John Key MP
National Party Leader
16 July 2008
ACC policy: safer workplaces, effective compensation
National's ACC policy aims to make workplaces safer for workers while delivering certainty of coverage and more
effective compensation, says National Party Leader John Key.
"National supports a comprehensive, 24/7, no-fault accident insurance scheme that delivers certainty of coverage to all
New Zealanders. However, the ACC scheme can be improved. Workplace accident figures are high by international standards.
"OECD data to the end of 2003 showed New Zealand's non-fatal injury rate rising when everybody else's except Luxembourg
were falling. ACC data shows the number of work-related injury claims increased each year from 2002 to 2005, only
declining in 2006.
"Either way, we can do better.
"Incentives for employers to improve safety practices are poor in a scheme in which similar premiums are charged
regardless of an employer's workplace accident record. Where accidents do occur, incentives for quick, high-quality
rehabilitation are weak, and entitlements under the scheme for injured people are not of high quality.
"National wants a more flexible scheme that rewards employers with good workplace safety records, penalises those with
poor records, and encourages employers to buy more than the basic cover.
"National supports the principle of competition and choice in the ACC Work Account, which covers employees and
self-employed at work. The issues around providing competition in relation to the Work Account are well known and
understood. The same cannot be said of the other accounts." National will:
* Investigate opening the Work Account to competition.
* Conduct a full stock-take of the various components of the ACC scheme, evaluate progress to full funding, and
identify areas of cross-subsidy or cost-shifting and underfunding of newly-legislated entitlements.
* Investigate the introduction of an independent disputes tribunal to end ACC's dual role of judge and jury on
disputed claims.
"However, this is a highly complex sector. New Zealanders are entitled to feel secure that the entitlements guaranteed
by law will be delivered efficiently and reliably. Any changes to introduce new elements of competition and choice will
be made carefully, and after full evaluation of the benefits to consumers," says Mr Key.
"The experience of competition in the late 1990s was healthy for ACC. Levy rates are now substantially lower as a result
of that experience, and the ongoing prospect of competition.
"Despite Labour's rhetoric, it has actually retained the ability for larger employers to opt out of the state monopoly
and either self-insure or use a private insurer."
ENDS