7 September 2001

Green ACC Spokesperson Sue Bradford today welcomed Government support for a Green Party amendment to the ACC Bill which takes the onus of proof off ACC recipients and puts it onto ACC if the Department reverses a decision on entitlement.

Currently if a person is receiving compensation through ACC for a work-related accident or illness and ACC reverse the entitlement the recipient is charged with proving the injury or illness.

"Making ACC recipients try and recover or track down years of medical files, recontact specialists and get reassessed all over again because ACC change their mind is unfair," said Ms Bradford.

"Placing the onus of proof on an ACC recipient - sometimes many years after having a claim approved - can be very costly, time consuming and stressful.

"Support for this amendment will mean that whenever ACC change their minds on a previously approved entitlement ACC will have to provide the evidence to back up their decision rather than making the recipient prove otherwise," she said.

Ms Bradford said the amendment would correct an anomaly in the current system that had made the lives of some people a living hell for years.

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