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The healthcare and social assistance industry is , according to Safe Work Australia.

A 聽鈥� supported by the University of Sydney, Monash University and Curtin University and funded by the NSW public insurer icare 鈥� showed that healthcare and social assistance workers are twice as likely to file a workplace compensation claim for psychological injuries, compared to non-healthcare industries.

Now, a -led study is set to partner with people who have lived experience of a workers compensation claim in order to design better systems.

Professor Alex Collie from Monash University鈥檚 School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine will lead the Australian Research Council-funded project in partnership with injured workers and other experts.

Every state and territory in Australia has a workers compensation scheme. There are also three national schemes for Commonwealth government workers, Defence Force personnel and maritime workers.

Professor Collie said there was now strong evidence that Australia鈥檚 workers compensation systems were structured and operated in a way that could cause problems for injured workers.

鈥淢any studies in Australia and internationally show that a lot of people find workers compensation stressful and complex, and that for some people this contributes to slower recovery and significant distress,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hese studies suggest that it is the way workers compensation schemes operate that can lead to problems. The sector has a history of treating injured workers as claims to be managed, rather than as vulnerable people in need of support.鈥�

鈥榃orkers鈥� Voice: Harnessing lived experience to redesign Australia鈥檚 workers鈥� compensation systems鈥� will engage workers with physical and psychological injury and illness, and their support networks.

Researchers will work with workers and their supporters to design a workers compensation system that reflects their experiences, views and preferences.

鈥淲e think that workers with an injury or illness, their family and friends, have a unique and very valuable experience of workers compensation,鈥� Collie said.

鈥淭his experience should be heard and have greater weight in the way systems are designed and the way they operate.鈥�

The research team will use a technique called participatory system modelling to develop and test new design and delivery approaches. The results will provide a vision for a new approach to workers compensation that supports the recovery and return to work of Australians with work-related injury or illness.

鈥淢ost of our workers compensation schemes were designed in the 1980s,鈥� Collie said. 鈥淭he world of work, and the types of injury and illness we see at work, have changed fundamentally. But our systems haven鈥檛 kept pace. This project is about re-imagining workers compensation for the future.

鈥淏ecause workers haven鈥檛 been involved in designing compensation schemes before, we don鈥檛 really know what solutions will be developed. That is a really exciting part of this project.鈥�

The study also involves the, and the, as well as numerous injured worker support groups and networks around Australia.

鈥淪ome of our largest workers compensation schemes have been under enormous financial pressure and are struggling to get people back to work,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o manage their budgets, governments have been cutting benefits and restricting access to these schemes.

鈥淭his short-term, knee-jerk reaction to financial pressure creates as many problems as it solves. A better way to improve a system and make it sustainable is to listen carefully to people with direct experience of that system. The Workers鈥� Voice project provides an opportunity to do just that.鈥�

The Workers鈥� Voice project is expected to run until 2026, with major findings released periodically, beginning in early 2024.

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/AndreyPopov