Question Time

ReturnToWorkSA

Ms COOK (Fisher) (14:19): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Can the minister inform the house about the return-to-work two-year income support scheme that is ending on 28 June 2017?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:19): I thank the honourable member for her question. I know she and other members have quite an interest in issues concerning the Return to Work scheme. As members would be aware, the parliament some time ago passed legislation which reformed what was formerly known as the WorkCover legislation and introduced a new scheme, which is the return-to-work legislation.

That return-to-work legislation is clearly and unequivocally focused on getting people who are injured at work back to work as soon as possible and fully support them in so doing. That scheme has an arrangement whereby income maintenance for people who are affected by the scheme is, for most people, available for a period of up to but not exceeding two years. The good news is that in excess of 90 per cent of people—well in excess, actually—who are injured in the scheme are well and truly back to work a long time before that period arises.

Of course, there were a number of people who were long-term claimants on the old scheme before the new scheme came into operation on 1 July 2015. In respect of that old cohort of people—in other words, people who may have been on the scheme for many, many years prior to that—they were treated as if their first day of injury was 1 July 2015. So that it is clear, that means that there were a number of people who might have been on the scheme for a very long time but, because the new scheme came in, they were given an additional two years' notice that they would be coming off the scheme.

As I said, that came into effect on 1 July 2015 and it will end therefore on 28 June this year for those individuals. Those people may have access to financial support for medical expenses up to 12 months after income support ceases or for life if they are seriously injured people. Just so that is clear, individuals whose injuries are so serious that they have in excess of a 30 per cent WPI assessment, those people have lifetime support, even if the injury occurred prior to 1 July 2015.

ReturnToWorkSA has been working very hard to communicate with all of those people to help and assist them in making the transition to the new scheme. Since January 2015, when ReturnToWork started this process—that is, of notifying these old claim people—from a total of nearly 7,000 workers, lump sum redemptions have been accepted by and paid to a total of 5,874 people. As at 15 June 2017, 397 additional people are considered to be seriously injured and eligible for income support until retirement age and lifetime medical support. However, assessments do continue for some others who are still being looked at.

I am pleased to say that the Return to Work scheme's outcomes are continuing to improve and I am advised that 72 per cent of those who are injured are back at work within 13 weeks and almost 90 per cent are back within 12 months. Since January this year, ReturnToWork has partnered closely with Centrelink in order to make the transition from the Return to Work scheme to Centrelink-based payments, where appropriate, as seamless as possible.

ReturnToWork has a dedicated ReCONNECT service, which is set up to connect workers with community-based services such as Centrelink. This has been actively promoted to all of the workers to help them with the transition. ReturnToWork is also jointly funding and promoting NewAccess, which is a beyondblue program set up to provide coaching services to people who are struggling with depression and anxiety.

The SPEAKER: Supplementary, member for Schubert.