🧨 Mark Latham’s Bargaining Chip
Sexual Harassment and the Workers Comp Bill
While the NSW Government sells the 2025 Workers Compensation reforms as budget repair, Mark Latham is playing a different game, and he’s using survivors of workplace abuse as leverage.
Latham has pushed a targeted amendment: that no worker should be able to claim compensation for sexual harassment, racial harassment, or bullying unless there’s a formal legal finding - from a tribunal, court, or commission. Not an internal investigation. Not medical evidence. Not your word. Just a ruling that might take years to obtain, if it ever comes at all.
This isn’t a reform. It’s a rollback. And it’s not coming from nowhere.
🤝 Who’s He Cutting Deals With?
Behind the scenes, Latham has found allies in the Coalition. Liberal and National MPs are voting in step with him. Together, they’re reshaping the Bill into something even more punitive for vulnerable workers.
And while the Labor Government remains awkwardly silent, trying to distance itself from Latham’s history without rejecting the political convenience of his amendments - his role as a powerbroker is undeniable.
This is a calculated partnership, not a rogue act.
He’s not protecting workers.
He’s protecting power.
🎭 Let’s Be Honest
Latham’s obsession with this clause isn’t about justice - it’s about gatekeeping.
Forcing a survivor to win a legal case first before they can even access psychological injury support is a deliberate barrier. It narrows eligibility. It offloads liability from employers and insurers. And it devastates early intervention.
This amendment doesn’t strengthen protections - it erodes them.
So ask yourself:
Why this clause?
Why this issue?
And why is Mark Latham suddenly the face of reform for survivors?
The answer is: he’s not.
He’s the dealmaker behind closed doors. And women, workers of colour, and those suffering from workplace trauma are the collateral.
🧨 Mark Latham.
And a Bargain at Workers’ Expense.
What’s being sold as “reform” is really a deal - cut behind closed doors - on the backs of vulnerable workers.
📣 This amendment must be called out for what it is: a barrier, not a protection.
📧 Share this edition.
📞 Call your MP.
🗣️ Speak up before it’s too late.
This isn’t just policy - it’s a precedent.
✊ Workers deserve justice, not red tape.
📨 Forward this to a colleague, a friend, or anyone who thinks backroom politics has no place in trauma recovery.