Judge criticises ACC act as unfair

An article from the Dominion Post by Shane Cowlishaw

After Coral Waitere had a new oven installed, she filled up the sink to do some dishes.
But the electrician who set up the oven had left the house unearthed, so when she turned on the tap she was blasted across the kitchen by 240 volts of electricity. The current that surged through her body blew a hole just below her lip where it exited.
Temporarily paralysed, burnt and left with brain injuries, Ms Waitere, of Alexandra, was unable to work after the 2005 accident. But because she was unemployed at the time, she was not eligible for weekly compensation from ACC. She is one of six ACC claimants, some of who were sexually abused as children, who have lost their legal battle against the corporation.
The group took their case to the High Court, but were turned down by Justice Stephen Kos, despite him noting that the outcomes under the ACC Act were "unquestionably anomalous".
Under the act, only individuals who are employed at the time of their injury are entitled to full weekly compensation. They are still eligible for treatment costs. People injured as children are eligible for a reduced weekly compensation sum based on a loss of potential earnings. Three of the four injured as children receive this compensation, but believe they should be entitled to the full amount.
The two claimants who were injured as adults receive no weekly compensation at all, including Ms Waitere, who was injured the day before she was due to start work after taking time off to raise her children. She said the High Court decision, and the others ruling against her during four years of legal action, had "made me want to cry".
Another of the claimants, who was sexually and physically abused by her ex-husband, said ACC had cut off her compensation in February. It made life extremely tough for her and her three children, who had also suffered abuse, she said.
Lawyer John Miller, who represented the group, said it was ridiculous that children who were injured while not working could be in a situation where they were denied adequate compensation for life. In essence, Justice Kos was saying the act was unfair, and that such a situation would never be allowed in the private insurance industry, he said. While preparing for the case, he looked through the transcripts of debates and select committee hearings related to drafting the act, and no discussions had taken place about the potential problems arising from this clause.
ACC Minister Judith Collins said the eligibility criteria of the act were designed to apply to a wide range of circumstances. There were special provisions to deal with unique situations when the rules were not appropriate, and the eligibility criteria would be reviewed next year.
"The eligibility criteria are challenged from time to time where applying the law may be considered unfair to claimants.
"I take issues of unfair treatment very seriously, and pay close attention to these issues when they arise."

THE SIX CLAIMANTS
HANS KOGLER - Severely injured in a motor vehicle accident in 1991, aged 16, and had his left leg amputated. He found fulltime work in 2003 but had to give it up after 10 months because of continuing problems with his injury.
RW - As a child he was sexually abused in the 1970s and 80s. He later found work but had to stop in 2007 because of issues stemming from the abuse.
RN - Suffered severe sexual abuse from the age of 12. She did not report the events at the time and first sought treatment for the consequences at the age of 28. As she was over 18 when the abuse was reported, she does not receive weekly compensation.
SA - Suffered sexual, physiological and physical abuse at the hands of her husband between 1994 and 2006. She began working in 2007 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic and major stress disorders in 2009.
CORAL WAITERE - Unemployed between 1999 and 2005, but later found employment at the Nelson Nursing Service. The day before she started work she suffered a severe electrical shock.
VALERIE MURRAY - Injured while a schoolgirl in 1976. She began working in 1979 and, more than 20 years later, had to stop as a result of the injury. Initially she was granted weekly compensation based on her income, but ACC reconsidered and reduced her compensation by $231 per week to that of a "potential earner".

