Workers in NSW have secured an important victory. After huge pressure from the union movement and NSW workers, the NSW Government’s plan to slash weekly payments for traumatised workers has been stopped in the Upper House.
Here is what was blocked:
- The proposal to raise the whole person impairment threshold for psychological injuries from 15% to 31%.
- Attempts to weaken anti-bullying and harassment protections.
The Bill now returns to the Lower House. This is a chance for the Government to rethink its approach and pursue real reform that treats injured workers with dignity and compassion.
A big thank you to everyone who took action, emailed their MP and stood with injured workers. Your efforts made a real difference.
Unions will keep monitoring the Bill and defending your right to workers’ compensation for psychological injury.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, the NSW Government has since announced plans to revive an amended version of the same changes – a plan that would once again raise the threshold for support and push injured workers off the system.
It is the wrong reform, and it will cause real harm.
Unions NSW will continue to fight these dangerous plans, just as we did before. You can email your local MP and Upper House members now and tell them to support injured workers.