Workers Compensation — Immoral and Unethical

"Immoral and unethical": The financial scandal and human cost of Australia's failing workers compensation schemes.

Workers compensation is supposed to provide a safety net designed to return injured employees to the workplace and provide assistance to those so badly hurt that they can no longer hold down a job. Australian workers are guaranteed these protections by law, but there is disturbing evidence the system is failing badly.

On Monday, reporter Adele Ferguson reveals the scandalous state of workers compensation schemes in Australia, in a joint Four Corners, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald investigation. Four Corners examines the insurance companies contracted to run Australia's largest workers compensation schemes and files and claims.

"The decisions that I've seen in our investigations are not only unjust and unreasonable and wrong, some of them are downright immoral and unethical." — Regulator.

While workers often lose out, the compensation business is lucrative for those operating it. "You can just imagine how many people and organisations are circling around that pool of money and trying to make a buck out of it." — MP and former workers compensation lawyer.

This revealing investigation will expose who the winners and losers are in the workers compensation scandal. Billions of dollars are set aside for these compensation schemes, yet some injured workers say their lives have been ruined by insurers hell-bent on avoiding payouts.