Dame Paula Rebstock has learnt to ignore the criticism that comes with the job

An article from Stuff by Jo Moir

Public servant Paula Rebstock has been recognised for her services to the state by being made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Jo Moir spoke to her about her most challenging roles, the sacrifices and how she deals with, often negative, public scrutiny. Money-hungry, a patchy performer, unqualified for your job: for most people, having those insults hurled your way would make 2015 an annus horribilis.
For Paula Rebstock, however, the barbs were nothing compared to some of the darkest days in her career.
When a lone gunman walked into a Work and Income office in Ashburton in September 2014, killing two staff and leaving a third seriously injured, Rebstock - chairwoman of the Work and Income board - stood alongside workers and the community as they struggled to make sense of the tragedy.
"The senseless loss of life of staff, those things are the things that are truly hard to deal with, and those things put life in perspective."
Now, her appointment as a Dame Companion of the NZ Order of Merit has provided a new perspective on her years of work. On New Year's Eve, Rebstock, her husband and two daughters will take up glasses of bubbles from their holiday home in the Bay of Islands, toasting a successful year rounded off with a "surprising" honour that brought her to tears.
Standing in the kitchen with her husband while opening the mail, Rebstock thought nothing of a letter from Government House, assuming it was her annual invite to Waitangi Day commemorations.
"I opened it and was really quite taken back. My husband said to me, 'What is wrong with you?' and I handed him the letter with tears running down my face. He looked at me and said, 'Oh God'."
Rebstock's two daughters, aged 20 and 24, have made "a lot of allowances for the certain work schedule their mother keeps" so she was straight on the phone to tell them the news.
"It was a special family moment, no question."
This isn't Rebstock's first award: after completely revamping the Commerce Commission, she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009.
Rebstock, originally from Montana in the United States, moved to New Zealand in 1987 and says the honour helped her to feel at home.
"For me it was something about being accepted in this country and really being a New Zealander like everyone else."
First employed by Treasury as an economist, she then served in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet before moving to the Commerce Commission, where she became chair in 2003.
"When I left the Commerce Commission I always thought that would be the thing in my career I'd most feel proud of because we really did shift the work of the Commerce Commission to be far more productive."
On leaving the Commission in 2009, Rebstock was asked to lead an expert panel on probation services, which at the time was "really in a state of crisis".
"They were an agency under siege."
After cleaning up that mess, Rebstock moved onto ACC where her first experience on the board was a "terrible privacy breach". Details of thousands of ACC clients, some who fell under sensitive claims, were accidentally sent to ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar.
"It really rocked the organisation...it involved a fairly large transformation in order to earn back the trust and confidence of our customers."
Most recently, Rebstock has been chairing a review of Child Youth and Family - a government department that has endured years of overhauls but no real change.
"If I'm honest I don't think I realised how big a challenge it was going to be...we've not done well by children who come into the care of the state."
Labour leader Andrew Little was scathing about her $2000-a-day salary for the review, saying she was "in it for herself" in what he described as a "pretty patchy career".
Rebstock is not new to criticism of her work, singling out "relentless" scrutiny while at the Commerce Commission, but says she does not let the political jibes get the best of her.
"These things are political processes and it's part of the game...it would be crazy if I allowed myself to get caught up in that - that's not to say at the time I didn't think, 'Gosh, why am I doing this again?'."
For now, it's Christmas at home, then a month at the beach and much excitement at the news her elderly parents and sister plan to travel to New Zealand in the New Year to celebrate her honour.
"People have to make a lot of allowances for you in their life when you get involved in a lot of these things and my family have always done that."

© 2016 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/75403036/Dame-Paula-Rebstock-has-learnt-to-ignore-the-criticism-that-comes-with-the-job

