3 February 2015

Study asks: fair go fighting ACC?

Acclaim Otago, a claimant advocacy group who successfully challenged the New Zealand Government’s ACC policy at the United Nations in October 2014, has gratefully received another generous grant from the New Zealand Law Foundation.

The grant will inform the Government’s proposal for an ACC Appeals Tribunal. It will research barriers to access to justice faced by people challenging ACC decisions. The tribunal proposal was developed without any consultation and caused a substantial outcry from the ACC community when it was announced.

The ACC Tribunal proposal and the right to Access to Justice were key topics of interest for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when they examined the Government in October 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN Committee made specific recommendations to the Government on both matters.

Acclaim Otago has yet to hear from the Government or ACC regarding the UN’s recommendations but we are currently reaching out in an attempt to collaborate. New Zealand was fundamental in drafting the Convention and were told by the UN that they would be held to a high standard accordingly.

“People find it very difficult to challenge ACC decisions, and that has almost nothing to do with whether those decisions are correct or not. ACC simply records an 82% success rate at reviews, and relies on that to justify its decision-making. This research aims to identify the reality behind those statistics.” says Dr Denise Powell, spokesperson for Acclaim Otago.

A key part of the research is an online survey (available through Acclaim Otago’s website). It will also involve large-scale analysis of judicial decisions since 2009. Acclaim Otago seeks to raise the public profile of the survey and research in order to get as many respondents as possible.

ACC refused to publicise the last survey conducted by Acclaim Otago for its UN report. In that survey, 85% of respondents felt they did not have access to justice. Another previous survey by Acclaim Otago generated around 800 responses. The data from these surveys was directly used in its UN shadow report.

Acclaim hopes to collaborate with the Ministers for ACC, Justice, and Courts in conducting the research and adopting its findings.

By the numbers: fighting ACC in court
• 1.8 million – the number of new claims ACC processed in 2013/2014, each generating a decision capable of review and appeal
• $27 billion (approx) – ACC’s financial reserves
• $2 billion – $5b billion ACC’s annual operating surplus over the last five years
• $28,500 – the median personal income for New Zealanders in 2013 (Statistics New Zealand)
• 80% – the maximum amount of pre-injury earnings a person can receive from ACC, meaning a best case scenario 20% decrease in pre-injury earnings
• $250-$300 – the hourly rate of a specialist ACC lawyer
• $1000-$3000 – cost of the average medical report to a claimant
• $1m - $2m – the amount ACC has paid to some individual doctors for assessments for ACC over a two-year period
• 84.5% – percentage of ACC decisions upheld in the review tribunal
• 63% - percentage of ACC decisions upheld in the District Court (down from 69% in 2012) according to the Sunday Star Times, 25 January 2015. Other sources indicate this figure is closer to only 55%.
• 2,272 – number of long-term clients who have been “returned to independence” in the past 12 months
• 1,875 – the number of ACC staff involved with claimants
• 54% – percentage of the public with trust and confidence in ACC (up from 47%)
• 0 – the level of oversight the Auditor-General found in relation to compliance with complaints decisions upheld against ACC

ENDS

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