New WA bill proposes increase to compensation for workers dependants

Yesterday, the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Amendment Bill 2017 was introduced to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australian Parliament. The proposed amendments aim to improve compensation for workers' dependants under the State's scheme and include:

• an increase of the lump sum available for dependency claims to 250% of the prescribed amount for each financial year (for the current financial year this would mean an increase from $308,339 to $562,303), with the lump sum to be indexed annually
• weekly child allowance to be increased from $58.90 to $133.00, to be indexed annually
• a change of definition from "de facto partner" to "partner", which will mean that de facto partners won't need to prove they have been living with the worker for at least two years immediately before the worker's death