24-07-2017-Ipswich

Date	24 July 2017
Charges	Charge 1 – Section 533 Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) (WCRA) – Attempted Fraud Charge 2 – Section 534(2) WCRA – False or misleading information or document Charge 3 – Section 534(2) WCRA – False or misleading information or document
Court	Ipswich Magistrates Court
Plea	Heard Ex Parte
Case	The worker was charged for providing false information to a workers' compensation insurer in order to gain compensation for a non-work related injury.
Facts	The attempted fraud involved the defendant making an application for workers' compensation to an insurer alleging a workplace incident occurred on 1 June 2016 caused him to fracture bones in his right hand. The defendant made representations to the effect that he was not suffering any form of right hand pain or injury when he started his shift on 1 June 2016. The evidence shows that the defendant was informed at the Ipswich Hospital on 26 May 2016 that the bones in his right hand were fractured (prior to the alleged workplace incident) and he was scheduled for corrective hand surgery on 3 June 2016. The defendant knew he was not entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits from the insurer because he knew the bones in his right hand were fractured prior to the alleged workplace related incident and were not work-related. A complaint was filed in the Ipswich Magistrates Court charging the defendant with three separate offences under the WCRA. The charges included one charge of attempted fraud under section 533 (for attempting to obtain workers' compensation benefits for a non-work related injury) and two charges of providing false and misleading information under section 534 of the WCRA.
Penalty	$1,000.00 fine
Restitution	Nil
Costs	$4,970.80 - Workers' Compensation Regulators Costs
Common Law rights extinguished?	Yes
Conviction	Not recorded
Consideration for Prevention	A worker should not provide false and misleading information to an insurer in relation to the cause of injury and any previous injuries they have suffered in order to obtain workers' compensation for a non-work related injury.