An upper house inquiry into the Victorian government’s WorkCover bill has been given the go ahead and an Economy and Infrastructure Committee will not report the findings until February 6. 

The state government had hoped to pass legislation to overhaul the worker compensation scheme this year, and introduce the changes in late March, but met opposition from both the Greens and Victorian coalition parties. 

Victorian Greens Spokesperson Sam Hibbins says the “Greens won’t be supporting a bill that screws workers over” and will vote against changes that would see “injured workers denied support or kicked off the scheme”. 

“The Victorian Labor Government is acting like a heartless insurance company,” he said. “Labor’s WorkCover changes will only make things worse.” 

The proposed legislation would see workers suffering stress and burnout no longer able to access weekly WorkCover benefits and instead be eligible for 13 weeks of provisional payments to cover medical treatment, along with access to support services. 

Workers receiving payments beyond two-and-a-half years would have to undergo another impairment and capacity test.  

The Legislative Council voted 23-17 to set up the inquiry into the proposed reforms, which tighten eligibility and testing requirements under the scheme and are due to take effect in late March. 

WorkCover's claims liability has tripled in Victoria since 2010, mainly because of the increased cost of weekly income support. Many workers are staying on the scheme longer, with mental injury accounting for 16%  of new claims. The scheme required an extra $1.2 billion to offset rising costs over the previous three financial years.  

The average premium for businesses was lifted to 1.8% of remuneration in July and the government estimates that without reform, the average premium next year would have to rise to 2.4% to be the highest in Australia. 

"This bill is half-baked, and the work of this committee will allow is for a better bill to emerge,” Opposition Leader John Pesutto said. “The Liberals and Nationals welcome the support of the Parliament for proper transparency and scrutiny to get these important reforms right.” 

The Greens say WorkCover reforms should be focused on better supporting injured workers and improving workplace practices, not “rushing through legislation that pulls the rug out from underneath them”.