Thousands of injured workers to lose compensation benefits this year

Now, many workers are facing losing their compensation payments from October if they don’t meet the minimum 20 per cent impairment levels from 2017 onwards.

Scott Dougall from the RTBU’s legal firm Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers told the Sydney Morning Herald that a NSW worker who cannot properly walk, cannot work, is unable to have surgery and who relies on a daily regime of heavy pain management would be among those to fall far short of the 20 per cent threshold.

“We are talking about people with serious permanent injury who could now fail to meet the new standard and will lose payments, even though they may be unfit to work,” Mr Dougall said.