The Return to Work Act 2014 was enacted by the former Labor government under then Minister John Rau with bipartisan support – and obliges the treasurer (as the responsible minister) and not parliament to publish the guidelines.
The guidelines, which have not been updated since 2015 and require changes to reflect clinical developments and improve efficiency, fairness and transparency, are used by medical assessors to assess the percentage of total person impairment (WPI) of workers injured.
The WPI rating determines the amount of compensation that an injured worker can receive.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said he has decided not to pursue the changes proposed by ReturnToWorkSA (RTWSA) that would have resulted in a mandatory 1/10 deduction from an employee’s WPI rating for asymptomatic and pre-existing impairments.
Another proposed change, which would have meant that only postoperative surgeons could act as reviewers and not other specialists such as occupational physicians, was also rejected.
“In order to adequately reflect all the different views on the guidelines, I have agreed to a broader consultation process than the law requires,” said Lucas.
“The RTWSA’s original deadline was June 25th, and then I held more meetings and consultations for another two months.
“In addition to consulting with 13 medical associations, we have invited more than 120 accredited individual assessors for impairments, the Law Society of SA and the Self-Insurers of SA to submit proposals.
“More than 30 of the 70+ proposed substantive changes were eventually changed based on suggestions submitted during the first four-week consultation period and in the weeks thereafter by groups such as the Minister’s Advisory Board, that of the Australian Medical Association and workers ‘and employers’ organizations.
“Ultimately, the updated guidelines will provide more clarity for everyone involved in the employee compensation process, particularly employees and doctors.”
Taking into account, in particular, feedback from the medical and legal communities, the updated guidelines include the following additional safeguards to improve fairness and transparency:
- Ensures that RTWSA cannot instruct an employee to select a particular assessor to conduct the assessment (unless the employee cannot or does not want to)
- Ensures that RTWSA cannot instruct an assessor to change their clinical mind when reviewing the assessor’s report for compliance with guidelines.
- Ensures that workers and their representatives immediately receive copies of correspondence between the RTWSA and the assessor when reviewing the assessor’s report for compliance with guidelines.
- Ensures that the RTWSA begins arranging for the assessor’s reporting fee to be paid as soon as the assessor’s first report is received.
- Ensures that an employee’s appointment with an appraiser is not delayed due to long waiting lists, and clarifies that RTWSA cannot postpone booking an employee’s appointment with an appraiser (unless this has been done with the employee within the deadline of six weeks agreed).
The updated guidelines do not raise either the 5 percent or 30 percent threshold for seriously injured people, which are irreversible and set out in the 2014 Return to Work Act.
A copy of the new guidelines is available in the state gazette.
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