A former police officer suffering post-traumatic stress has been forced to take his fight for compensation to court after rejecting the “paltry” amount offered by the government.
Michael Thornbury said he had been seeking a fair go from WA Police since his medical retirement in 2012, but the government had not been serious about properly compensating him and his family.
Mr Thornbury headed up the Peel traffic crash investigation unit before being hit with full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
He said the amount offered by government lawyers to settle the case would have left just a few thousands dollars in his pocket after paying for his treatment over the last few years.
“They're not really interested, it's just a shame given that they've been promising police would get a workers compensation scheme since 1998, and if they'd done it, I wouldn't be here,” he said.
I feel let down, abandoned, and it's just the case that I'm doing this for the people who are still in the job.
- Former police officer Michael Thornbury
Mr Thornbury, who is also a qualified automotive mechanic, said he had been out of work since retiring from the police because of his public fight for compensation.
“I’ve applied for between 100 and 150 jobs, but as soon as soon as they hear the word PTSD, you don’t even get a look in,” he said.
“After all those applications, I only got one interview.”
He said he was not just lying around the house looking for easy money.
“I just want to be back in the position I was in in the early 2000s before I got PTSD,” he said.
The settlement offered by the government would also mean he would be forced to give up his right to access the Former Police Officers Medical Benefit Scheme, which covers some medical expenses.
Mr Thornbury said he would continue the fight because he didn’t want his case to set a precedent for other police officers.
“The easiest way to describe it is disappointment; I feel let down, abandoned, and it's just the case that I'm doing this for the people who are still in the job,” he said.
“We have a very young family and we're not being looked after post-service.”
A spokesperson for WA Police said there was still no immediate plans for the introduction of a police workers compensation scheme.
“While WA Police has carried out significant research on the options available for a workers’ compensation arrangement for Police officers, no formal negotiations have been conducted with the WA Police Union so there is no timeline,” she said.
“You may be aware that the Commissioner stated at the Police Union’s annual conference that the parties need to be aware that it could be a number of years before an agreed scheme can be implemented, given the likely need for legislation to be amended.”
Mr Thornbury said he attended his first pre-trial conference last Thursday and hoped the case would come to trial soon.
