Problems within Australia’s workers’ compensation and return to work systems are mirrored by the workplace difficulties faced by staff. The solution? Look beyond what we know and practise today, to how we might do it differently – and more fairly – tomorrow.

Staff burn out is a common problem in the workers’ comp and RTW field. The combination of tight deadlines and quotas, the stress associated with injury and illness and widely varying degrees of engagement from the key players can result in considerable frustration for those whose job it is to keep the process rolling. It can be difficult to keep your eye on the prize – and we don’t just mean your KPIs.

Enter Paul O’Connor, recently appointed CEO of Comcare.

“It matters, how we promote safety, how we care for people, how we support injured workers and their families in their return to work, return to health, return to independence, return to their community. All of it matters and it matters not just because of the impact in workplaces but the impact we need to have in the Australian community.”

Mr O’Connor was described by the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, at his appointment on 1 September 2009, as having “an impressive record in safety promotion, risk management, insurance and accident compensation in Australia, the United States and Asia”. We caught up with him at the Comcare Conference in September 2009, and found his focus on inclusion and integration encouraging.

Mr O’Connor has taken over the reins at Comcare during a challenging time. Not only are substantial legislative changes – think OHS and Workers’ Comp harmonisation – on the horizon, but the organisation itself is facing considerable internal and external criticism in terms of its OHS enforcement, levels of consultation between management and workers, and timeframes for claims determination.

The day after our conversation, Minister Gillard released several reports of reviews into the national Comcare scheme – the Taylor Fry report of 2008 and an internal review report from January 2009. Mr Fry in particular was highly critical of the scheme.

It is to Paul’s credit that he has responded to these challenges by stressing the central role that RTW and workers’ comp schemes play in social inclusion.

“The risk is that injured workers might be left behind. Temporary disability can so easily – if we don’t do our job well, in an integrated way – turn into entrenched disadvantage.”

That, after all is the real prize of workers’ comp and RTW: the impact that you can have on the quality of life of an injured worker and their family, while making your organisation more prosperous and productive.

For Mr O’Connor, retaining this focus becomes even more important as the debates around OHS and workers’ comp harmonisation heat up.

“If people understand very clearly why we need to focus on this work, if people can anchor this work in an understanding of how this will make Australia a stronger and fairer place, then I think they’ll be able to cope with it. I’m confident they’ll be able to cope with it.”

In fact, Mr O’Connor promotes a more radical approach than harmonisation, which we’ve dubbed “ultra-harmonisation.”

“We need to look beyond the narrow confines of workers’ compensation. Let’s look more broadly at accident compensation. It doesn’t matter whether someone’s a crash survivor or injured at work, we should be able to apply common disciplines, integrate our approach, and have a common language across the wider community, to help these people deal with change and challenge and disability.

“The mechanism of injury may be different, but the way we help these people return to health, return to work, return to community is the same. If you look at some of the big ideas that emerged from the 2020 summit, about the call for a national disability scheme, that’s getting to the meat of it.”

There are some big ideas in there and – we hope – enough inspiration to help you help the next person you deal with.