A new Adelaide based group is speaking out against the recent changes made to the South Australian WorkCover system.

Encompass spokesperson Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson, herself an injured worker, has called for the reforms to be “scrapped immediately”, saying they lead to workers being treated like numbers, isolating them and stripping them of their dignity.

“Injured workers have no protection under the changed legislation,” Ms McKenzie-Ferguson said.

“Basically its just there to destroy what’s left of the dignity of these people.”

She said the reduction in worker income maintenance, which is now based on stringent timelines, does not allow for any flexibility.

“Sometimes injuries take a heck of a lot longer to heal than what the copy book says,” she said.

She said now that workers will receive only 80% of income after 26 weeks post injury, they faced “an uphill battle”, until at 130 weeks they were then “knocked off the system, regardless of whether the system has done anything for them”.

McKenzie-Ferguson says the “culture of the system” needs to change, as it currently isolates and “labels” injured workers, who are then seen as no more than numbers.

“That in itself is what destroys people, because they’re no longer seen as a human being,” she said.

“When you reduce people to a number they lose their identity.”

She also has concerns over the consultation process prior to the changes - if you’re going to consult then you have to hear the good stuff...but more importantly you have to hear the bad stuff,” she said.

“You need to know what it is that’s going wrong...so you can fix it.”

While Encompass will lobby for changes to the system, it hopes also to provide support and a voice to injured workers and their families and friends. Encompass sees itself as a three-part support system.

The first aspect of the service will be a legal advocacy service – to provide basic legal advice free of charge to prevent injured workers “having to spend $140-$150 an hour just to get some basic legal advice”.

The second is an injured worker support service – based on a Canadian system called Threads of Life.

“To give people the best possible chance of returning to life, to the community and back to work,” said McKenzie-Ferguson.

The third service will be a bereavement centre, which will provide easier access to bereavement support for the extended family and friends, who often do not have access to the service provided by WorkCover.

McKenzie Ferguson said the group had been formed by injured workers, who understood the level of  support and guidance required  – as well as the need for a united voice to be heard in the industry.

“We’re all injured workers – we’ve felt their pain, we understand their frustration and fear,” she said.

“We’re looking at all of the possible ways of taking the pressure off injured workers as much as we can.”

Within weeks of the group being developed their membership grew to more than 200, and has since continued to expand at a rapid rate.

However, McKenzie-Ferguson said what was most surprising was that it was not only injured workers who were joining the group.

“We also have members who work within the WorkCover industry, wanting to come on board and assist.

“That’s something we didn’t expect.

“They’re willing to come on board...they’re starting to say this is what is needed...we need to support you.”

The group will be hosting an inaugural public meeting in December and will seek resourcing from a WorkCover fund for groups assisting injured workers back to work.