Workers’ voice is all about lived experience and we will be focusing on listening to, and learning from, workers who have made a claim for workers’ compensation and also their support network including their family and friends.

Our approach places the workers’ voices at the centre of our study. We want to reflect their voices in the virtual workers’ compensation systems that we will co-design with injured workers.

Remaining independent means that our findings will reflect the workers’ voice.

We think it is very important that the study is independent of any organisations that are involved in Australian workers’ compensation systems (including the government). Remaining independent means that our findings will reflect the workers’ voice, rather than other louder voices (we hear from them a lot already).

The study is led by Monash University in Melbourne and also involves researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of Waterloo in Canada.

The research team has full autonomy over how we conduct the research.

The research team has spent many years studying workers’ compensation in Australia and overseas. Some of us were previously employed in the workers’ compensation systems. A member of our research team spent over 30 years caring for someone who was injured at work.

This study is funded by the Australian Research Council (https://www.arc.gov.au/about-arc) however, it is important to note that the research team has full autonomy over how the research is conducted. No additional funding has been received from any other organisations for this study. Some members of the research team have received funding from other organisations for their broader work, such as government agencies that oversee workers’ compensation systems, for other projects.

---