Tasmania Introduces Australian-First Post Traumatic Stress Legislation

In an Australian first, the Tasmanian Government has introduced a Bill that would provide presumptive compensation to all public sector workers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The State Government says the Bill would help reduce the stigma associated with mental health conditions, and says it will consider extending presumptive consumption to more occupational groups in the private sector.

If passed, the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Presumption as to Cause of Disease) Bill 2019 would mean all PTSD claims by relevant workers would be deemed work-related for workers compensation purposes.

State Building and Construction Minister, Sarah Courtney, said claiming workers’ compensation was often a daunting process, especially when the workplace injury was related to mental health.

“There is substantial evidence demonstrating that the process to make a claim for compensation when workers are required to re-live their traumatic experiences, sometimes on multiple occasions, can exacerbate workers’ psychological injuries.”

Courtney said the Bill would provide workers with timely access to necessary assistance and compensation, and remove the “huge burden” on workers to legitimise their injury at a time when they were suffering from a psychological injury.

“PTSD may occur as the result of cumulative traumatic experiences over decades of service, which is commonly experienced by our first responders, so identifying a single incident that resulted in PTSD can not only exacerbate the injury, but also be impossible to pinpoint.”

“Additionally, PTSD is a particularly complex condition to diagnose, especially where it is a result of cumulative exposure to incidents. As such, it may be difficult for workers to navigate the workers’ compensation process to have PTSD claims approved.”

Workers covered under the Bill would be those employed by the Crown or under a Tasmanian Act, a Government Business Enterprise, or a State-owned company – a definition that covers volunteer workers in firefighting, police, ambulance, or emergency management operations.

Courtney also said she had asked the WorkCover Tasmania board to explore whether the presumption should be applied to broader occupational groups, and said she eventually wanted the benefits of this amendment to be experienced by more Tasmanian workers.

The Minister reiterated that the presumption would not apply to PTSD claims where an employer took reasonable action in a reasonable manner, or where there was serious and wilful misconduct from the worker. The laws will not apply retrospectively.