WORKCOVER
LAWS
NEED
FIXING:
SA
UNIONS
STEP UP
FIGHT
WITH NEW
TV AD
16
October 2011
SA
Unions
is
stepping
up its
campaign
to get
WorkCover
fixed by
running
a new
television
ad
demanding
change
to the
State's
worker's
compensation
laws.
SA
Unions
Secretary,
Janet
Giles
says the
new
television
ad,
which
will
begin
screening
tonight
and run
right
through
until
Christmas,
highlights
how
unfair
the
current
WorkCover
laws
are.
"Our
workers
compensation
laws
blame
injured
workers
instead
of help
them,
and cut
off
their
payments
if they
complain."
"The
State
Government
must
make the
laws
fair for
people
injured
at work
and we
will
keep
fighting
until
every
South
Australia
receives
fair
treatment
if they
are hurt
and have
safe
working
conditions
in the
first
place."
The ad
features
the real
story of
Julie, a
nurse
from
Adelaide,
who was
injured
while
working
in an
operating
theatre
in 2007.
"Julie's
case is
symbolic
of just
how
frustrating
WorkCover
can be
for
people
who find
themselves
in this
battle
with its
unfair
laws,
uncaring
rehabilitation
providers
and a
system
which
refuses
to
retrain
people
in
meaningful
work."
"Julie's
injuries
mean she
can
never
return
to the
heavy
lifting
work of
an
operating
theatre,
so she
asked
for
retraining
so she
could
pass on
her
considerable
skills
to other
nurses.
WorkCover
refused
this
training."
"She has
since
experienced
four
years of
surgery,
pain,
frustration,
knock-backs,
WorkCover's
refusal
to pay
her to
retrain
as a
nurse
educator,
and has
now been
kicked
off
payments."
Ms Giles
says
WorkCover
is
poorly
run,
with a
40%
turnover
in Case
Managers
and the
worst
return
to work
rates in
the
nation.
"This
simply
costs
the
scheme
money
and
causes
stress
and
anxiety
to
people
who are
battling
injures."
State
President
of the
Australian
Lawyers
Alliance,
and
Managing
Director
of
Johnston
Withers,
Tony
Kerin,
says the
Alliance
and its
members
agree
that the
whole
Act
needs to
be
rethought.
"It is
supposed
to help
those
who are
suffering
but it
seems to
be
treating
them
very
harshly."
