By Simon Booth
“Politics has no place in Workers’ Compensation”.
I have made this comment on several occasions and the actions of the regulators, especially in Victoria and NSW continue to make it relevant.
Last week, Icare, who previously removed all but one agent from the scheme, announced that Allianz, DXC (formally Xchanging), EML, Gallagher Bassett, GIO and QBE had all been successful in the latest agent tender process.
In 2015 the NSW system removed Gallagher Bassett and what was then Xchanging as agents in their scheme.
In 2018 the NSW system removed Allianz, QBE, CGU and GIO leaving EML as the only agent in the scheme. (Technically CGU pulled out of the process.)
In 2020 they returned Allianz, QBE and GIO to the scheme.
Now they have returned Gallagher Bassett and DXC and I am sure, had CGU tendered, they would have been successful as well.
How much money has been wasted by the NSW Scheme in the last seven years, to return to what is essentially the position we were in before they started meddling with a scheme that was achieving solid return to work outcomes and was operating with a significant financial surplus.
More importantly, how much has and will this politicking cost the NSW employers who are forced to underwrite this folly.
For information relating to the latest changes in NSW, head to:
