12 June 2012

ACC: time to rebuild trust

The ACC Futures Coalition today welcomed the announcement that ACC Chair John Judge was stepping down and the call by Minister Collins that ACC must refocus on rebuilding public trust and confidence.

“The resignation of John Judge presents ACC with a real opportunity to rebuild trust in the scheme and in the corporation,” said Hazel Armstrong spokesperson for the ACC Futures Coalition. “While the recent privacy issues have greatly increased the pressure on the leadership of ACC, John Judge was associated more widely with the policy and operational shift towards an insurance model, which has seen many claimants either excluded from the scheme or pushed back into work before they are ready.”

“This corporate approach, together with the privacy issue, has undermined the integrity of the scheme,” said Ms. Armstrong. “We agree with the Minister that ACC must refocus on rebuilding public trust and confidence, but that is across the board, not just tightening up on how personal details are managed.”

“Great care needs to be taken in selecting the next chair of ACC,” said Ms. Armstrong. “We need someone of integrity who has a commitment to the scheme as it was originally envisaged, not just another corporate power broker who thinks that they are running an insurance company.”

The ACC Futures Coalition consists of community groups, academics, organisations representing people who need support from ACC, health treatment providers and unions who have come together around the following aim:

To build cross-party support for retaining the status of ACC as a publicly-owned single provider committed to the ‘Woodhouse Principles’, with a view to maintaining and improving the provision of injury prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and ‘no fault’ compensation social insurance system for all New Zealanders.

ENDS

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