Complaint turns up heat on Collins

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

An ACC whistleblower has complained to the privacy commissioner alleging Cabinet minister Judith Collins leaked confidential but false details to WhaleOil blogger Cameron Slater. Bronwyn Pullar filed her complaint after reading in Nicky Hager's Dirty Politics claims of Slater giving a friend - a former sex worker - false details about Pullar that the blogger said he got after speaking to Collins.
Privacy Commissioner John Edwards, whose office is overseen by Collins as the justice minister, said yesterday that he was assessing the complaint. The complaint heaps more pressure on the embattled Collins, who is on a "final final warning" from Prime Minister John Key after admitting she passed details about public servant Simon Pleasants to Slater, who then published material on his blog, prompting death threats against the bureaucrat.
Pullar caused severe embarrassment for Collins, who is also ACC minister, when she blew the whistle in 2012 on a massive ACC privacy breach involving her being sent confidential details on 6500 claimants, including sexual abuse victims.
Dirty Politics claims the day the story broke, Slater told the former prostitute - who was concerned her details were part of the ACC breach - that he would talk to Collins for "the real story". In two sets of messages between Slater and the ex-prostitute, Slater said he had spoken to Collins, and he provided his friend with then-unknown information about the whistleblower, the book claims.
Particularly damaging for Collins are the book's claims that Slater's statements show that he knew who Pullar was, that she had tried to extort ACC and that she was likely to be prosecuted. At the time Dirty Politics claims he was stating this to the ex-sex worker, ACC had not laid any extortion complaint to police and Pullar's request for anonymity had been respected by ACC.
If Slater's statements to the former prostitute as detailed in the book are correct, Collins could face serious trouble for leaking Pullar's name and false allegations of extortion against her before the minister had received any final written reports from her ministry.
However, Slater now insists the key details were not leaked by Collins.
Slater yesterday confirmed he spoke to Collins but said she only provided him with details about the privacy breach to allay his ex-sex worker friend's fears. He said Collins gave him no information about Pullar and allegations of extortion, and that he got that information from other sources.
Collins side-stepped questions about what she told Slater and said she was unaware of any complaint to the privacy commissioner against her by Pullar.
"If there is one, I would be unable to comment," Collins said.
"There are complaints about the Hager book and stolen emails before the police and the privacy commissioner and it would be inappropriate to comment further."
When Pullar first blew the whistle on ACC she was not identified, and the corporation was told she wished to remain anonymous so she was not deluged with calls from ACC clients asking if they were part of the privacy breach. The scandal forced ACC into making thousands of apologies and Collins faced snap debates in Parliament.
Three days after the story broke and after crisis meetings involving Collins, then chairman John Judge and then chief executive Ralph Stewart, ACC hit back at Pullar.
ACC published a report claiming Pullar tried to extort the corporation at a December 2011 meeting held between Pullar, her support person and former National Party president Michelle Boag, and two senior ACC managers. ACC did not ask Pullar for her side of the story before making the allegations public and then repeating them to police, who launched an inquiry.
Slater was then fed a memo from Boag to Collins which he gave to a Sunday newspaper reporter and Pullar's name became public knowledge. Slater went on the attack on his blog, falsely accusing Pullar and Boag of blackmail.
But ACC and Slater did not know Pullar had a tape recording of the meeting that showed the allegations were false.
Correspondence with the privacy commissioner's office obtained by The Dominion Post shows the commissioner admitting his office initially "overlooked" Pullar's complaint made on August 15.
The commissioner last week ruled out investigating a Green Party complaint that Collins leaked Pleasants' name to Slater. He said he would need a complaint from Pleasants, who has declined to lodge one.
Edwards' assistant commissioner of investigations, Mike Flahive, told Pullar on Wednesday he was "assessing" her complaint to consider what action to take.
"Your patience would be appreciated," Flahive said.

NEW COMPLAINT
The latest complaint that ACC and Justice Minister Judith Collins breached ACC whistleblower Bronwyn Pullar's privacy is different to one that dragged Collins into an earlier investigation by the privacy commissioner. That investigation was launched when a memo from former National Party president Michelle Boag to Collins clarifying Puller's reasons for blowing the whistle was leaked to a reporter. The leak led to Pullar - who has a brain injury - coming under siege from media as ACC simultaneously falsely claimed she'd tried to extort the corporation.
Investigators trawled through Collins' office and computer and questioned ACC chairman John Judge and then chief executive Ralph Stewart to try to find the source of the leak. Collins was accused of being the leaker, which she correctly denied.
The investigation failed to find the leak but informed sources have confirmed to The Dominion Post that the leak was from one senior board member to another, who gave it to a blogger, who passed it to Slater, who gave it to the reporter.

