Australian Serious Comp Claim Costs Rose 30 Percent in 2016
The newly released statistics for 2015-2016 show that the median paid for a serious claim, adjusted for inflation, was up 30 percent to $6,800 and the median amount of time lost was up 33 percent to 5.6 weeks.
Safe Work Australia has released 2015-2016 workers' compensation statistics, and they show that the median paid for a serious claim, adjusted for inflation, was up 30 percent from the previous year to $6,800 while the median amount of time lost was up 33 percent to 5.6 weeks. There were 104,770 serious comp claims during the 2015-2016 year.
The three occupations with the highest rates of serious claims were laborers, machinery drivers and operators, and community and personal service workers, while agriculture/forestry/fishing, manufacturing, and construction were the industries with the highest rates.
Fifteen percent of all serious claims came from workers in health care and social assistance; 12 percent came from manufacturing workers and another 12 percent from construction workers. No other industry represented more than 9 percent.
Generally, older workers recorded the highest incidence rates, according to the report. Those age 55-59 had a rate of 12.5 serious claims per 1,000 employees, followed by those age 50-54 with a rate of 12.1.
The report shows that the total number of serious claims has declined by 17 percent from 2000-2001 to 2015-2016, although total hours worked increased by 30 percent and total employment rose by 34 percent during the same period.