The WICC commenced in June 2021, to strengthen the voice of Victorians who have been affected by a serious workplace incident.
About the WICC
The WICC is established under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Act) to provide advice to the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC about:
- the needs of persons affected by workplace incidents involving death, serious injury or serious illness
- the development, review and improvement of policies, practices, strategies and systems relating to serious workplace incidents and occupational health and safety more generally.
The WICC comprises up to 15 members with lived experience of a serious workplace incident involving death, serious injury or illness, and one government member. Members are appointed by the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC. A list of members is available below.
The WICC’s work is supported by the Victorian Government’s Families and Injured Workers System Reform Fund (Fund), which provides $4 million to support reforms and initiatives recommended by the WICC.
Achievements
2024-25 Annual Report
Key achievements in 2024-25
- Provided recommendations which were incorporated into the amendments to the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act), which came into effect 6 August 2025. Key changes include extending financial and counselling supports for family members following a work-related death.
- Published videos where committee members share their personal stories and key safety messages for workers and employers.
- Provided a formal submission to the Sentencing Advisory Council’s inquiry into the sentencing of occupational health and safety offences in Victoria.
- Engaged Monash University to co-design a project that will use data linkage to quantify the social and economic impacts of serious workplace incidents.
2023-24 Annual Report
2022-23 Annual Report
Key achievements since WICC was established in June 2021
- Finalised its report A Best Practice Model of Workplace Incident Support, outlining opportunities to improve the experience of affected families, injured workers and co-workers following a serious incident.
- Provided advice to the Department of Treasury and Finance, including best practice principles for better support for injured workers, to inform the future work of Return to Work Victoria.
- Provided advice to WorkSafe Victoria (WorkSafe) to influence legislative amendments included in the Workplace Safety Legislation and Other Matters Amendment Act 2022. This included:
- extending the duration of household support available to families following a work-related death to be provided for six months following a worker’s death, instead of three months.
- extending compensation to cover costs incurred outside of Australia related to a funeral, burial, cremation, or repatriation of a deceased worker’s body.
- Provided advice to WorkSafe on the design of the bereavement support service provided to families after a workplace death, including:
- basing the service on a companion model of support, with one central point of contact staying with the bereaved family throughout their journey to provide them with tailored care, and
- ensuring families with complex needs or ongoing court matters can continue accessing support beyond 12 months.
- Appointed observers to WorkSafe’s Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (OHSAC) and the Workplace Advisory Committee (WAC), providing valuable lived experience perspectives to these committees and reporting back to the Committee to inform its work.
- Provided initial advice to support WorkSafe’s implementation of the Government Response to Peter Rozen KC’s review, Improving the experience of injured workers: A review of WorkSafe Victoria's management of complex workers' compensation claims (Review). WICC is continuing to engage with WorkSafe to inform implementation of these reforms.
WICC’s inaugural 2021-22 Annual Report
Members
The WICC currently comprises 10 lived experience members and one Government representative. Members are appointed by the Minister for a period of no longer than three years, with eligibility to be re-appointed for one additional term.
The WICC is co-chaired by the Government member and a lived experience member, who is elected by the lived experience members.
Brett Struhs – Non-Government Co-Chair and lived experience member
Brett was appointed as the lived experience Co-Chair of the WICC in December 2024. Brett’s son, Kyle, died on 30th November 2018 from head injuries sustained falling from a ladder while installing solar panels in Bendigo for a small company called Solar 2.0. He brings valuable experience from being a previous Families Reference Group (FRG) member, and he has experienced the whole WorkCover process from death to court case and brings a regional perspective to the WICC.
Hear from WICC lived experience member Brett in his own words.
Mr Gary Maas MP – Member for Narre Warren South and Government Co Chair
Gary was appointed as Government Co-Chair of the WICC in April 2023. The role was previously held by Ms Bronwyn Halfpenny MP.
Gary was elected as Member for Narre Warren South in 2018. Before entering Parliament, Gary worked as a musician, teacher, lawyer, organiser, union secretary, and board director on commercial and not-for-profit boards.
Abha Somesh – Deputy Co-chair and lived experience member
Abha sustained a serious injury to her back while caring for a patient in her role as a Critical Care Nurse in July 2020. Abha was house-bound for the next year and ultimately had to have spinal fusion surgery. This experience has required adjustments to Abha’s everyday life. Her experience of a serious workplace injury and interacting with the WorkCover system has fuelled a commitment to use her experience to help optimise processes to support and advocate for injured workers. Abha is passionate about improving occupational health and safety awareness among healthcare workers.
