WorkCover WA will pilot videoconferencing for people outside Perth who want access to conciliation services, to better help workers who live regionally or interstate.

The state’s size and the prevalence of fly-in, fly-out workers have driven the issue.

Most other Australian workers’ compensation schemes have circuit arrangements to visit regional towns, according to an independent report.

WorkCover WA introduced new conciliation and arbitration services in 2011, with plans to review the system later. Last year Tania Sourdin, of the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation at Monash University, was asked to complete this review.

Her report says almost a third of the workers who lodged accepted conciliation applications in 2014/15 lived outside the Perth CBD area, creating access problems for those who have a physical or other disability.

“While the current arrangements appear to be adequate, there was some evidence they could be improved. To address this issue, WorkCover WA has scheduled a trial of Skype videoconferencing facilities, which would allow regionally located disputants to attend conciliation over Skype.”

The report also makes recommendations to improve the experiences of people attending the conciliation service, and examines the time and costs involved in resolving disputes.

About 96% of conciliations are completed within eight weeks, but the duration can be too long in a small number of matters that head to final determination, according to the report.

WorkCover WA says it is “undertaking further work to understand how to mitigate this, and a number of suggestions are made by Professor Sourdin”.

Proposals to smooth the process include performance protocols for arbitrators and improvements at the application, case management and hearing stages.