These findings were broadcast on ABC TV's Four Corners recently and were widely reported in the print media.

It is high time these problems were fixed, as every injured worker deserves appropriate compensation.

As Greens MP and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge said, "The mismanagement and failures of the NSW compensation scheme highlighted in last night's Four Corners episode must not be swept under the carpet."

A key regulator has referred conduct at the nation's largest workers' compensation insurance scheme to the NSW anti-corruption authority amid repeated warnings about its deteriorating financial position and solvency risks.

Separately, the Victorian workers' compensation scheme, which lost more than $800 million last year, has been accused by an ombudsman of presiding over immoral and unethical practices after external insurance agents were offered financial incentives to terminate coverage for injured workers.

Problems in the two schemes, which cover almost half the nation's workforce, are leading to delays and to denials of medical treatment, making some workers sicker and delaying their return to their jobs.

The joint investigation accessed hundreds of sensitive NSW government documents, as well as a cache of leaked documents handed over by a whistleblower at icare, which runs the biggest workers' compensation scheme in the nation and which covers more than three million workers in NSW.

The leaked internal icare documents detail claims of credit card theft, concerns about international trips that were not disclosed in a timely fashion and how some contracts were awarded.

The NSW regulator that oversees icare confirmed it has referred conduct within the organisation to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The government documents reveal as many as 52,000 injured workers in NSW have been underpaid up to $80 million in compensation for loss of wages in one of the biggest underpayment scandals involving a government agency in the country.

Icare, which manages the NSW workers' compensation scheme, covers more than three million employees for weekly payments and any medical treatments they require if they are injured at work.

Employers are required under law to take out a workers' compensation policy as a safety net for workers.

In NSW, most businesses use icare, which collects more than $2.5 billion a year in premiums.

Icare replaced the WorkCover Authority of NSW, which was dissolved after running up a deficit.

It was set up in 2015 with a $4 billion surplus, but bureaucrats and regulators are concerned about its deteriorating finances.

The chief executive of workers' compensation regulator State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), Carmel Donnelly, told the joint media investigation she had "grave concerns" about iCare and was deeply disappointed in its performance.

Government documents show SIRA's concerns about the deterioration of icare's financial position stretch back to at least June 2018.

We should note that these failings have happened under the watch of the NSW Treasurer and the current icare Board.

"At a minimum the treasurer must terminate the icare Board, demand senior executives return their bonuses and ensure injured workers are back paid the millions of dollars owing to them," Mr Shoebridge said.

Sadly, but predictably, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is standing by the state-government owned insurer icare, saying concerns about icare's financial viability and performance were "not new".

Apparently the NSW Treasury abandoned the icare review after it complained the proposed investigation would be "overkill".

With the scheme running fresh deficits and major mismanagement being proven, the senior executives and board of icare remain the highest paid in the entire NSW public sector.

Injured workers have the right to live with dignity, have their medical costs and lost wages covered and to be supported to return to work wherever they can.

It's time the private profit motive was removed from the NSW workers' compensation scheme and injured workers, not executives pay and insurance profits, were placed at the centre.

"The treasurer needs to send a message that injured workers come first, terminate the icare Board, return the icare executive bonuses and pay back injured workers," concluded Mr Shoebridge.