Joe Alderuccio – Lived experience member
Joe is an Occupational Health and Safety professional with 18 years of experience across both public and private sector workplaces. In that time, Joe has been a first responder, investigated or led crisis response and post-incident support in relation to serious incidents resulting in life-changing injuries and/or fatality. Joe has been involved directly and indirectly in three workplace deaths in the construction industry and he is committed to doing what he can to support the prevention of serious and fatal incidents, recognising the trauma and enduring impact it has for everyone on site.
Samantha Burns – Lived experience member
Samantha’s brother, Shaun Burns, was killed at work in September 2018 when a crane failed, dropping concrete on him and another worker. She brings to the WICC strong advocacy experience as an FRG member and is motivated to improve compensation and support for close family members of persons killed in workplace incidents who are not dependents. As a Clinical Neuropsychologist, she also has experience seeing the issues that arise for workers and families following a serious injury.
Dr Lana Cormie – Lived experience member
Dr Lana Cormie was the inaugural lived experience Co-chair of the WICC until December 2024.
Lana currently works in the Occupational Health and Safety sector. Her background includes work as a Veterinary Surgeon and in Animal Welfare. Lana’s husband, Charlie Howkins, was one of two men killed in the Delacombe Trench Collapse while working for Pipecon Pty Ltd. Since 2018, Lana has been an active advocate for workplace safety reform. She brings considerable experience to the WICC as a previous member of the FRG and the Workplace Manslaughter Implementation Taskforce (Taskforce) as well as having relevant OHS qualifications and professional experience.
Nick McHugh – Lived experience member
Nick was a police officer for 27 years and has served as an OHS representative and peer support officer. He has supported colleagues through workplace stress and bullying incidents through these roles. In supporting others, it became apparent that being proactive and making changes quickly could prevent further harm. A desire to help speed up response and action has motivated him to join the WICC.
Bette Phillips-Campbell – Lived experience member
Bette’s son died in 1991 after being electrocuted while working as an apprentice. While more than 30 years have passed since the incident, Bette has made a significant contribution to workplace safety reform both as a member of the FRG and the WICC. Bette also contributes strong experience working with families affected by workplace fatalities as a counsellor for GriefWork Uniting. She also brings a regional perspective to the WICC.
Jacquie Robertson – Lived experience member
Jacquie's partner died in a workplace incident whilst working at an engineering facility in Bendigo in 2020. Since then, Jacquie has worked to assist others going through the Comcare workers’ compensation system and to advocate for change. Jacquie’s feedback to Comcare’s regulatory area has helped to shape the newly established Family Liaison role. Jacquie has also been assisting Comcare with polices and information guides to be given to families when someone is severely injured or dies at the workplace and she is motivated to contributing to positive change in the Victorian context. Her background is in Paediatric nursing.
Ralph Snider – Lived experience member
Ralph suffered pain in his forearms resulting in a chronic pain condition while working as a Senior Analyst Programmer in 1992 and suffered a recurrence in 2004. Ralph has lived experience managing a long-term injury that ultimately led him to change careers in 2005 to become a Disability Employment Consultant. He subsequently worked as a Vocational Consultant in the Occupational Rehabilitation Industry assisting people on WorkCover and Traffic Accident Commission cover to find work. He completed a Graduate Diploma in Careers Education and Development in 2010 and a Feldenkrais Training program in 2001. Ralph is the WICC observer representative at WorkSafe’s WorkCover Advisory Committee (WAC).
Hear from WICC lived experience member Ralph in his own words.
Llewellyn Stevens – Lived experience member
Llewellyn suffered a serious psychosocial injury in the workplace. He has also been a carer for someone with a mental health condition caused by workplace bullying. Llewellyn wants to use his experience to help people by advocating for systemic improvements. He brings significant professional experience in market research and insights in addition to developing strategy at a global consultancy.
Hear from former WICC lived experience member Dave Brownlee in his own words.
Terms of Reference
Contact the WICC
If you would like to get in touch with the WICC, including to consult the WICC on a topic or project, please refer to the documents below.
WICC Principles of Consultation and Engagement
WICC Consultation Form
You can contact the WICC by emailing the Secretariat: wiccsecretariat@dtf.vic.gov.au.
Updated