Lawyers concerned about changes to workers comp

Friday Jan 4, 2008

Lawyers are worried the State Government will put business before people when considering changes to its workers' compensation schemes.

Victorian Lawyer Alan Clayton has reviewed Tasmanian workers' compensation laws and recommended several changes to make it easier for injured workers to sue a negligent boss.

The State Director of the Australian Lawyer's Alliance, Brian Hilliard, says he is concerned the Government will only adopt some of the report's less controversial recommendations.

"I'm concerned that the emphasis is on affordability rather than justice," he said.

''I think there should be a bigger emphasis on justice for injured workers rather than affordability.

"We accept that there needs to be affordability but to blinker themselves that access to common law isn't affordable is not appropriate."

"There are a lot of inequities," he said.

"So we wouldn't want to see any extension of reliance on the AMA guides to decide how much benefit a person gets, there should be a consideration of the individual is this individual seriously injured?

"And there have been some recommendations which I think may be able to assist some injured workers in that way."

The Government says it will consider the review but has stopped short of guaranteeing any changes to the existing laws, saying it also wants to ensure Tasmanian businesses are not disadvantaged.

ABC News