Troubled NSW state insurer iCare is yet to fully clarify the type of organisation it seeks to be and the standards to which it aspires, a report has found.
iCare on Monday released the PwC-produced report, which was commissioned in October 2020 to report on the agency's governance and culture.
It is separate to the McDougall Review, a statutory five-year review of iCare which was in August 2020 brought forward and tasked with a "root and branch" examination of the insurer's conduct.
iCare is an employer-funded workers insurer, owned by the state and overseen by the NSW treasurer but independent from government. It was one of three organisations that replaced WorkCover in 2015.
It emerged last year that iCare had underpaid thousands of injured workers millions of dollars in compensation and suffered major staffing issues.
Former chief executive John Nagle was forced to resign in August after failing to properly declare his wife's contract with the insurer.
The report released on Monday lauded iCare for the appointment of a new chief risk officer and renewal at the chair and chief executive level.
However it also outlined that significant changes need to be implemented if the organisation intends to clean up its act, with governance not yet sufficiently focused on delivering quality customer outcomes.
The report found iCare had not fully clarified the type of organisation it seeks to be, nor the compliance standards to which it seeks to be held.
It also found accountabilities for iCare's decisions, outcomes and performances were not adequately defined, while policies for identifying and managing emerging issues have not been resolved.
The report made 76 recommendations including the enhancement of management, risk and conduct reporting, a stronger relationship with insurance regulator SIRA, and improved record-keeping.
It also said iCare should clarify employee responsibilities and standards.
iCare said it would use the PwC report to refocus on its "core priorities" of caring for injured workers and road users, and would soon hire a group executive for risk and governance.
"We welcome the report and have already taken action on many of the issues highlighted - new employee policies, tighter rules and guidelines, more stringent reporting, new avenues to speak up when there is an issue," chief executive Richard Harding said in a statement.
iCare announced earlier this month interim chief executive Don Ferguson would leave the government-owned insurer in six months' time, while group executives Rob Craig and Sara Kahlau would depart sooner.
But the NSW Labor opposition said the trio's lucrative payouts, reaching a combined $1.2 million, were tantamount to a "golden parachute".
The agency insisted the three departing executives would only receive entitlements in line with their employment contracts.
iCare provides workers compensation insurance to more than 326,000 businesses in NSW, insuring some 3.6 million employees.
Australian Associated Press
