Impact

When a System Meant to Heal Causes Harm

Workers’ compensation systems were created with a clear purpose:

when someone is injured at work, they should receive medical care, financial support, and the time needed to recover.

But for many injured workers today, the experience of entering the system can feel very different.

Over time, workers’ compensation systems have evolved into complex frameworks operating at the intersection of healthcare, insurance, law and government policy.

Instead of focusing solely on healing, injured workers often find themselves navigating administrative processes, disputes, medical examinations and financial pressures.

Shattered explores what happens when systems designed to support recovery begin to shape — and sometimes worsen — the experience of injury itself.

It asks an urgent question:

How do we redesign these systems so they centre care, dignity and trust for our injured?

* This impact statement has been developed in collaboration with the Injured Workers' Support Team & Craig's Table, leading independent national worker advocacy and worker support organizations.

ABOUT THE ISSUE

The System Must Be Designed to Heal

Workers’ compensation systems exist across the world to protect workers and their families after a workplace injury.

Their purpose is simple:

ensure injured workers receive medical treatment
provide income support while recovery takes place
protect families from financial hardship

However, over time these systems have become complex administrative structures involving healthcare providers, insurers, regulators and government agencies.

For injured workers, recovery no longer happens only in a doctor’s consulting room.

It takes place inside a system of decisions made by multiple institutions.

When those systems function well, recovery is supported.

When they do not, they can delay healing, create conflict and deepen harm.

A Changing Pattern of Workplace Harm

The nature of workplace injury is also changing. While many industries have improved physical safety, psychological injury is rising across modern workplaces.

Psychological injuries often involve:

longer recovery periods
uncertainty in treatment pathways
complex return-to-work processes
higher levels of dispute within compensation systems

Recovery from psychological injury depends heavily on stability, trust, safety and supportive environments.

When injured workers must navigate adversarial administrative systems during recovery, those essential conditions can be undermined.

The System Around the Patient

When someone is injured at work, they do not enter a healthcare system alone.

They enter a broader ecosystem that may include:

Employers
Treating doctors and therapists
Insurance companies
OHS & Workers' Compensation Regulators
Government agencies
Unions
Volunteer Support organisations

Each plays an important role in treatment, return-to-work planning and compensation.

But the interactions between these institutions can profoundly shape the recovery experience.

For injured workers, navigating this system can become as challenging as the injury itself.

Why This Film Matters Now

Many workers’ compensation systems were designed more than a century ago, when workplace injuries were primarily physical and industrial work dominated the economy.

Today the world of work has changed dramatically.

Now we see:

complex modern workplaces
rising psychological injury
longer and more uncertain recovery pathways
heavily structured administrative compensation systems

These changes raise an important question:

Can systems designed in another era still support healing in the world of modern work?

Through lived experience, expert insight and the voices of injured workers, Shattered explores how systems can evolve to better support recovery.

Because when someone is injured at work, what happens next should support healing — notmake recovery harder.

IMPACT VISION

The goal is simple but essential:

Realign workers’ compensation systems with their original purpose.

Treatment
Recovery
Family Stability
Return to Work

When someone is injured at work, they must remain first and foremost a patient in need of care.

Systems responsible for recovery must themselves be psychologically and socially safe environments.

Transparency, accountability and injured worker participation must be strengthened so that system failures are identified early and prevent further harm.

Because a system designed to heal must never become a source of harm.

PRINCIPLES FOR SYSTEM REFORM

Patients First

Injured workers are patients before anything else. Medical treatment and recovery must be guided by clinical judgement and patient wellbeing, not administrative pressure.

Psychosocial Safety

Recovery systems must be psychologically safe environments. Prolonged disputes, uncertainty, surveillance and adversarial processes can delay healing and worsen injury.

Respect for Lived Experience

The voices of injured workers must be heard, respected and included in reform. Peer support networks and worker representatives play a critical role in helping injured workers navigate recovery.

Transparency and Accountability

Workers’ compensation systems operate within financial and regulatory frameworks. Strong oversight is essential to ensure decisions are fair, transparent and focused on recovery — not cost containment.

Shared Responsibility for Recovery

Recovery occurs across a complex system involving:

employers
insurers
regulators
clinicians
injured workers
worker support organisations

Constructive dialogue across this ecosystem helps rebuild trust, cooperation and effective recovery pathways.

Culture of Care

Recovery cannot occur in systems shaped by fear, suspicion or retaliation. For too long, injured workers and professionals have navigated environments that undermine trust and delay healing. A recovery system must actively cultivate a culture of care grounded in dignity, safety and respect.

Leadership across government, insurers, regulators and service providers must uphold these values.

Expectations should be embedded in:

policy
governance
contracts
performance frameworks

Because care must be built into the system itself.

TAKE ACTION

You can support the impact of Shattered by helping bring the conversation about recovery, care and system design to wider audiences.

Ways to get involved include:

● hosting community or workplace screenings
● participating in professional and policy discussions
● supporting educational screenings for healthcare and legal communities
● contributing to research and reform conversations

Together we can help ensure systems designed to support recovery truly serve the people who rely on them.