Hundreds of Victorians injured at work have been excluded from compensation payments. (With Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)

The curtailment of Victoria’s workers’ compensation scheme has left hundreds without payments in a matter of months and caused a change of $565 million.

Changes to the WorkCover scheme to restrict eligibility and increase testing requirements in a bid to reduce spiraling costs came into force at the end of March.

The scheme posted a profit of $389 million in 2023/24 after posting a loss of $176 million during the previous financial year, WorkSafe’s annual report shows.

That result was $1.22 billion higher than the target, with reduced claims expenses cited as a contributing factor.

The Public and Community Sector Union accused the state Labor government of “profiteering” from injured Victorians, after The Age reported that 726 workers had financial support withdrawn in the first four months since the rules changed.

“The financial recovery in just a few months confirms that the changes went too far,” said the union’s Victorian secretary, Karen Batt.

“I estimate that from June to the end of 2024, another 1,600 workers with accepted claims will be submitted for evaluation.

“And if the percentage kicked out of the plan is the same, there will be another 1,200 injured workers who will not be entitled to continued support.”

Under the changes, workers suffering from stress and burnout will no longer be able to access weekly WorkCover benefits, but can still receive up to 13 weeks of interim payments to cover medical treatments and services.

Workers who receive payments for more than two and a half years now have to undergo another disability test to determine if they cannot work indefinitely and meet a “whole person impairment” of more than 20 percent.

Faced with strong opposition to the bill from unions and the backbench, Labor reached an agreement with the coalition to freeze company bonuses for a year to ensure its approval in parliament.

Some 98,000 Victorians received WorkCover support in 2022/23 and taxpayers had topped up the scheme with an additional $1.3 billion to offset rising costs.

WorkSafe Minister Danny Pearson said 33,000 injured workers were currently receiving weekly payments and 26,000 returned to work last year.

“The way (the plan) was previously constructed cost businesses a fortune, cost the government a fortune and made injured workers sicker,” he said.

He suggested it was too early to know if there were “unintended consequences” that needed to be addressed.

“I appreciate that this is four months’ worth of data,” Mr Pearson said.

“But we need to give time for the scheme… to recalibrate and that will take some time to work in the system.”

A panel of independent experts will consider the impact of the reforms in 2027 as part of a legal review.