HOW IT UNFOLDED
March 13, 2012 - The Dominion Post reveals ACC breached the privacy of 6500 ACC clients, including rape victims, by sending their details to an unnamed ACC client.
March 13 - According to Dirty Politics, WhaleOil blogger Cameron Slater tells an ex-prostitute friend he would ring ACC Minister Judith Collins to "get the real story".
March 14 - Slater tells the ex-prostitute the whistleblower was a woman who tried to blackmail ACC and was likely to be prosecuted for extortion, Dirty Politics claims. That afternoon, minister Collins attends a meeting with ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart and chairman John Judge. In an affidavit later, Judge said Collins "very strongly" pushed for police to be told about threats allegedly made by Pullar at a meeting with ACC on December 2011.
March 15 - The word "blackmail" is first publicly discussed. Collins tells Radio Live she had oral reports on the December meeting but wanted written reports.
March 15 - Two ACC managers from the December meeting provide their official account, which contains no allegations of blackmail or extortion.
March 16 - A "situation report" is published on ACC's website accusing the whistleblower of extortion.
March 17 - The book claims Slater tells the ex-prostitute he knows who the whistleblower is and that she will get "rat f...ed hard."
March 18 - A Sunday newspaper names the whistleblower, Bronwyn Pullar, after Slater provides a leaked email from ACC.
March 19 - ACC makes a written complaint to police about alleged extortion.
April 30 - The Dominion Post reveals Pullar recorded the critical meeting at which ACC claimed she'd tried to extort the corporation. The recording showed ACC had made false allegations. Police swiftly shut down their investigation.

© 2014 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10440930/Complaint-turns-up-heat-on-Collins

Time Key took responsibility for Collins

A press release from the New Zealand Labour Party by Grant Robertson

It is well past time for John Key to take some responsibility for the misuse of power and information by his Minister Judith Collins, and follow through on his last warning to her, Labour MP Grant Robertson says.
“The evidence released this week shows John Key’s staff and Ministers are directly involved in the kind of negative politics and smears that put ordinary New Zealanders off engaging in the political process. It is time for the Prime Minister to show some leadership and take responsibility for these actions.
“Nicky Hager’s book includes new examples of the way in which Judith Collins has misused information that she only had access to because she is a Minister. New Zealanders have a right to expect better of the Ministers who act on their behalf.
“Two examples stand out, which John Key needs to hold Judith Collins to account for. First, she was involved in a campaign to smear a staff member in the Ministerial Services team as part of a distraction from issues being raised about Bill English claiming housing allowances in 2009.
“Despite there being no evidence to suggest this staff member had done anything wrong, he was attacked in several blogs by Cameron Slater. The book released this week reveals that Judith Collins sent information about this person’s name and job to Cameron Slater as he prepared these attacks.
“This is an appalling example of a Minister misusing her power to attack an innocent public servant. By his inaction John Key is telling New Zealanders that this is acceptable behaviour.
“The book also contains emails from Cameron Slater that report conversations with Judith Collins about the unauthorised release of ACC information that went to Bronwyn Pullar. The emails record that Slater had talked to the Minister about the case and that he received information about what Bronwyn Pullar was doing that could only have come from Judith Collins.
“As Minister for ACC that would be a gross breach of the confidentiality expected when dealing with ACC. John Key needs to investigate this to show once and for all where the leak of this sensitive information came from.
“The evidence presented this week shows that Judith Collins sent many messages and emails and made many phone calls to Cameron Slater that smear and denigrate political opponents and even innocent public servants.
“That is not what New Zealanders are paying her a Ministerial salary for. John Key needs to stop being so relaxed about serious issues. He needs to take some responsibility for her actions and follow through on the many warnings he has given Judith Collins,” Grant Robertson said.

© 2014 Scoop Media

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1408/S00248/time-key-took-responsibility-for-collins.htm

Bronwyn Puller: ACC abused claimants' rights with consent form

A report from 3 News by Melanie Reid for Third Degree

Bronwyn Puller blew the whistle on ACC in 2012. She was sent nearly 7000 personal files in one of New Zealand’s worst privacy breaches.
Two years later ACC has been found to be involved in another massive privacy scandal. This time it potentially affects three-quarters of a million Kiwis.
"There’s no limitation on it [ACC form 167]," says Ms Puller. "So it’s as wild as your imagination. They could go to your bank and obtain all your banking financial records. They could go to your telecommunications provider and obtain access to your emails. They could go to your gym, look at your gym attendance. They could go to your neighbours, talk to your neighbours. But it’s not just what they can collect; this actually also gives ACC unlimited powers of disclosure."
ACC was forcing clients to sign a consent form that was well beyond ACC’s legal mandate. This gave ACC powers – way beyond what they have under the legislation. This gives them the ability, and the Government, to intrude in every aspect of your life. It gives them the ability to release any information about you to any third party.
Here are just a few examples from our ACC files:

• A male freezing worker's sexual abuse history was shared with his employer.
• A claimant who had suffered mental health issues had her highly sensitive files released to her employer.
• A victim of a brutal assault also had confidential files released to his employer – files about his nightmares, medication and counselling sessions.

