Independent Review of ACC Privacy and Security of Information

EMBARGOED UNTIL 2.00PM, THURSDAY 23 AUGUST 2012

Statement by the Interim ACC Chair, Paula Rebstock

ACC and the Board want to thank the authors for the work they have done and the considered way they have presented the findings.

We will be implementing the recommendations made in full.

On behalf of the Board and ACC, I undertake that we will respond to the challenge before us.

ACC has a clear sense of purpose which is to help individuals, communities and businesses return to independence after accidents. The events over the last six months have raised profound questions about our management of information.

ACC must show customers and stakeholders that change is occurring, that we are responding quickly and that we can demonstrate that people’s personal information is being treated with the care and respect it deserves.

We need processes that help minimise errors with safeguards to provide checks and back-ups. If something does go wrong, we must have systems to respond quickly and appropriately, and just as importantly, we need to find out what went wrong so we can try to prevent it happening again.

The responsibility for this sits with the Board and Management of ACC to provide our people with the environment, tools and processes they need to manage information appropriately.

The review outlines seven broad areas for improving systems and processes with a series of detailed recommendations under each. Just as important, we need strong

leadership, the right culture and unquestionable commitment to privacy – and that starts with the Board.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of the Auditor General and the Inquiry Report that was released today into aspects of ACC’s Board-level governance following the breach.

The OAG report recognises the critical importance of having clear and detailed protocols for dealing with communication between Board members and clients.

We accept the conclusions and will incorporate all the OAG recommendations to ensure our practices, training and Governance Manual underpin and support sound governance practice. This includes how the Board and management address any allegations of improper conduct.

The Board is clear about its responsibility and has undertaken to implement the measures in the Auditor General’s report.

Both the Independent Review of ACC and the Auditor General’s report will form part of a programme of work against which ACC can be measured.

We have put in place a structure to lead this work, and we will engage external specialist advice to help plan and prioritise the work ahead of us.

ACC will work closely with the Privacy Commissioner to measure and monitor progress on implementing the recommendations which include regular public reporting of results.

Paula Rebstock ACC Interim Chair

A PDF copy of the Independent Review will be available at 2.00pm. Click here

ENDS

Independent_Review_of_ACCs_Privacy_and_Security_of_Information__August_2012.pdf

© Scoop Media