Andrew Little
ACC Spokesperson

24 August 2012

Claimants shouldn’t be forgotten in ACC fallout

ACC must take the concerns of sensitive claims unit claimants seriously, and set up a high level unit to deal with the outstanding complaints around breaches of privacy and misuse of information, Labour’s ACC spokesperson Andrew Little says.

Two independent reports yesterday highlighted the "cavalier" nature of information management and called for a change in culture within the Corporation.

"While the work of the two review teams will be helpful in moving to a healthier culture at ACC, it is still surprising little was said by either review team about the fate of nearly 200 sensitive claims unit claimants who had some of their details released in the mass privacy breach that was the subject of the investigation.

"The Privacy Commissioner's review treated the SCU claimants too lightly when it implied not much identifying information was disclosed, but the report shows there was an identifying code for the issues under appeal, so unauthorized ACC staff would know exactly what those claims were about.

"A couple of months ago Labour called for a high level independent review team to be set up straight away to deal with all existing complaints about misuse of information.

"If ACC and Judith Collins are serious about restoring confidence, then this is an initiative that could go a long way to doing so as well as exorcising some difficult demons that will only hold the Corporation back if they are not dealt with.

"ACC really needs to accept that an entirely new approach is required. All of the difficult files of recent years need to be reviewed with a fresh pair of eyes so everyone can move on with the confidence that they have been treated fairly,” said Andrew Little.

ENDS

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