Taxpayers will foot doctor’s bills of $1000 per hour under the State Labor Government’s plans to set up medical panels as part of its workers compensation reforms.

The sky high costs are yet another ill-conceived aspect of the proposed legislation.

I’ve been told that the cost of the doctors to work on these panels will be $1000 per hour.

This means that the workcover system, and ultimately the taxpayer, will be left to foot the bill.

How on earth do they expect to save costs in the workcover system with rates like these and 3-5 doctors per panel?

The Labor Government’s workers compensation reforms are less fair and less efficient than the current system in assessing injured workers capacity. Currently – like just about all over Australia – judges, magistrates and Tribunal members assess various medical reports and decide on the facts of the matter.

Now it seems the proposed reforms won’t be just unfair for injured workers – they’ll be unfair on taxpayers too.