"This is the consequence of this form," says Ms Puller. "I don’t think anyone in their right mind would want their employer, or a potential employer, or a headhunting agency, having complete access to their medical records. They are the most highly sensitive private information."
The problem for claimants is if they didn’t sign the 167 consent form allowing ACC wide-ranging collection of their private information, they faced being cut off.
So last week a judge ruled ACC’s use of the consent form unlawful. But there are allegations that for years and years ACC has known this.
Ms Puller had raised the issue of the 167 form with the former minister, the board, the State Services Commission, the Privacy Commissioner, Department of Labour and Ombudsman.
"[Current ACC Minister] Judith Collins was given the list of 45 issues, which I took to the meeting in December, that we asked ACC to address," she says. "The ACC 167 was listed on that as one of the concerns we had about the unlawful approach to the way ACC was operating its business. That list was given to the minister on March 14, 2012.
"I know that she received my list of 45 issues. I also know that she received a copy of the independent report that was commissioned by ACC and the Privacy Commissioner, which raised concerns about ACC’s consent form, because it was the major bugbear that most claimants had with ACC."
So going by the judge's ruling, potentially there are hundreds of thousands of files sitting in an ACC database containing private information that has been obtained in an illegally manner.
"At the end of the day, ACC have created their own administrative nightmare, through the way that they’ve acted. They’ve acted unlawfully. They’ve acted irresponsibly. They’ve acted in a way that basically totally abuses the claimants' rights and the right to informed consent, and to control of their personal information. It’s that simple."
Click here to see the response from ACC.
For anyone with concerns about their claim in relation to their signing the ACC 167 consent form, please call 0800 745 254.

© 2013 MediaWorks TV

http://www.3news.co.nz/Bronwyn-Puller-ACC-abused-claimants-rights-with-consent-form/tabid/1771/articleID/341271/Default.aspx#ixzz2zkDroQnw

Govt questioned over ACC policy

A news report from Radio New Zealand News

Opposition parties are questioning how long the ACC Minister has known about a privacy waiver used by the corporation that has now been ruled by a court as too broad.
ACC Minister Judith Collins, questioned in Parliament, said she was told about the court decision on Friday and was not aware of the significance of the issue.
But Labour and the Greens say Ms Collins has known about the issue for years, as it was raised in a report about a privacy breach 18 months ago.
Green MP Kevin Hague said after serious privacy breaches by ACC in the past, Ms Collins made public confidence in the corporation a ministerial concern.
Labour's ACC spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway said it was implausible Ms Collins heard of the issue only last week.
"It was in the review of the Bronwyn Pullar case that issues with this form were first identified. In fact, there were media articles about this late last year as well. It's implausible the minister only heard of this issue last week."
In August 2011, details of more than 6000 ACC clients were mistakenly sent to Auckland claimant Bronwyn Pullar, resulting in the resignations of ACC minister Nick Smith, ACC chair John Judge, two directors and chief executive Ralph Stewart.
Outside the House on Wednesday, Judith Collins said ACC should not be handing over people's sensitive claim information to prospective employers and she hadn't heard about the sensitive claims complaint until Wednesday.
"I am actually very concerned about that and I want to find out what are the facts behind it. Is this correct? I understand that there has been some complaints filed with the Human Rights Commission. If that is true, I look forward to seeing what has occurred and when it has occurred."
Ms Collins says she wants to make sure that people's privacy is protected.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/241780/claims-acc-sent-sensitive-files

© Radio New Zealand 2014

ACC's compensation a 'slap in the face'

A report from Newstalk ZB by Kaye Albyt

A woman who's suing ACC on behalf of her daughter who was sexually abused, says the offer of compensation is a slap in the face.
Around 100 people whose sensitive claims were mistakenly released to National Party insider Bronwyn Pullar, are suing the accident insurer. They've been offered $250 and an apology - but a woman who doesn't want to reveal her identity, says it's an insult.
She says it was hard to tell her daughter what had happened:
"I thought about it very, very carefully and was just very upfront with her and she was upset, worried about who knew what, because describing abuse is a very hard thing for anybody - especially a child I think."
The woman says ACC has to take more care in the way it deals with its clients.
"What I really want is for ACC to get their act together, tidy up the procedures and how they deal with their clients. I want them to show my daughter that they are very sorry and this is important and she does matter and remunerate her appropriately."
She says she has no confidence that things have improved at ACC.

