In the past 20 years there has been a significant growth in those working in self-employment, in
micro small businesses, or under casual, part-time, subcontract, franchised, telework or homeworking
arrangements in Australia. These employment status groups are now commonly known as precarious workers;
principally because their continued employment and income is uncertain. The available research indicates that
the probability of a work-related injury is greater for precarious workers. This paper focuses on the extent to
which precariously employed Australian workers formally report their work-related injuries and illnesses and
claim workers’ compensation.
While Australia has comprehensive – although fragmented – workers’ compensation insurance systems, this
formal coverage does not correlate with the propensity to make workers’ compensation claims. Findings from
a series of Australian precarious worker studies are summarised in this paper and a detailed analysis of
workers’ compensation claims experiences from our latest research project on long distance truck drivers is
presented. We argue that even those precarious workers covered by workers’ compensation insurance are less
likely to claim than other workers for two key reasons: uncertainty of coverage and fear of consequences if a
claim is made. Thus injured precarious workers are more reliant on their own resources after injury, to
externalise injury treatment costs onto taxpayer funded resources, or to leave injuries and illness untreated with
a potential to develop into chronic conditions.