© 2013 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9437185/Judge-criticises-ACC-act-as-unfair

Appalling number of sex abuse claims

An article from Stuff by Michael Fox

Justice Minister Judith Collins says about 15,000 people a year are making ACC claims as a result of sexual abuse.
Collins told TVNZ's Q and A she was appalled by the number of people seeking counselling or other assistance as a result of the assaults and elaborated on proposed changes to the way the courts deal with such victims.
"It actually shocks me, it shocks me very deeply," she said.
"People don't have to go the police for ACC to help them but I would say to people who have been victims of sexual abuse there is help for you and that there are things that can be done," she said.
The high rate of assaults showed there needed to be a culture change. While she has ruled out specialist sexual violence courts which supporters say would make it easier for victims she said victims needed to be encouraged to come forward to shed more light on the cases which might help change attitudes.
The way sexual assault victims are dealt with by police and the courts in New Zealand has been under heavy scrutiny as a result of the so-called Roast Busters sex case. Opposition parties and rape prevention groups say the system needs to be overhauled to make it easier for victims of sexual assaults to come forward.
"Of course there is always questions going to be asked about was there something that could have been done to prevent the crime, and that's the best place obviously, to prevent it, but it's also about trying to take the blame off victims and encouraging them to come forward," she said.
"I think if more victims were able to come forward and to have their stories told, and the offenders to be confronted with that, we might have fewer people who think its alright to do this sort of thing to someone else."
Collins said she was considering some changes to court processes.
"The changes about court processes, that is a draft cabinet paper with me at the moment, and that will go to Cabinet hopefully this year for the little bit of time we have got left and then it will proceed through next year," she said.
She said many were not coming forward because it was "an incredibly humiliating thing" for victims to talk about and they did not want to keep reliving it. While she did not want to lessen the criminality of the offending one of the options presented in the Cabinet paper included restorative justice as some victims were in ongoing relationships with their attackers.
"What we know is that quite a lot of those people who do complain to police as victims of sexual assault are actually assaulted by people who are close to them, either partners, former partners, friends or family members and sometimes they don't want those victims to have to go to court they also don't want to necessarily see the accused end up in jail for up to 20 years.
"What they do want is they want abuse to stop they want the offender to confess to what they've done, to acknowledge the harm that they've caused and to help give back that person's dignity."
Collins said victims would need to be questioned as those accused of assaults needed to be able to defend themselves "because it is not inconceivable that people might be convicted wrongly of rape".
Victims worried about previous sexual history come up could be warned about the questions which might come up, she said.
"And I don't want to see miscarriages on either side."
The change would take time but there was support in New Zealand for them to be made, she said.
Collins said since the 2007 Commission of Inquiry into police misconduct relating there had been "huge improvements" in the way police dealt with victims.

© Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9409869/Appalling-number-of-sex-abuse-claims

Question to Minister

Question 3: Katrina Shanks (National) to the Minister of Justice: What steps is the Government taking to support victims of sexual violence?



Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice): The Government is committed to providing better support for victims of crime, including all victims of sexual violence. As a result of the Law Commission’s recent review of the Evidence Act, I will shortly be introducing proposals to improve the way some evidence is dealt with in these cases. If the defence wants to raise issues about a complainant’s previous sexual history, they will need to give notice before trial. In addition, child witnesses under the age of 18 will be able to give evidence by video recording, which can be challenged in trial. They will be able to have a support person sitting nearby when they give evidence. There is a range of support services for sexual violence victims across the Government. They include specialist victim support, no real limitation period on the making of a complaint, automatic name suppression in criminal proceedings, and the court is closed when victims give evidence. Victims can give evidence behind a screen, and they are allowed a support person with them in court while giving evidence, and there is a range of counselling and financial support through the Ministry of Justice, ACC support, or the Ministry of Social Development, including funding of agencies such as Doctors for Sexual Abuse Care, Auckland Sexual Abuse Helpline, and Wellington Rape Crisis. The Victims of Crime Reform Bill, which is awaiting its second reading, will also introduce a new victims’ code.
Katrina Shanks: What criminal processes exist to deal with sexual violence offences?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: In New Zealand we have a common law justice system based on democratic principles of fairness. Some European and former communist countries have a different system, the inquisitorial method of criminal justice, which effectively means that any accused person has to prove their innocence. Accused persons are examined directly by judges trained in the inquisitorial method of examination. There is limited ability to challenge evidence presented to the judge. In the common law method, prosecution and defence each present their evidence and arguments to the court, and have the right to challenge each other’s evidence. In 2012 the Law Commission published an issues paper and invited submissions on a range of pre-trial and trial processes, particularly to consider whether inquisitorial processes could be incorporated into our justice system for sexual offences. Some of the issues considered have been advanced, such as child protection orders, greater use of restorative justice to deal with sexual violence offences, protection for child witnesses, and requiring notice to be given if the defence intends to raise evidence of the complainant’s prior sexual history.
Katrina Shanks: What else is the Government doing to help prevent sexual violence victimisation?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Prevention is obviously the key for progress in this matter. Sexual violence is obviously abhorrent but it is also linked with alcohol and other drugs. The Government’s alcohol reform legislation comes into force on 18 December. From 18 December this year it will be an offence to supply alcohol to a minor without parental consent. In addition, the Government has passed the Psychoactive Substances Act to stop the sale of harmful party pills. The Ministry of Health funds a rape prevention programme in schools called BodySafe, which is currently run in many schools and teaches young people how to keep themselves safe from sexual violence and how to deal with a sexual attachment if it does happen. Earlier this year, Minister Bennett announced a major funding boost for victims of sexual violence through agencies such as the Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation. In addition, ACC is redesigning its support, assessment, and treatment services for sensitive claims to provide more responsive services to victims of sexual violence. Sadly, many victims of sexual violence are repeat victims, and part of the approach is to help victims keep safe to prevent re-victimisation. There is a good deal currently being done to deal with sexual violence in this community, and it is a real problem that affects old and young. We need to continue to bring offenders to justice and to acknowledge that sexual violence is a crime and needs to be dealt with accordingly.

