Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

ALL-PARTY COMMITTEE CONFIRMS WORKCOVER PREMIUM IMPACT

News Release - Wednesday, 20th June, 2001

An all-party Parliamentary Committee has confirmed that the Government has grossly understated the extent and impact of its WorkCover premium increases, Shadow WorkCover Minister Robert Clark said today.

The report of the Economic Development Committee into WorkCover premiums for 2000-01 was tabled in the Legislative Council this morning.

Among the report's findings not disputed by Labor members of the Committee were that:

• 35 per cent of Victorian employers received a premium rate increase of more than 39 per cent (p.35);

• more than one half of all Victorian employers received an increase of 40 per cent or more in the dollar amount of their premium, with 41 per cent of employers receiving an increase of greater than 50 per cent (Finding 3.8);

• only 18 per cent of employers received a premium rate reduction and only 7 per cent had a reduction in the dollar amount of their premium (pp.34, 36);

• the decision to impose a deemed 20 per cent increase in remuneration on those employers who did not lodge a remuneration estimate was "ill timed" (pp. 21, 269); o the changes made in 2000/01 made it extremely difficult for employers to estimate their WorkCover premiums prior to receiving their initial assessments (Finding 4.6);

• the Government should have determined the impact of the premium changes on government departments and agencies and non-profit organisations at the time the premiums were set and announced supplementary funding much earlier (Finding 6.2);

• employers received neither sufficient nor timely information prior to the implementation of the 2000-01 changes (Finding 7.2)

Committee Chairman Neil Lucas pointed out that the Minister for WorkCover has misled the community when he publicly stated that 29 per cent or more of employers were paying lower premium rates than previously.

Mr Clark said that the findings also showed that claims by the Victorian WorkCover Authority that only two per cent of employers had received a premium rate increase of 40 per cent or more were highly misleading and deceptive.

"It is clear from this report that the Government did not know or did not care about the impact on employers that would be caused by its decision to pile one increase on top of another, which has undermined confidence, investment and jobs and forced cutbacks to community services," Mr Clark said.

"The Government must learn from this report and take seriously the many constructive suggestions it contains to help make sure that Victorian employers are never again subjected to such massive unexpected and unfair increases.

"The Government must also realise that this year's increases are only a first instalment of premium increases to come unless it can get the costs of its so-called common law system under control and avoid taking Victoria down the same path as NSW."