© 2012 The Radio Network

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/1855189499-acc-s-compensation-a--slap-in-the-face-

Privacy breach victims to sue ACC

An article from the Sunday Star Times by David Gadd and Marika Hill

Sex abuse survivors are planning to sue ACC to force a significantly boosted payout for breaching their privacy in the ongoing Bronwyn Pullar whistleblower saga.
ACC sent apology letters in June to sensitive-claims clients and offered to pay them $250 if they agreed to stay silent, after one of New Zealand's biggest privacy breaches in August last year. The "insulting" offer came after ACC mistakenly released the names and details of 6500 claimants, including 250 sensitive-claims clients who are victims of sexual abuse and violent crimes, to claimant Pullar.
Wellington lawyer John Miller, a specialist in taking on ACC, said more than 100 claimants affected by the massive Pullar breach had approached him to take the case. He said those wanting to pursue ACC were sensitive claimants who generally had long simmering feelings of being poorly treated by the ACC system. Although a claimant with a normal injury could shrug off the privacy breach, for sensitive claimants "this is the last straw".
"It's a corrosive environment they are in with ACC, frankly. The people I have spoken to, they are insulted by $250, it is a derisory amount for the torment they have gone through."
Worse was ACC's requirement that claimants sign a confidentially agreement if they took the payment. "They feel they are being told ‘now go away and shut up and sign a document to say you are going to shut up forever more'."
He said that although technically class action claims were not possible in New Zealand, the process worked with one claim taken and if it won it set a precedent. ACC would be asked to settle with everyone, or face losing case after case with legal costs compounding the settlement payouts. He said the process had worked before and usually ACC saw sense.
Miller would not be drawn on what level of compensation would satisfy claimants, but said past privacy breaches had won payouts of anything from $2000 to $40,000. It depended on the severity of the consequences. In 2003 he said ACC paid $8000 for sending a man's earnings details to his wife, resulting in divorce because he had kept his income secret from her.
The Dominion Post revealed in July that ACC paid out almost $50,000 for eight privacy breaches in the past three years.
However, the government agency refused to divulge the amount of each payment.
Following an investigation in the Pullar blunder, the privacy commissioner found that systemic weaknesses at ACC and an "almost cavalier" attitude towards claimants' information led to the breach. The privacy breach led to ACC introducing strict privacy policies and saw an exodus of top staff.
ACC chairman John Judge, chief executive Ralph Stewart and board members John McCliskie, Rob Campbell and Murray Hilder all departed from the agency.
ACC has so far refused to comment publicly on the financial settlement payments.

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/7748139/Privacy-breach-victims-to-sue-ACC

ACC backs down on privacy initiative

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

The ACC has partially backed down on a new privacy initiative adopted in the wake of the Bronwyn Pullar affair but which was criticised as costly and inconvenient for clients.
However the corporation has only relaxed the new rules intended to protect privacy for sensitive claimants - those who have suffered rape or sexual abuse, whose privacy is supposed to be a priority for the corporation.
The recent review of ACC's privacy practices was launched following the Bronwyn Pullar privacy breach and prompted a new policy where claimants were required to collect sensitive documents from ACC offices rather than having them couriered to them.
But claimants such as Napier woman Jacqui Scott said the new policy meant it was now costly to access information held by ACC about her.
"For me, I'm disabled, and live in Napier. It means I have to pay for a taxi over to the Hastings office every time I request documents and need to collect them" she told Hawkes Bay Today recently.
"I'm looking at about $40 to $50 each way, and it could end up costing me about $100 every time."
Clients can choose to receive the information in the form of an encrypted CD couriered to them but that has also been criticised as expensive for those who want hard copies or impractical for those lacking computer skills.
ACC told Hawkes Bay Today the policy was "not a cost-cutting exercise, but a proactive step we've taken to improve the security and protection of client information".
"These changes have been introduced with our clients' best interests in mind, because they reduce the risk of a client's hard copy file ending up in the wrong hands."
But just a few weeks after the new policy was introduced, the Herald this week obtained a recent letter from an ACC manager to a sensitive claimant in which the manager says corporation's Sensitive Claims Unit had sought "further advice from senior management".
"It has been confirmed that ACC are now able to send copy files for sensitive claim clients only, directly to their home address."
A sensitive ACC claimant who did not wish to be named said the new privacy policy and partial back down was "another example of ACC being consistently inconsistent".
"They are making kneejerk reactions without even considering one iota of what claimants require or request or need."
The claimant said the policy requiring claimants collect documents didn't take into account the needs of clients.
"For myself it's a 180km round trip."
The claimant said ACC "should be asking each client which is their preferred method of delivery, simple end of story".
A spokeswoman for ACC said the corporation had opted to continue couriering files to sensitive claims clients, "with special measures taken in the couriering".
That included a stringent "track and trace" process and courier follow up.
ACC would also only courier to a verified client's home address, she said.

