Wednesday, 23 June 2021 Legislative Assembly- PROOF Page 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Wednesday, 23 June 2021 The Speaker (The Hon. Jonathan Richard O'Dea) took the chair at 09:30. The Speaker read the prayer and acknowledgement of country. Announcements COVID-19 The SPEAKER: I advise members and staff that the Presiding Officers are waiting on health advice regarding a number of members who have been at exposure sites and who have undertaken COVID-19 tests. Members may consider wearing masks in the Chamber. That is a matter for them; there is no compulsion. At this stage the level of risk is uncertain. During question time today the Legislative Assembly will return to the reduced Chamber seating plan. I ask members to act in accordance with that plan and keep 1.5 metres apart, as we have done in the past. A maximum of three members may sit on each front bench. Bills FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES AND DISABILITY SERVICES MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Returned The SPEAKER: I report receipt of a message from the Legislative Council returning the bill without amendment. MOTOR ACCIDENTS AND WORKERS COMPENSATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Second Reading Debate Debate resumed from 9 June 2021. Ms SOPHIE COTSIS (Canterbury) (09:49): I contribute to debate on the Motor Accidents and Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. First, I acknowledge that recently I was appointed shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and shadow Minister for Work Health and Safety under our leader, Mr Chris Minns. I acknowledge that my portfolio will include workers compensation. When I first became a shadow Minister I held the Industrial Relations portfolio and I remember very vividly what the Government did to both destroy and erode the workers compensation system and apply the 2.5 per cent wages cap, as well as breaking down the Industrial Relations Commission. I will have a lot to say in the coming months, particularly about how the Government has eroded conditions and wages. There have been major issues, particularly with the way the Government has handled many work health and safety issues. I acknowledge Unions NSW, the legal and medical professionals, and those people who have been injured at work or in a motor accident. They are the people we are talking about in the Chamber today. I acknowledge and thank Minister Dominello and his office, his adviser James Camilleri and the State Insurance Regulatory Authority [SIRA] for providing us with information that we have requested. I acknowledge my colleague the shadow Treasurer, the Hon. Daniel Mookhey, and his office; Elyse Harding; the many people who work in both workers compensation and motor accidents; and the people who provide support to injured workers. They do a phenomenal job. The bill makes a series of amendments. As I said, I am the new industrial relations, workers compensation and work health and safety shadow Minister. My colleague and shadow Minister for Customer Service, the member for Swansea, will talk about compulsory third party insurance [CTP] amendments in the bill. At this point the Opposition will not oppose the bill; however— Mr Geoff Provest: That's good. Ms SOPHIE COTSIS: Hang on a minute. Mr Geoff Provest: There's a catch. Ms SOPHIE COTSIS: Let me tell you why; you will be interested. The Government wants to make it harder to get workers compensation for people in the member's community of Tweed who work in abattoirs, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 Legislative Assembly- PROOF Page 2 mining or areas where you can catch a disease. I foreshadow that the Opposition will move an amendment to the bill. I hope, and I have been advised, that the Minister will support it, which is good. Opposition members do not want to place additional qualifications on people who are poisoned by anthrax, by lead or through many of the diseases that are outlined by SafeWork NSW. That is the condition the Opposition places on support for the bill. There are some very important amendments in the bill and I indicate my support for a number of them. Several of my Labor colleagues have called for support, particularly for volunteer bush firefighters, who have been doing a phenomenal job over many years. I acknowledge that the Government has listened and is providing additional support for our volunteer firefighters, which is great. It is great for both sides of politics. I acknowledge that employers will pay management fees of death benefits paid to the NSW Trustee & Guardian for young children under the age of 18. We are divided and we disagree on many issues, but every single member in this place agrees with one thing: We want to make sure that people come home from work to their families and loved ones. As MPs, we hold very important positions in this place as legislators and we look beyond politics when a parent dies because of a work injury. We do not want anyone to not come home from work. But if the worst happens, we look to make things better for that family, hugging the children and making sure they are looked after for the rest of their lives. I acknowledge this very important amendment, which will ensure a lump sum that is paid to the NSW Trustee & Guardian is not swallowed up by fees. My colleague and shadow Minister for Customer Service, the member for Swansea, who is in the Chamber, will talk about CTP. The deemed diseases provisions in schedule 2.1 to the bill propose to amend section 19 (1) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 and add new section 19 (1A). If that is passed, it will allow regulations under section 19 to prescribe the circumstances in which diseases are deemed diseases, as defined in the Minister's second reading speech in which he stated that the Government intends to use those new regulatory powers to define minimum periods of service in specified employment and minimum exposure requirements. The Minister said that will improve fairness regarding workers compensation entitlements. The Minister and I have had many disagreements over many years. I believe he understands this aspect and I acknowledge that the Government will support our amendment, but we cannot qualify a time for some of the diseases people could get when working in an abattoir or a mine. You can get anthrax within a day by being in a particular workplace, so you cannot qualify that. The unions that represent thousands of people across the State have opposed that outright. I have indicated to the Government that there is absolutely no way the Opposition will support the amendment and that it should be withdrawn because it puts up additional hurdles for injured workers trying to access their compensation entitlements after they have contracted a deemed disease. The Opposition is about helping people who work in those very dangerous environments. Adding minimum periods of employment and minimum exposure requirements will maximise stress for injured workers and therefore minimise fairness. I will raise a number of other issues, but if the Government supports the Opposition's amendment, the Opposition will not oppose the bill. If the Government does not support the amendment, the Opposition cannot allow the bill to pass. We have had discussions with the Government and I take Government members at face value, but I want to see it happen in this place. Any unnecessary and unfair hurdles for injured workers to access compensation they are entitled to should not be imposed. Justice should be very simple, particularly for injured workers. The amendments to section 19 of the Workers Compensation Act and the additional hurdles to compensation they add do not reflect that standard of justice in New South Wales. As I indicated, we have been working with the Government and I acknowledge the Government's cooperation. Again, I appreciate what the Government has said but I want to see it happen in this place. As I indicated, the bill contains a provision to extend compensation entitlements to the children of deceased workers. If a worker loses their life on the job, their dependent children should not be punished for it. The law already reflects this principle. When a worker loses their life on the job, their dependent children are entitled to compensation—as they should be. However, as they are children, the compensation is managed by the NSW Trustee & Guardian. As the Minister mentioned in his second reading speech, the compensation paid to the children of deceased workers can be eroded by the fees charged by the NSW Trustee & Guardian to manage the compensation payments to the children. The Government's move to protect compensation payments to the children of deceased workers from fee erosion is a sensible one—I acknowledge that the Government has listened. It means that when the children reach the age of 18 they do not get an eroded lump sum and that they can have some support. As I said, it is very difficult. I have met children whose parents have died from injuries at work, and life is not the same. We support this amendment and welcome any and all proposals for reform that will benefit the children of working families, particularly families of those who have been injured or died. I am happy to have the discussion with the Government and both Minister Dominello and Minister Anderson as we go forward. Wednesday, 23 June 2021 Legislative Assembly- PROOF Page 3 The bill also proposes to reform the Workers Compensation Act to allow workers injured on the job in Australia to continue receiving compensation when they cease to live in Australia. This proposed reform reflects the multicultural character and essence of New South Wales and accepts the reality of an increasingly globalised world.