http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/50HansQ_20131112_00000003/3-crime-victims-sexual-offences%E2%80%94support

Woman leads Roast Busters police case

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Anna Leask

Police up ante as detective with significant experience appointed to head multi-agency probe into scandal.
Police have upped the ante on the Roast Busters investigation, appointing a woman detective with significant experience in child sexual abuse cases to head the newly named Operation Clover and drawing on a number of government agencies.
And ACC is welcoming victims and offering support - regardless of whether they wanted to speak to police or make formal complaints.
Detective Inspector Karyn Malthus, who usually oversees all serious crime in the Auckland city district, will join the Waitemata Child Protection team, who have been investigating the Roast Busters members since a 13-year-old girl made a formal complaint against them in late 2011. Her appointment to the operation comes just days after Commissioner Peter Marshall conceded police should have handled the publicity around the underage sex scandal earlier and had repeatedly given wrong information to media about the number of victims involved.
Roast Busters is a group of predominantly West Auckland youths whose members bragged online about having sex with drunk and underage girls. Members Joseph Parker and Beraiah Hales are said to be living undercover since their names and faces were made public. It was confirmed last Friday that Tristan Burrow, the son of police Constable Craig Burrow, was associated with the group in 2011. He was interviewed by police and co-operated with the investigation, but has had no involvement since.
Police refused to answer specific questions about the investigation yesterday, including whether any new victims had come forward and whether they had spoken to any of the suspects since last week. But in a statement they said Ms Malthus would lead a multi-agency team on Operation Clover.
Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock, called in last week to "cast a fresh set of eyes" on the case, will retain overall oversight of the investigation.
Meanwhile, ACC is urging victims to come forward to access sexual assault support including counselling to help them make a decision about whether they wish to involve police. If you would like to speak to ACC about what support is available, contact its Sensitive Claims Unit in confidence on 0800 735 566.

© 2013 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11155361

Free counselling offered in light of 'Roast Busters' allegations

A report from Newstalk ZB by Jade Cooper

ACC's offering free counselling services for victims of sexual abuse.

In light of the recent 'Roast Busters' allegations, ACC wants people to know they can get help even if they don't want to go to the police.

ACC Strategy Manager for Sexual Violence Emma Powell says ACC can provide 16 sessions of counselling for anyone who lodges a sensitive claim.

ACC's sensitive claims unit can be contacted directly, and in complete confidence on 0800 735 566.

© 2013 The Radio Network

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/179032981-free-counselling-offered-in-light-of--roast-busters--allegations