Strategic priority 4: Financial sustainability
We have a responsibility to the Victorian community to reduce workplace harm and improve outcomes for injured workers, and this is achieved by operating a fair and equitable scheme that is fully funded.
Continue to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the scheme
With our dual purpose of reducing workplace harm and improving outcomes for injured workers firmly in focus, we will drive performance through directing our e orts and resources to delivering outcomes in everything we do.
In 2021-22, work to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the scheme will include:
- ensuring all of our activities have defined outcome measures, driving clear benefits
- actively promoting a performance culture, with monitoring and metrics driving clear and tangible results
- ensuring we operate within the parameters set out as part of our integrated prudential policies in managing our capital and financial sustainability
- building on our existing data and analytics capability, with a focus on predictive and advanced analytics driving evidence based actions
- delivering technology solutions that provide critical services to injured workers and support their recovery
- building on the strong foundation of our frontline services, and growing our capability to support workers with complex needs, including mental health challenges.
Ensure a fair and sustainable scheme
Our community and our scheme face deep challenges. The continuing growth in mental injury, both primary and secondary, and the consequential trend of more injured workers remaining on the scheme for longer, is placing increasing pressure on the scheme and those it is here to support.
Changes to the workplace and the way we work, are likewise creating new health, safety and wellbeing challenges.
These challenges for our scheme are profound.
We are committed to reviewing the scheme to find contemporary solutions to these new problems, and will be driven by our purpose of reducing workplace harm and improving outcomes for injured workers, as well as our responsibilities under the legislation to manage the scheme in a financially viable manner.
In 2021-22, we will work to address the pressures on the scheme by:
- analysing the structure of insurance coverage, pricing, collection and compliance to ensure fair and equitable premiums that help drive occupational health and safety and return to work outcomes
- exploring a workers compensation reform agenda that improves outcomes for workers, while ensuring the scheme remains fair, competitive and fully funded.
Measuring our performance
Maintaining a financially sustainable scheme enables WorkSafe to deliver services to current and future injured workers for the life of their claim.
The long-term nature of WorkSafe’s liabilities means small changes in claim trends can have a big impact on the balance sheet.
WorkSafe tracks the financial performance of the scheme through a range of measures including:
Break Even Premium is the amount of premium needed to fund the estimated future cost of claims and associated expenses for injuries expected to arise during the next 12 month period. It is expressed as a percentage of employer remuneration.
The average premium rate charged continues to remain unchanged at 1.27%. This is despite scheme cost pressures, reflected in the Break Even Premium of 1.50% for the 2020/21 financial year (measured at June 2020), and an anticipated Break Even Premium of 1.70% for the 2021-22 financial year.
WorkSafe uses the Insurance Funding Ratio as a means of determining its financial sustainability and ability to cover claims costs.
The impact of our prevention and recovery activities will be reflected in changes to the number of active claims, but also the nature and volume of work undertaken. In 2021-22, we expect to see active claims continue to increase as economic growth and work activity rises.
Measure | Actual 2018-19 | Actual 2019-20 | Actual 2020-21 | Total 2021-22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Break Even Premium | 1.25% | 1.23% | 1.50% | 1.70% |
Insurance Funding Ratio (%) | 156% | 123% | 118% | 108% |
Number of active claims | 19,439 | 21,647 | 24,068 | 26,255 |