Slater and Gordon Lawyers is concerned proposed changes to workers’ compensation laws will make it harder for Queensland workers to access support for psychological injuries.
The Queensland Government yesterday released its response to the Review of the Industrial Relations Act 2016 and Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003. It has accepted 75 out of 104 recommendations, accepted 14 in principle, and noted 6; nine recommendations were not accepted.
One of the recommendations it has accepted is to “increase the threshold of the connection to employment for compensable psychiatric or psychological injuries”. This means employment must be “the major significant contributing factor” to a psychological injury, no longer “a significant contributing factor”.
“This may not sound like a big change on paper, but we know that, in NSW and Victoria which have recently introduced similar reforms, there has been a narrowing of access to compensation for psychological injury, increased impairment thresholds, and increased pressure on funding for workers’ legal representation,” Slater and Gordon Queensland Head of Work and Road Claims, Bree Smith, said.
“In Victoria, for example, there has been a reported decrease in acceptance of psychological injury claims from around 80 per cent to around 30 per cent.¹”
“This is not a coincidental drop – this is a direct consequence of reforms that make it harder for workers to access compensation,” Ms Smith said.
“Workers – nurses, paramedics, police officers and firefighters, teachers, aged care and disability support workers – often face extreme workloads, trauma, abuse and occupational violence.”
“When workers are injured looking after us, they should be able to count on a fair and accessible compensation system.”
The Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 which will bring these changes into effect was introduced into the Queensland Parliament last night, and has been referred to a Parliamentary Committee for inquiry.
“Slater and Gordon will make a formal submission to the Inquiry, to raise our concerns over these proposed amendments which will make it harder for workers to access the care and support and compensation they deserve.”
“Slater and Gordon will always stand up for injured workers and their families.”
