The Office of Industrial Relations has developed amendments to the workers’ compensation scheme aimed at helping first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) access support.
Minister for Industrial Relations, Grace Grace has presented the Bill to Parliament amending the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 to include presumptive workers’ compensation laws for first responders diagnosed with PTSD.
“Each and every day, our first responders are exposed to traumatic incidents that most of us could never imagine,” Ms Grace said.
“Attending these types of incidents, whether it be one catastrophic event or a gradual build up over many years, can take a toll on our first responders’ mental health.”
Ms Grace said the new laws would mean first responders and other prescribed workers and volunteers who were simultaneously struggling to cope with PTSD, would not have to prove their injury was work-related.
“It will automatically be presumed to be work-related, unless an employer is able to show that the worker’s PTSD was not actually caused by their job,” she said.
“PTSD can cause many first responders to lose their work, their family and their wellbeing.”
She said bringing in presumptive workers’ compensation laws for first responders who had developed PTSD as a result of the unique nature of their duties was vital for their long-term mental health, rehabilitation and safe return to work.
Ms Grace said the changes follow an independent review of Queensland’s workers’ compensation process and national reviews into first responder mental health by Beyond Blue and a Commonwealth Senate inquiry.
