Monday Muses -a parable and a reality

A Parable: A barber visited a small very scenic village, there were all manner of shops on the main street , the people were friendly and happy to stop and chat with him. As it was close to afternoon tea time the barber went to a cafe, again the people from the village were bright and happy to sit and chat. The barber commented on just how the town had every type of shop possible, but he noticed that there wasn't a barber shop. The men folk all nodded in agreement, there wasn't a barber shop in the village. The barber went home that night and thought about the little village, he thought about the friendly people but mostly he thought about the opportunity to open a small barber shop where clearly there wasn't one. The next week the barber went back to the village and found a little shop that was vacant and moved in to set up his barber shop. Months passed by, the men folk dropped in for chats, but none wanted a shave or a hair cut. One morning the barber asked one of the men folk why none of them had wanted a hair cut or a shave. That is when he found out that the men folk either had wives to cut their hair or they practiced a particular religion that required them not to cut their hair or shave. The barber had asked a lot of questions when he first visited the little village, but he had not asked the right questions.

This past week was head down and read the 1994 Report, contact people, read, map out thought patterns, read, track down/ attempt to track down supporting documentation, read. Ask questions of everyone, anyone and myself, the find the next Industry Report only to find it is an Interim Report that was written in 2004, but has never been released, it can only be accessed for research purposes. What I found interesting from both the 1994 and 2004 Reports was how detailed the Reports were, concerns about cost shifting, concerns about employment and post injury re-employment, cost for the industry, costs that need to be contained/controlled/curtailed. All of it was written from the vantage point of the industry. The very people who were/are reliant had no say. Just as the barber didn't ask the right questions, 2 major Federal Reports took concerns into account, but neither called for public meetings of any kind or for known leaders from within the injured worker community to put forward the very real issues that must be faced each and every day by the injured worker community.

This is from the 1994 Report.

I have to admit the more I read the more I understand why others find workers compensation frustrating and complex. As I have said many times and in many places everything that needs to be understood in regards to the workers compensation legislation is found within the intention of the legislation. The sections of the various Acts are just guidelines to interpret what the outcome can be or is preferred to be depending on just who is deciding what outcomes is required or permitted. This one page supports the guidelines as put forward by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

This week I have started again the required work in order to track down the Actuarial Report that is referenced in the 1994 Report. My aim is to write yet another letter and reference the Actuarial Report as a place to start from.

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Now it is well past time that I had dinner. I hope that 2022 has started well for each of you.

Yours in service

Rosemary