to the system in the first place. It is a really vicious cycle when you are in a situation of trying to manage claims and in some cases stop people from accessing the scheme and WorkSafe and its agents end up causing more harm to the claimant, which leaves them off work longer. Nobody wants to see that happen, and that is something that we must ensure does not happen. It needs to be stamped out.

These workers have the right to have their claims assessed, triaged and managed appropriately and in a timely manner. What we know, thanks to the Rozen report, is that this issue has been systemic in WorkSafe for years, and that is why our government went ahead and commissioned the report. What we also know is that since this report was published WorkSafe has already taken positive steps to address some of these issues in their organisation. In 2021 they established the claims and recovery support team, who specialise in directly managing long-term injured workers’ claims, based on a recommendation to establish a complex claims unit within WorkSafe itself. In fact this team, it is really good to know, was expanded a year later to manage even more complex work claims.

We have also seen a recovery model office be piloted by WorkSafe, which looked at using sophisticated data and claims management technologies to identify workers with complex needs so that they can be allocated to receive higher and more tailored levels of support. Like I said earlier, most people really want to return to work, but they need to be well to do so and fit to be able to be in the workplace and do the type of work they were previously doing. There is always more to do and laws that need to be changed to give effect to this change, and that is exactly what this bill is all about.

The way we do this is by amending the objectives of the acts that govern WorkSafe to place a person-centred approach at the heart of delivering services. What this will do is help guide WorkSafe employees and agents when administering the WorkCover scheme and place the people who the system is there for – injured workers and their families – at the forefront of the claims process. It means that agents who act outside of this framework and actively work to impede claims from being approved and compound the injury suffered by the claimant will be in direct violation of these objectives.

Workers deserve to be treated fairly. They deserve to have their claims taken seriously and to have their claims processed. Whether that results in approvals or rejections from the WorkCover scheme, this should happen without shame, without frustration and without humiliation. That is why this bill also allows the minister – who in this case is the Deputy Premier – to create and establish a Code of Claimants’ Rights. This was another key recommendation from the report and will make it very clear for both WorkCover claimants and WorkSafe agents what their rights and responsibilities are under this scheme. Most importantly, these rights will be extended to all persons who have entitlements under the act, including dependants of deceased workers and their families. But even better, the bill is going to extend the maximum duration for provisional payments to a worker’s dependent partner from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, giving them more support while their claims are being assessed. The bill also provides for an increase in the pension paid to dependent children, applied retrospectively for up to five years prior to commencement.

These are all really positive amendments, and I know they will make an absolute world of difference for the families who rely on this scheme. At the end of the day, behind every worker there is a family – there are dependants, there are children, there are partners. No-one who has lost a family member at work or has lost a spouse or a parent should ever have to fight against WorkSafe to get the support that is rightfully theirs, and that is something folks here in this place should remind themselves of time and time again.

Another really important part of this bill relates to our government’s new return-to-work program. The goal of our WorkCover scheme is to support workers in recovering from their injuries and also support them in returning safely to the workplace. We know that the longer a person is away from work, the less likely they are to ever return, and that is especially the case for older workers who may find themselves on WorkCover basically until they reach retirement age. Everyone deserves the dignity and the fulfilment of work, and these changes will ensure that injured workers are better supported in getting back into the workplace.

Labor built our WorkCover scheme. Labor is committed to ensuring that it works best for everyone, for every party. Whether you are an injured worker or a family member of someone who has died at work, you should be able to access the scheme and have your claim assessed fairly without having the trauma and injury compounded by the claims process or by WorkSafe and its agents. We commissioned the Rozen report to identify what we need to do to improve the system, and this bill before the house this evening makes good on those recommendations. We are also ensuring, on the other end, that Return to Work Victoria can be set up and that their employers and workplaces have the required training and the skills needed to support their employees to return to work safely. That is how the scheme should work, and that is why we are making it happen. That is what this bill is about.

The contributions on this side of the house have been tremendous about the importance of providing these rights and these entitlements to injured workers and their families. Too many times – and we still see it – folks are injured at work, and some of them do, sadly, pass away. It truly is a tragedy. We know that every workplace accident is absolutely preventable and should have never happened in the first place. It is so important that this bill is before the house this week. It is so important to make these reforms and do the right thing and give workers the dignity that they deserve, and that is exactly why I commend it to the house.