Significant changes to Queensland workers compensation scheme proposed

On 15 July 2015, a Bill to amend the Workers' Compensation & Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) was introduced into Parliament.  The Bill implements a number of policy proposals by the current Queensland Government in its pre-election policy document Restoring the Rights of Queenslanders Injured at Work.

The Bill has since been referred to the Parliamentary Finance & Administration Committee and if passed, will make a number of changes to Queensland's workers' compensation scheme, the most significant of which comprise:

• removal of the current limitation on the entitlement to seek damages that requires a worker to have a degree of permanent impairment as a result of the injury greater than 5% to access common law from the date of the Queensland State election (31 January 2015);