Shattered sits down with an injured worker and a leading organisational psychologist to unpack a phenomenon few dare to name — horizontal violence inside the workers’ compensation system. It’s the invisible aggression that flows sideways, not down: colleagues, managers, and system actors turning against the very person who’s already been harmed. What happens when the perpetrator of the original injury is allowed to keep controlling the process that’s meant to repair it? Wh

(from Shattered – Episode 1: The System That Forgot ) Pictured: Vasalia Govender from the leading Injured Workers' Advocacy Group - Injured Workers Support Team. Image Credit; Ballina Gee It has taken over a year of relentless investigation to reach this point.There were times we thought we couldn’t go on. Behind the scenes, there were threats, obstruction, and dirty tactics , a playbook of pressure designed to make us stop asking questions. We didn’t. But it wasn't easy...

When Systems Collapse Today’s workplaces are almost unrecognisable. Once defined by physical risk, they now operate in an economy of precarity, digital surveillance, and emotional labour. Stress, burnout, and moral trauma outnumber broken bones. Yet the systems designed to respond, workers’ compensation, HR protocols, occupational health frameworks, still act as if we live in the industrial age. Perhaps we need to clean the lens and look out to what is really happening. Soci

“Health must be health — not a financial opportunity for Treasury.” Once, workers’ compensation was a social contract. If you were injured, the state would protect you; your employer would contribute; society would stand behind you.It was born from a moral principle — that human life had value beyond its labour. Today, that principle has been quietly inverted. Employer premiums now flow into Treasury-managed investment funds , generating billions in returns for the state, wh

The hidden algorithm inside NSW workers’ compensation: How icare’s programming not Guidewire itself turned a digital overhaul into a long tail of remediation, and what that means for AI in public services.

Updated November 2025 In 2024, the NSW Auditor-General delivered one of the most damning assessments ever issued about the state’s workers’ compensation system: “icare has not focused enough on its core responsibilities — improving return to work rates and maintaining financial sustainability.” — NSW Auditor-General, 2024 Review of Workers Compensation Claims Management That single line exposes the breach at the heart of the system. Workers give up their right to sue. Employe

The research that has gone into  Shattered, The Documentary   is extensive. We wanted to get to the bottom of why there has been decades...

In the world of workers' compensation, where bureaucracy often overshadows human stories, Sarah Ubrien stands as a beacon of hope and...

Adam Elisha filmed for Shattered Documentary talks to his experience of the legal mind field he encountered all the way to High Court,...

This week we had the opportunity to talk with a US Judge who is Deputy Chief of Compensation Claims with particular expertise in workers...

Late Friday afternoon emails from government agencies are reported to cause particular distress For most people, checking the mail is a...

My grandfather's death in a Bowenfels quarry in 1939 isn't just a family tragedy — it's part of a larger story about workers' rights,...

Introduction Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs) have become a cornerstone of workers' compensation and insurance systems,...

Introduction Independent Medical Assessments (IMAs) or Examinations (IMEs) are foundational components of workers' compensation systems,...

This was 2014... with the explosion of AI it is estimated the abuse online will skyrocket In the upcoming documentary"Shattered" we...

We examine the need for greater transparency and lived experience co-design for all Claims Management Software used in Workers' Compensation pointing to a troubling history of claims management in insurance that has spread from Australia around the globe. Time and time again, claims management is cited as causing untold grief to those injured and unwell yet very little appears to change. That is except one thing: scale. A computer software program first introduced into the 19

Leading psychologist Dr Rebecca Michalak joins our team of experts in the Shattered Docuseries talking to psychosocial hazards, risks,...

In the complex landscape of psychological manipulation, few terms have been as misunderstood and misused as "gaslighting." Despite its...

In the echoes of history, there are moments when a society finally turns to recognize those who have suffered in silence. Just as the...

PIctured: Lawyer Sharni Sinclair shares her own picture of distress from a psych ward. Less than 48 hours after being discharged the insurer cut off her payments In a ground-breaking exposé, Shattered launches a searing series that rips the veil off the workers' compensation system, revealing a landscape of broken promises and shattered lives. At the forefront stands Sharni Sinclair, a lawyer turned whistleblower, whose own battle with the system has ignited a firestorm of co