injuryupdate
10-12-2007, 12:23 AM
From The Australian 10/12/07:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22896072-5012431,00.html
Players exposed to great risks
Louis White | December 10, 2007
FOR Gavin Sibley it was supposed to be just another match. The 37-year-old was still playing A-grade rugby league for East Campbelltown when he attempted to tackle an oncoming player, slipped and fell, hitting his head on his opponent's hip. That was the last game of rugby league Sibley ever played.
The last time he walked.
Sibley was diagnosed as a complete and permanent C5 tetraplegia (quadriplegia). Unable to care for himself or his immediate family, including his daughter, Sibley moved in with his parents to a modified house, where he has lived ever since.
That was four years ago. Sibley received the maximum payout eligible under the NSW Sporting Injuries Insurance Act of 1978 of $171,000, established by the NSW Government.
The scheme provides player accident and injury insurance cover for both amateur and professional sportspeople and is open to all sporting organisations operating within NSW that elect to join.
The NSW Government is the only one in Australia to have this kind of insurance, which allows individuals who receive a permanent disability and other injuries to claim compensation.
Sibley received the maximum benefit, which is not much when you consider he is unable to work for the rest of his life and has continuous medical bills.
"I have basically been left to fend for myself," Sibley said. "Private health insurance covered the first year of medical expenses but I am, and will be, buying medication for the rest of my life.
"I was disappointed the NSW Rugby League didn't help out much, especially as I had played the game for near on 30 years.
"My parents are getting old and won't be always able to look after me and I can't expect my daughter too, either. I would like a carer and to be able to live by myself but I don't have the money to afford that. I mean, who is going to look after me when my parents pass away?"
John Orchard, who recently toured with the Australian cricket side as its team doctor in India, wrote a paper for the Medical Journal of Australia calling for the establishment of a federal government body for monitoring and preventing sports injuries.
"Work-related and traffic accident (prevention) have been listed as two of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century," Orchard wrote.
"These achievements would not have been possible without major bodies having responsibility for monitoring injury rates and instituting preventive measures."
Yet Orchard laments how far behind New Zealand this country is in regard to caring for people injured playing sport.
Australia has no national sporting injuries body to assess and compensate injuries and accidents such as Sibley's, unlike our neighbour across the Tasman.
The New Zealand Government established Accident Compensation Corp (ACC) which provides compensation (both sporting and non-sporting) for all New Zealand citizens, residents and temporary visitors to New Zealand.
In return people do not have the right to sue for personal injury, other than for exemplary damages. It was a system established more than 30 years ago and has had continual modifications since its inception.
All catastrophic spinal injuries are compensated with lifetime medical care and annual replacement of 80 per cent of wages, which can lead up to $NZ14million ($12.4m) a case. The maximum payout to a rugby player in Australia rendered quadriplegic in 2005 was $300,000.
"New Zealand is showing that this model works equally well for sports injuries, so why should it not be applied in Australia?" Orchard wrote.
"There is approximately $1.6 billion per year spent in sports injuries costs but it is hard to quantify that because there is no department set up to monitor it. It is not a priority in Australia but it should be.
"We need to increase the payout at least tenfold to quadriplegia to bring it into line with compensation for quadriplegia arising from other causes.
"I really think we could take some of the processes involved in the NZ model and adopt them here incorporating what we have already established because at the moment there are far to many gaps in the system and trying to navigate it is confusing for the majority of people."
In Australia, sporting insurance varies from individual to the club to the sport involved. It also varies across states.
"A sports insurance scheme varies on content between sports but would be made up of at least one or all of the following insurance products: public liability, professional indemnity, directors and officers liability, personal accident, property, event liability," Barry Killham from DHB Insurance Brokers said.
"The products are no different between professional and amateur sports, only the risk varies, so then does the sum insured and the premium costs.
"Personal accident insurance provides cover for all participants for injuries caused as of result of participation in the sport.
"Generally, the cover for amateur sports participants is limited and all should be aware playing a sport (especially body contact) does come at a risk of injury. And as such, all participants should consider additional private health insurance or their own income protection."
When a player is permanently injured all three insurance parties, the individual's, club's and governing body, can become involved with all insurance parties contributing in some form but the maximum a player will generally receive for a permanent disability in Australia is around $500,000.
A knock-on effect from New Zealand's ACC has been the establishment of RugbySmart in 2001. This includes a 10-point annual injury prevention program that was made compulsory for all coaches and referees.
It is estimated that spinal injuries have halved from 2.7 per 100,000 players per year in the period 1996-2000 to 1.3 spinal injuries per 100,000 players per year in the period 2001-2005. Published rates in Australia are higher at 3.2 to 6.8 spinal injuries per 100,000 players per year.
John Mayhew has seen the benefits first hand having worked as a doctor with the All Blacks and New Zealand Warriors.
"The end result is that both the professional and non-professional game are much better looked after," Mayhew said.
"Everything is paid for, whether it is blood tests, X-rays, scans for the elite and non-elite player. The advantages of accident compensation far outweigh the disadvantages and you will be compensated for the rest of your life, not just a one-off payment. Most physiotherapists and other health care professionals would not survive without the ACC."
Mayhew was also full of praise for the RugbySmart program in New Zealand.
"The primary advice leads to prevention and it has as proactive and a reactive arm to it," he said.
"We have seen spinal injury rates come down and it is a great initiative. Of course there is a levy to pay but is no difference to paying your car registration to cover for vehicle accidents."
Orchard believes the matter is critical.
