SIRA bulletin - Issue 13
Engaging with lived experience: a strategic framework
SIRA recently launched ‘Engaging with lived experience: a strategic framework for guiding our work impacting mental health’. It will support engagement with people who have lived experience of mental health issues in the development of policies, programs and resources.
For more about the framework, watch the recording of the online launch event.
SIRA consultations extended due to high demand
Workers compensation consultation: Standard of practice for managing psychological injury claims
Consultation on 'Standard of practice 33: Managing claims for psychological injury' will now close on 5.00pm, Friday 6 November 2020.
Read the draft Standard of practice.
Head to the SIRA consultation webpage to provide feedback on the draft Standard of practice.
What is the consultation about?
SIRA’s Standards of practice outline expectations for insurer claims administration and conduct.
The new Standard of practice will set expectations for insurers about the handling of claims for workers with a psychological injury.
CTP consultation: Legal support review for injured people
Consultation on the Legal support for injured people in the NSW CTP Scheme will now close at 9.00pm Wednesday 2 December 2020 (previously 1 November 2020).
Go to the SIRA consultation page to provide your feedback or email us at [email protected]. You can also direct your questions to the same email.
What is the consultation about?
SIRA is reviewing the provision of legal support for injured people in the compulsory third-party (CTP) insurance scheme under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (the Act).
We are seeking submissions from people and organisations regarding the legal supports available in the CTP scheme. Submissions should identify:
- specific concerns with the existing structure and provision of legal support in the CTP scheme
- key principles that should govern the determination of legal costs and the weight to be given to each of these
- recommendations for specific changes to be made to the system of legal support
- any alternative models of legal support for injured people that would promote the objectives of the Act.
Read the Act.
New workers compensation regulation to clarify COVID-19 and JobKeeper impacts on PIAWE and weekly payments
The Workers Compensation Amendment (COVID-19 Weekly Payment Compensation) Regulation 2020 commenced on Friday 23 October 2020.
This Regulation clarifies how JobKeeper payments and other COVID-19 impacts on a worker’s earnings are treated in calculating a worker’s weekly payments and pre-injury average weekly earnings (PIAWE).
The changes mean that:
- in calculating PIAWE, an adjustment may be made to the relevant earning period if a worker has had a financially material reduction in earnings due to the pandemic
- only earnings for work performed may be included in the calculation of PIAWE
- in calculating weekly payments, JobKeeper payments are included in the ‘current weekly earnings’ of a worker.
The Regulation also provides for a 10 per cent uplift in recoverable legal costs under Schedule 6 of the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016.
Read the Regulation.
For more information on how to apply the changes, refer to the SIRA Claims management guide.
NSW Government wants your feedback on mental health at work during COVID-19
The NSW Government would like to hear how the pandemic has affected your mental health at work.
We want your feedback to help us understand the issues workers are facing, how businesses have been affected, and how the NSW Government can help. What you tell us will help inform NSW Government policy making, including our Mentally healthy workplaces strategy.
Good mental health is about being able to cope with the everyday stresses of life, work productively, and connect with your friends and family.
Join the conversation: https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/mentally-healthy-workplaces.
Consultation closes Friday 6 November 2020.
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Contact SIRA on 1300 656 919 for any CTP enquiries or on 13 10 50 for workers compensation and home building enquiries. You can also email us at [email protected].