24th August 2012

Knee-jerk privacy measures put ACC staff under more stress

The Public Service Association says ACC has introduced a range of knee-jerk processes around privacy which are only serving to put staff under more pressure.

An independent report into privacy breaches has blamed systematic weaknesses and says a culture change is needed from the top down.

“Frontline ACC staff have been working in a high pressure environment due to cost-saving driven restructuring. They are the ones dealing with the fallout from poor management and privacy breaches which happened at much higher levels of the organisation,” says PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff.

“What they are currently facing is a kneejerk response from ACC which will do nothing to change the top down culture outlined in the report.”

ACC staff are reporting that a range of new checks and procedures have been introduced which they were not consulted about and which are having an almost unmanageable effect on their workloads and ultimately their service to clients.

“In its haste to clamp down on privacy breaches ACC is not giving frontline staff the support they need and is transferring a culture of fear down through the organisation,” Richard Wagstaff says.

The PSA says it is good to see the independent report into the privacy breaches acknowledging the need for strong leadership, clear policy and more support for staff.

“ACC should use it as a turning point to make meaningful change throughout the organisation. Staff want to ensure that everything is done to protect client privacy and rebuild public confidence in ACC. They want to be part of the solutions,” Mr Wagstaff says.

ENDS

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