LOWAN MP Emma Kealy has said that Victoria’s health crisis continues as new figures reveal several hospitals have had huge increases in their WorkCover premiums.
The data was revealed in annual health service reports released in the Victorian Parliament.
The reports showed hospitals across the state paid more than $250 million in WorkCover premiums in 2023-24, 51 per cent more than the year before.
Western District Health Service (WDHS) paid more than $1 million in premiums in 2023-24, up from $868,000 the year prior.
However, WDHS corporate services director, Nick Starkie said that while WDHS had incurred an uplift in WorkCover premiums from 2022-23 to 2023-2024 of around $150,000, for “this new financial year being 2024-25, we have seen a reduction of $350,000 which is due to better risk management, fewer claims, and a safer workplace”.
This 42 per cent average hike in WorkCover premiums across the board in 2022-23, follows an admission from the Victorian Government that under their watch Victoria’s workers compensation scheme was “fundamentally broken”.
Meanwhile, the new figures revealed Casterton Memorial Hospital’s WorkCover premiums more than doubled last financial year.
The service paid more $167,165 in premiums in 2023-24, up from $82,951 the year prior.
Ms Kealy said Labor’s mismanagement of WorkCover was forcing health services to spend less on core services.
“Hospitals have been under enormous pressure with increased costs, the threat of amalgamations and budget cuts,” she said.
“Now they are facing yet another blow to their finances under Labor, all of which will have a worsening impact on patient care,” she said.
“Our local healthcare staff do an incredible job under extremely difficult circumstances and deserve far better than a government who consistently forces them to do more with less.
“Labor has failed to properly manage and invest in Victoria’s public health system, instead preferencing projects in Melbourne that will provide no benefit to the people of rural and regional Victoria.”
