The ACT's peak trade union body is calling for the introduction of a new tax on insurers to help improve workplace safety.
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Unions ACT wants the ACT government to impose a temporary levy on workers compensation insurance providers to help fund safety initiatives.
In a submission to the government's 2019-20 budget process, the organisation said there was a clear case for increased investment in workplace safety in the ACT, which it noted was the "second least safe jurisdiction in Australian in which to work".
Under its proposal, a 1.7 per cent levy would be imposed on insurance providers over the next four years, raising about $3 million annually.
The funds would be used to support workplace safety representatives and dedicated safety awareness programs.
Unions ACT secretary Alex White said insurance providers contributed "almost nothing to WorkSafe", despite raking in "massive profits".
"It is immoral for these massive insurance companies to make such massive profits while over 3000 workers in Canberra are seriously injured each year," Mr White said.
A spokesman for the Insurance Council of Australia said any proposed new taxes should be heavily scrutinised before they were introduced.
"It would need a thorough business case and evidence to show that the present scheme is either insufficiently funded or not effective," the spokesman said.
The union body has ramped up calls for increased workplace safety measures in recent years, as the rate of injuries in the ACT continues to outpace the national average.
A Unions ACT survey published in April found 40 per cent of young workers had been injured at work in the past 12 months.
Amid those concerns, the ACT government ordered a review of the territory's workplace safety laws, which ultimately recommended an overhaul of WorkSafe ACT to increase its independence.
The union body, which claimed the watchdog had softened its approach to enforcement after it was folded into Access Canberra in 2015, said in its submission that an independent WorkSafe regulator must be established as a "matter of priority".
The submission also advocated for increased funding for industrial prosecutions, an end to public-private partnerships for major projects and a citizens' jury into potential changes to the ACT's motto; “For the Queen, the Law, and the People”.
