NSW workers’ compensation: Opposition open to negotiation on controversial reforms

The NSW opposition is willing to negotiate over the most controversial part of the government’s workers’ compensation reforms, despite a scathing parliamentary report alleging the proposal leaves injured workers at risk of “self-harm and death by suicide”.

The move to lift the definition of “whole of person impairment” has become the key sticking point against Treasurer Daniel Mookhey’s attempt to reform the expensive workers’ compensation scheme, which has been bogged down for months by political opposition.

Several of the 13 findings and 12 recommendations handed down by the public accountability and works committee focused on the impact of the government’s proposal to lift the whole of person impairment (WPI) threshold, which determines the ability to access long-term medical payments