Pacific young people encouraged to consider an ACC career

The Accident Compensation Corporation is supporting Wellington's "sPACIFICally PACIFIC" careers day at the Michael Fowler Centre today, as part of its active policy to recruit staff who identify with the communities they serve.

ACC says Pacific peoples are an especially targeted group for recruitment, with the number of its 2,200 staff identifying as Pacific peoples increasing to 95 this year, from 69 last year. Pacific staff members at ACC have the highest level of job retention of any group. The annualised staff turnover for Pacific peoples was 7% at June, far better than the 10-15% target range.

ACC Injury Prevention Consultant Ray Peniamina, who is one of the Pacific staff members on the ACC stall at today's careers day, says while ACC is a scheme for all New Zealanders, research and analysis shows that ACC needs to have strategies to address identified priority areas, to improve access and outcomes for Pacific peoples. He says priority areas include reducing injury rates, raising awareness of the ACC scheme and its entitlements, improving access to ACC services, and increasing the representation of Pacific peoples among ACC staff.

ACC continues to co-sponsor and attend key Pacific peoples' events that enable the Corporation to reflect its injury prevention and rehabilitation focus. ACC has also funded and taken part in a number of radio talkback sessions in Pacific languages, aimed at increasing awareness of ACC within Pacific communities.

ACC's community initiatives include the "Street Talk" road safety facilitator training programme for Pacific providers, which produced its first 11 graduates earlier this year. ACC funded this LTSA-approved programme to enable unlicensed drivers within Pacific communities to access driver and road safety education in a more familiar cultural framework. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for Pacific adults, and 12% of all hospital injuries involve Pacific youth aged 15-24. Learner-drivers can reduce the time on their restricted licences by up to six months if they successfully complete a "Street Talk" course.

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