Agenda

Day One | Day Two

CONFERENCE DAY ONE: Monday 20 February 2012

8:00 Registration and refreshments

8:30 Speed networking session

8:45 Opening remarks from the Chair

9.00 Harmonisation of WHS legislation - Essentials including:

• National status - Transitional and compliance issues
• The accountability of officers, managers and workers
• Key issues and common misconceptions

Graham Dent, Principal, Dent Consulting & Legal

9.30 An assessment of various jurisdictional schemes of workers' compensation in Australia

• Focus on weekly payments, common law and average premium rates
• Trace the major changes in all six Australian states
• Outline the main factors involved in the wind-back process
• Highlight lessons that can be learnt

Dr Kevin Purse, Senior Research Fellow, University of South Australia

10.00 Nuts & bolts of the claims review process - A collaboration between insurers & employers

• Importance of setting effective service standards in partnership with your insurer so that the claims management process and expectations are set
• Traditionally claims reviews vs adapted claims review approach - Case management reviews and financial claims reviews
• Benefits for both employers & insurers to have more rigor around understanding the severity and impact of an injury to all involved parties?

Kelly Richards, Group Case Manager, Employers Mutual & Allan Kidson, Workers Compensation Claims Manager, Essential Energy

10.30 Morning tea

10.45 Panel discussion: Assessing the pros and cons of self insurance

Panelists
Bill Nevin, Manager, Xtracare Workers' Compensation Unit, Xstrata
John Walsh, Managing Partner, Donaldson Walsh Lawyers

11.15 Self-insurance in workers'compensation schemes

• The relationship between self-insurance and workers' compensation schemes – Why self-insurance helps stabilise scheme risk
• Self-insurance as a self-actuated driver of improved WHS and RTW performance – A case study
• From the bench – One judge's view of self insurance
• From the database - A comparison of self-insurance with scheme performance
• Addressing the difficulties around the applications for and approval of self-insurance licences
• The statutory and regulatory future of self-insurance in Australia and statutory alternatives - Retro-paid and self-managed schemes, specialist insurers and the NZ model

Robin Shaw, Manager, Self Insurers of South Australia Inc, Chair, National Council of Self Insurers Inc

11.45 Avoiding the "lottery" approach to claims investigation

• Why are WorkCover claims investigations often seen as a lottery by insurers and lawyers?
• How has this situation come about?
• Is there an alternative approach that can deliver better and more effective outcomes?

Vince Scopelliti, Managing Director, LKA Group

12.15 Networking lunch

1.15 Manoeuvring through the legal maze

• Work injury claims - Legal aspects and effective communication
• Assessing the compensability of various common occupational injuries, diseases, and claims
• Dealing with the employer and the employee's actions, rights and responsibilities and strengthening their relationship with one another via effective communication
• Stress claims, control legal dealing with workers'comp costs
• Addressing dispute resolution: The psychology of what works/what doesn't work, legal frameworks
• Tailoring workers'compensation systems to the needs of specific demographic and social environments
• The argument for self insurance

John Walsh, Managing Partner, Donaldson Walsh Lawyers

1.45 Panel discussion: Why psychological claims are on the rise and what can be done to reduce them?

> Addressing the key contributing factors of psychological claims
> The importance of improving organisational performance by building emotional resilience in the workplace
> Dealing with emotional reliance and preventing them from turning into workers'compensation claims

Panelists
Dr Peter Cotton, Director of Psychology Services, Medibank Health Solutions
Katrina Kelso, Client Services Manager, IMR
Stephen Carey, Chief Commissioner, Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Tribunal
Kieran Milne, Managing Director, G4S Compliance & Investigations Pty Ltd
Derrick McManus, Inspirational Speaker, Educator, Sergeant, SA Police

2.15 International keynote: Building a safe and healthy work culture through participatory ergonomics

> Identify the critical factors necessary to launch a proactive, collaborative ergonomics process in the workplace that addresses workplace hazards and risks
> Recognising the value of participatory ergonomics, macro ergonomics and quality to drive cultural change in how organisations manage health and safety
> Identifying key strategies that foster excellence and innovation in work injury prevention and management
> Showing how Worksite International, Inc. ergonomics process model through a significant three year case study of the county of Monterey, empowers employers and employees to take ownership for their own safety and health while dramatically preventing injury claims and costs resulting in significant return on investment

