Systems
Recommended Reading
Delay, Deny, Defend - Jay. M. Feinman - Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims
Pain and Prejudice - A Call To Action For Women and Their Bodies - Gabrielle Jackson
'Women are in pain, all through their bodies; they’re in pain with their periods, and while having sex; they have pelvic pain, migraine, headaches, joint aches, painful bladders, irritable bowels, sore lower backs, muscle pain, vulval pain, vaginal pain, jaw pain, muscle aches. And many are so, so tired … But women’s pain is all too often dismissed, their illnesses misdiagnosed or ignored. In medicine, man is the default human being. Any deviation is atypical, abnormal, deficient.’
A Culture of Silence is a Dangerous Culture
Women injured at work and seeking workers' compensation to survive and access medical care for their workplace injury often face further abuse from the system itself. Sometimes the Claims Service Providers or Regulators or Administrators.These entities can become coercive controllers by enabling abusive practices, deepening the trauma of those already suffering. The systemic neglect they encounter echoes the horrors of past institutionalization, where individuals were confined in asylums, deprived of real care, and forgotten. Today, women seeking aid face similar mistreatment and neglect. For those within the system, the fear of speaking up and facing retribution is real. Changing a system built on power and money, one that didn't include women in its scope until the 1970s, is daunting. It is particularly daunting when their return to their previous job can become ‘invisible’ despite legislative protection.
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They are then labeled as business risks, transitioning from valued team members to untouchables. Unlike other victims, those with workplace injuries are often required to disclose this on future job applications, marking them as victims and subjecting them to stigma. This also presents a dilemma for businesses: should they hire someone perceived as a risk?
The abuse women endure in workers' compensation is akin to the trauma survivors of domestic violence face, devastating their mental health. Long-term interactions with financial systems like superannuation, designed to help but administered by the same parties, instill profound distrust. Women must rely on their abusers to put food on the table or access medical help. Seeking support from traditionally trusted helpers—police, doctors, lawyers, judges—often results in having their complaints diminished, furthering feelings of betrayal and disempowerment. They become isolated, disheartened, and overwhelmed by injustice, struggling to advocate for themselves amid severe financial constraints and ongoing trauma.
Prolonged and adversarial legal processes entrap victims, exacerbating their hopelessness and underscoring systemic failures. This betrayal is especially cruel when women muster the courage to seek assistance, only to find that the support they were promised is another form of abuse.
A Landmark Legal Battle Against Failed Systems
Adam Elisha's story demonstrates remarkable tenacity in his quiet determination to hold his employer accountable and expose WorkSafe's handling of his case. When insurers couldn't resolve his quest for medical expenses and weekly wages through simple correspondence, Adam took the matter to the Magistrate's Court of Victoria. His extraordinary journey involved simultaneously managing illness, navigating the complexities of WorkSafe's Workers' Compensation system, and pursuing his employer for damages and negligence once his impairment was established. The case concluded with mixed outcomes: at the High Court, Adam won on contract law—indeed, changed contract law by overturning a 115-year-old precedent—but lost on the duty of care action.
The court found that employers owe no duty of care to employees and injured workers, giving them considerable discretion in their actions. The case of Elisha v Vision Australia Ltd stands as a landmark decision in Australian legal history, where one individual's pursuit of justice led to significant changes that finally recognized workers' full rights under contract law.