"No-one loses out if sport is made safer," he said
Gavin Sibley would agree.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22896072-5012431,00.html
Players exposed to great risks
Louis White | December 10, 2007
FOR Gavin Sibley it was supposed to be just another match. The 37-year-old was still playing A-grade rugby league for East Campbelltown when he attempted to tackle an oncoming player, slipped and fell, hitting his head on his opponent's hip. That was the last game of rugby league Sibley ever played.
The last time he walked.
Sibley was diagnosed as a complete and permanent C5 tetraplegia (quadriplegia). Unable to care for himself or his immediate family, including his daughter, Sibley moved in with his parents to a modified house, where he has lived ever since.
That was four years ago. Sibley received the maximum payout eligible under the NSW Sporting Injuries Insurance Act of 1978 of $171,000, established by the NSW Government.
The scheme provides player accident and injury insurance cover for both amateur and professional sportspeople and is open to all sporting organisations operating within NSW that elect to join.
The NSW Government is the only one in Australia to have this kind of insurance, which allows individuals who receive a permanent disability and other injuries to claim compensation.
Sibley received the maximum benefit, which is not much when you consider he is unable to work for the rest of his life and has continuous medical bills.
"I have basically been left to fend for myself," Sibley said. "Private health insurance covered the first year of medical expenses but I am, and will be, buying medication for the rest of my life.
"I was disappointed the NSW Rugby League didn't help out much, especially as I had played the game for near on 30 years.
"My parents are getting old and won't be always able to look after me and I can't expect my daughter too, either. I would like a carer and to be able to live by myself but I don't have the money to afford that. I mean, who is going to look after me when my parents pass away?"
John Orchard, who recently toured with the Australian cricket side as its team doctor in India, wrote a paper for the Medical Journal of Australia calling for the establishment of a federal government body for monitoring and preventing sports injuries.
"Work-related and traffic accident (prevention) have been listed as two of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century," Orchard wrote.
"These achievements would not have been possible without major bodies having responsibility for monitoring injury rates and instituting preventive measures."
Yet Orchard laments how far behind New Zealand this country is in regard to caring for people injured playing sport.
Australia has no national sporting injuries body to assess and compensate injuries and accidents such as Sibley's, unlike our neighbour across the Tasman.
The New Zealand Government established Accident Compensation Corp (ACC) which provides compensation (both sporting and non-sporting) for all New Zealand citizens, residents and temporary visitors to New Zealand.
In return people do not have the right to sue for personal injury, other than for exemplary damages. It was a system established more than 30 years ago and has had continual modifications since its inception.
All catastrophic spinal injuries are compensated with lifetime medical care and annual replacement of 80 per cent of wages, which can lead up to $NZ14million ($12.4m) a case. The maximum payout to a rugby player in Australia rendered quadriplegic in 2005 was $300,000.
"New Zealand is showing that this model works equally well for sports injuries, so why should it not be applied in Australia?" Orchard wrote.
"There is approximately $1.6 billion per year spent in sports injuries costs but it is hard to quantify that because there is no department set up to monitor it. It is not a priority in Australia but it should be.
"We need to increase the payout at least tenfold to quadriplegia to bring it into line with compensation for quadriplegia arising from other causes.
"I really think we could take some of the processes involved in the NZ model and adopt them here incorporating what we have already established because at the moment there are far to many gaps in the system and trying to navigate it is confusing for the majority of people."
In Australia, sporting insurance varies from individual to the club to the sport involved. It also varies across states.
"A sports insurance scheme varies on content between sports but would be made up of at least one or all of the following insurance products: public liability, professional indemnity, directors and officers liability, personal accident, property, event liability," Barry Killham from DHB Insurance Brokers said.
"The products are no different between professional and amateur sports, only the risk varies, so then does the sum insured and the premium costs.
"Personal accident insurance provides cover for all participants for injuries caused as of result of participation in the sport.
"Generally, the cover for amateur sports participants is limited and all should be aware playing a sport (especially body contact) does come at a risk of injury. And as such, all participants should consider additional private health insurance or their own income protection."
When a player is permanently injured all three insurance parties, the individual's, club's and governing body, can become involved with all insurance parties contributing in some form but the maximum a player will generally receive for a permanent disability in Australia is around $500,000.
A knock-on effect from New Zealand's ACC has been the establishment of RugbySmart in 2001. This includes a 10-point annual injury prevention program that was made compulsory for all coaches and referees.
It is estimated that spinal injuries have halved from 2.7 per 100,000 players per year in the period 1996-2000 to 1.3 spinal injuries per 100,000 players per year in the period 2001-2005. Published rates in Australia are higher at 3.2 to 6.8 spinal injuries per 100,000 players per year.
John Mayhew has seen the benefits first hand having worked as a doctor with the All Blacks and New Zealand Warriors.
"The end result is that both the professional and non-professional game are much better looked after," Mayhew said.
"Everything is paid for, whether it is blood tests, X-rays, scans for the elite and non-elite player. The advantages of accident compensation far outweigh the disadvantages and you will be compensated for the rest of your life, not just a one-off payment. Most physiotherapists and other health care professionals would not survive without the ACC."
Mayhew was also full of praise for the RugbySmart program in New Zealand.
"The primary advice leads to prevention and it has as proactive and a reactive arm to it," he said.
"We have seen spinal injury rates come down and it is a great initiative. Of course there is a levy to pay but is no difference to paying your car registration to cover for vehicle accidents."
Orchard believes the matter is critical.
"No-one loses out if sport is made safer," he said
Gavin Sibley would agree.