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Snapshot

  • WIRO plays a key role in implementing the objectives and managing the impact of the 2012 NSW workers compensation reforms, with the provision of new models for dispute resolution and legal aid-type funding of matters based on merit and lawyer expertise
  • The reforms to the Workers Compensation Acts have generally created great confusion among lawyers and system users. WIRO encourages practitioners to advocate for the re-writing of the laws into a single, more simplified instrument
  • With WIRO’s Independent Legal Assistance and Review Service acting as a gateway to the scheme, lawyers are advised to take care in deliberating the prospects of a claim or dispute if they are to obtain legal funding

The New South Wales workers compensation scheme reforms were introduced in 2012. Two years on, they continue to be a source of confusion among many legal practitioners and scheme users. The amendments to an already fundamentally complex set of laws do not appear to make it any easier for scheme users to discharge their obligations and for injured workers to assert their rights to workers compensation entitlements.

One of the major changes brought about by the 2012 reforms was the establishment of the WorkCover Independent Review Office (WIRO). It is imperative that legal practitioners understand the role WIRO plays in the implementation of the changes to the way claims and disputes are dealt with under the reforms.

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