Hospitality and accommodation industries have praised the New South Wales Government’s WorkCover reforms, which are expected to result in reduced premiums for employers.

the reduction in costs for tourism accommodation businesses could be in the vicinity of 7.5 per cent of premiums, with accommodation association of australia chief executive officer Richard Munro saying the savings could be significant in what is one of the most labour-intensive industry sectors.

“In the current environment where many small and medium businesses are facing financial difficulties due to the cost of red tape and the impact of the carbon tax, the WorkCover reforms offer enormous encouragement and the potential savings could result in more jobs,” Richard said.

“although we are still to receive more comprehensive information about the reforms, employees in our industry can also have confidence that they will be better off under the new arrangements.”

Richard said the reforms are consistent with the NSW Government’s pledge to help to make the state more business friendly, particularly for tourism businesses.

“Our initial analysis of the reforms is that the reliance on specialised insurance schemes in NSW will become obsolete as businesses choose to re-engage with the NSW WorkCover scheme,” he said.