Submissions to the Queensland Parliament on the performance of the state’s workers’ compensation scheme include calls for less red tape around self-insurance eligibility and criticism of the program’s “entitlement culture”.

While many organisations feel the scheme works well, some say the requirement for a minimum of 2000 employees to access self-insurance is too high and should be about 500 or 1000 staff.

“The requirement is nothing more than an artificial restraint on self-insurance and an unwarranted barrier to an employer’s choice to pursue self-insurance as a better and more efficient model for the management of workplace safety and worker compensation,” the National Council of Self Insurers said in its submission.

Financial viability could provide a more accurate assessment of an employer’s ability to fund and manage risk and liabilities, another submission claims.

The Queensland Council of Unions does not support self-insurance and says if the number of employees required drops, the potential exists for casual workers in particular to receive poor support and rehabilitation.

Other unions are concerned about conflicts of interest when an employer is also an insurer.

Currently, employees are entitled to common law damages if they can prove negligence against their employer and have suffered an impairment or disability that substantially affects future earning ability.

Some of the 172 submissions to Parliament are wary about introducing an “impairment threshold” that could risk the “financial health” of the existing scheme, a situation they say has happened in other states.

However, others claim unlimited access to common law is “seen as an easy target by some workers and many lawyers, driving unwarranted claims” and an impairment threshold is necessary to avoid excessive claims for lesser injuries.

“The lack of restraint and easy access to litigation remains an area in need of urgent reform,” the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland says.

The Insurance Council of Australia says injured workers would secure better outcomes from private insurer involvement in underwriting the Queensland scheme.

“We believe that participation by the private insurance market in workers’ compensation is likely to improve individual risk rating and drive improvements in safety, incidence rates and rehabilitation and return-to-work outcomes,” the council says.

The existing scheme is consistently praised for its “short-tailed” feature, as opposed to other state schemes that are “long-tailed” in duration, expensive to run and which shift the burden of cost to the taxpayer. 

Submissions are split over the recognition of claims for travel to and from work as an area for compensation cover, which currently account for 6% of all claims lodged.