Alison Heller-Ono, President & CEO, Worksite International Inc - Monterey, CA - USA

2.45 Reinventing case management - A first-hand perspective

• Through his own devastating 5 year episode of depression and dealing with multiple intermediaries whilst receiving income protection insurance, Graeme shares some views in achieving better social and financial outcomes for the employee, employer and the insurer
• His research shows that most vulnerable employees believe organisations don't have sound practices in place to stop little problems turning into big ones
• What relevant parties need to change to avoid paying heavily in these tumultuous times

Graeme Cowan, Author, International Speaker, Consultant, Director, RUOK? Day

3.15 Afternoon tea

STREAM A: SELF INSURANCE

3.30 Self-insurance vs. employer based injury management

• Deciphering whether selfinsurance really is the best approach
• Finding a consistent philosophical approach
• A practical guide to employer based injury management

Bill Nevin, Manager, Xtracare Workers'Compensation Unit, Xstrata

4.00 Self-insurance initiatives

• Addressing the difficulties around the applications and approval for self-insurance licences
• Future directions - Barriers and concerns
• Outsourcing of claims management - The Implications for quality and performance

Denise Fishlock, Manager, Workers'Compensation, Asciano Ltd

4.30 Assessing whether selfinsurance is the right option for you?

• Assessing the impact of self-insurance within your organisation: Organisational capacity and capability
• Identifying key elements including benefits to the bottom line, transition costs and change management
• Measuring the implications for OHS programme - Changes to accountability, design and management

STREAM B: CLAIMS MANAGEMENT

3.30 Group training organisations: Apprentices & the host employer

• Injury management & early intervention strategies - Reducing the severity of claims in recent years for HIA Apprentices
• Risk minimisation - The other side of the early intervention equation
• Positive attitude: A team approach in the return to work process - Finding suitable host employers for the injured worker by focusing on what they can do, rather than what they can't

Rick Little, National OH&S Manager, HIA Apprentices, Housing Industry Association

4.00 Keynote: Restructuring claims processes – How to decrease the number of touchpoints

> Why too many people in the claims process slows down the claims cycle. Streamlining processes to facilitate prompt decisions and turnarounds
> Evaluating the function and importance of each touchpoint and identifying points of redundancy
> Maximising touchpoints that are relevant to success to reduce cycle times and increase efficiency
> Improving performance by developing a systematic management
> Strengthening customer relationship by maximising the potential of every touchpoint

Dean Stone, President, Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Licensees Association Inc & Manager, Workers Compensation and Governance, NAB, Advisory Board Member, Self Funding Employer Association (Self Funding employers of the USA)

4.30 Managing claims processes to meet wider business objectives

• Observing the importance of improving and optimising processes to meet rising claims cost and customer expectation
• Turning data into business intelligence
• Understanding business requirements to refine, apply and optimise processes
• Assessing innovative ways to make the claims function cost-effective, competitive and customer-friendly

STREAM C: PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY MANAGEMENT

3.30 CASE STUDY: How the Department of Veterans' Affairs deals with the complexities of mental health rehabilitation

> The rehabilitation philosophy and processes within DVA
> Relationships with Defence
> Some case studies on how DVA seeks quality measurable outcomes
> The services and support available for assisting injured or ill DVA clients participating in rehabilitation

Mike Armitage, Director Communication & External Liaison Rehabilitation & Entitlements Policy Group, Department of veterans' affairs

4.00 Improving the outcomes of work-related psychological injury

• Unravelling the reasons for the differences in outcomes, and briefly reviewing a decade of prevention, early intervention and treatment interventions - and consider what has been learned
• Assessing different types of psychological injury and how they can be triaged to different intervention streams

Dr Peter Cotton, Director of Psychology Services, Medibank Health Solutions

4.30 Reducing stress claims via specialised performance management

• Identifying key sources of stress within the working environment to create employee satisfaction
• Closing the communication gap between workers to encourage a productive working environment
• Re-evaluating performance management programmes to ensure early detection of stress within the workplace

Stephen Carey, Chief Commissioner, Workers'Rehabilitation and Compensation Tribunal

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