NSW increases workers compensation death benefits

The NSW government has announced a range of changes to increase workers compensation death benefits.

Premier Morris Iemma recently met with the CFMEU Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group to promote the upcoming changes.

“The government will legislate to increase death benefits, broaden the circumstances in which the benefit is paid and increase the lump sum paid to workers who sustain a permanent injury,” he said.

“These are practical improvements to help families.”

The benefit reform package will include: 

• increasing the lump sum paid if a worker dies from a work-related incident to $425,000 (from $337,700);
• broadening the circumstances in which the lump sum death benefit is available, by making it payable to the worker’s estate (currently the lump sum is only paid if the worker had financial dependants); and
• ensuring that weekly payments for the dependant children of deceased workers are not reduced on the grounds of them having been partially financially dependant.

The improved death benefits will be paid to the families of workers who died as a result of their employment on or after 24 October 2007.