The Apprentice Employment Network is the peak body representing the employers of thousands of apprentices and trainees in NSW and calls upon the next NSW Government to conduct a comprehensive review of the NSW workers compensation system.
The current system is unfairly penalising our members, Group Training Organisations (GTOs) and needs to be urgently examined.
In December 2018, the NSW Business Chamber called for a comprehensive review of the workers compensation system as a way of more fairly addressing the financial burden imposed on GTOs as the direct employers of apprentices and trainees. Apprentices comprise over 90% of all employees in GTOs, a figure unique to this industry.
The current workers compensation system aims to reward employers that have lower workers compensation claims and, conversely, encourage employers with higher claims to invest in prevention strategies to avoid hefty premium charges.
When the majority of your workforce comprises apprentices and trainees who are learning new skills, accident rates will inevitably be higher than industry norms, meaning that GTOs are being hit with significantly higher premiums.
GTOs have good safety records and place the highest priority on WHS, but the profile of a business that overwhelmingly employs apprentices and trainees is fundamentally different to one with a more typical employee base. Workers compensation premiums need to take account of this critical fact.
Unless there is a change to the current system, the significant contribution of group training to workforce skilling could be lost.
The major review of the workers compensation system in 2015 was a necessary reform, but the way the system is now structured is imposing a perverse penalty on the very organisations that are engaging young people and preparing them with skills for the future.
We call upon all standing candidates to support this review should they be elected to the next NSW parliament.
