Workers who have already died missed out on $10.8 million,while 300 totally disabled workers have been underpaid $3.9 million.
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Almost 1500 totally and partially disabled workers have also been overpaid in the same period,including 669 workers who were incorrectly paid a weekly dependent allowance totalling $4.8 million in annual overpayments.
Totally disabled workers suffering illness acquired before 1987 will have their payments cut by almost $100 on the basis they have been overpaid through use of old legislation. No recovery of overpayments will be sought.
Icare says it received advice about an issue with the interpretation of legislation in May last year,before the board was informed in December. Global consultancy giant PwC was engaged in January to advise on remediation options.
The confidential draft documents outline plans to remediate workers affected since 2014,but the historical nature of the problem means many more could have been affected.
A status update on the remediation project dated May 3 includes a timeline indicating plans to make a public announcement and notify participants on June 28.
A separate risk analysis anticipates “wide-ranging impacts for icare and for Dust Diseases Care clients and their dependents ... with no one simple solution”.
“There will also be difficulty encountered in potentially repaying underpaid monies in respect of deceased workers,” it states.
An icare spokeswoman said the payment practices pre-date icare and reflect legal interpretations of the 1942 and 1987 NSW Workers Compensation Acts.
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“This issue does not impact everyone in the scheme now or in the past,and nor do Dust Diseases Care participants need to do anything at this stage,” she said.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet,who is responsible for icare,said the issue began “15 premiers ago in post-war NSW”.
“Obviously an error on this historical scale will take time to rectify,but icare has identified it and my expectation is that icare will fix it for the benefit of all affected people and estates,” he said.
Icare will contact every person or estate that is affected and there are no changes to existing arrangements. It is seeking final advice from an independent third party.
“This work will be undertaken by experts in wage remediation matters. As soon as that advice is finalised,remediation will immediately commence,” icare’s spokeswoman said.
Upper house Greens MP David Shoebridge said cutting payments to older workers after so many years would cause hardship.
“The government should place them on the same footing as all other injured workers and maintain their current rates.”