State Schools Personal Accident Insurance
Thursday, 05 August 2010 10:34
04 Aug 2010
Private Members Statements
State Schools, Personal Accident Insurance
Dr FLEGG (Moggill—LNP) (11.45 am): When a child from a Queensland state school takes thefield in sport, or does the high ropes or climbs on rocks, he or she runs a small but serious risk of havinga serious injury such as a spinal injury, an acquired brain injury and the like. I am talking about rare butcatastrophic injuries thatoccur that encompass massive medical bills, massive rehabilitation bills, homemodifications and implications for a lifetime of reduced earnings.
I am pleased that since the LNP focused on this issue in April of this year it has heightened awareness. A letter sent to students at Tullawong State High School for their Indigenous camp concludes with this statement—
Physical activity and physical education, particularly contact sport, carry inherent risks of injury. Parents are advised that theDepartment of Education, Training and the Arts does not have personal accident insurance cover for students.
Awareness is a step forward, but it is not far enough. That letter would have been even better if the government was making parents aware of where they could obtain such insurance or, better still, if the insurance was provided. We live in an insured world for these sort of risks.
On 24 July this year the Courier-Mail carried an article which talked about payments for small injuries in childhood—what some people call shut-up money—in a bizarre and inconsistent system. But we really need to ensure that Queensland children have a caring system that cares enough to make sure they are not dragged through the courts for years to try to prove negligence to meet their basic needs if they are subject to a catastrophic injury. If a broke state government cannot afford insurance, it should at least be making an effort to parents—