© Copyright 2012, APN Holdings NZ Limited

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10835140

ACC culture must be more fair and open

An editorial from the New Zealand Herald

The need for a culture change at the Accident Compensation Corporation has prompted the departure of the chairman, two board members, the chief executive and several officials. With the decks cleared, much of the responsibility for turning the ship around will lie with the board appointees announced by the ACC Minister, Judith Collins, this week. Unsurprisingly, the interim chairwoman, Paula Rebstock, will reprise her fix-it role at the table's head for the next three years. Other new appointments see Trevor Janes in the deputy chairman's chair and Professor Des Gorman and Kirsty McDonald, QC, on the board.
Ms Collins says these choices "underline the Government's commitment to genuine culture change, and will lead to a more balanced and comprehensive approach to the governance and operation of ACC". It is on that basis that the appointments will be scrutinised. Labour's ACC spokesman, Andrew Little, was quick to talk of "a sharp lurch to the right" and to zero in on Professor Gorman. The professor, head of the Auckland School of Medicine, had, he said, been a senior medical adviser to the ACC for many years, and "given some of the most retrograde advice on claimants' files I've known".
He said the professor had been the subject of many complaints over his advice about occupational overuse syndrome in the 1990s.
That raises questions about the precise nature of the culture that will be implanted at the ACC. The first priority, in the wake of the privacy breach which saw details of 6700 ACC claimants emailed to Bronwyn Pullar, is no longer said to be cost containment. Rather, it is trust and confidence. But the criticism of Professor Gorman over OOS advice has had a recent echo in the stricter enforcement of the ACC's policy of declining to pay for surgery for "pre-existing conditions". To save money, the ACC seized on age-related degeneration of claimants' bodies to unjustifiably reject their claims for surgery after an injury.
On appeal, too many rejections of such claims were reversed. Understandably, this led to accusations that the ACC was too hard-nosed. The corporation, after an internal review, conceded as much, yet comments this year by the previous chairman, John Judge, suggested nothing much had changed. The ACC was still not getting the balance right in its decision-making.
An early task for Ms Rebstock must, therefore, be to respond to the criticism of Professor Gorman's appointment and to spell out exactly what it signifies. When the stricter policy for pre-existing conditions was introduced, there was no public notification of why it was necessary or how it would be applied. That lack of transparency is not sustainable. More broadly, the new culture must include a clear explanation of exactly where the ACC is headed under the new board.
The corporation should be involving claimants' surgeons more in its decision-making and applying extra expertise where necessary. It should also be explaining the reasons for its decisions more clearly to people. The "almost cavalier" attitude identified by official inquiries into the Pullar case cannot continue. But the changes to the way the ACC approaches its job, notably in keeping costs under control, should be kept in proportion. There can, for example, be no question of unworthy claims for surgery being approved with few questions asked.
The lessons of the Pullar case are that the ACC must be more sensitive, fair and open in its dealings with people. That culture change will not have to be as drastic as that needed at the top level to achieve it.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10832252

Privacy breach a warning for others

An article from the Nelson Mail by Laura Basham

In a chilling revelation, an inquiry into the case of ACC emailing sensitive details about more than 6000 claimants to the wrong person reveals it could have happened to any big government agency.
A spreadsheet containing details of the 6000-plus claimants - including more than 200 handled by the ACC's sensitive claims unit dealing with rape and sexual abuse victims - was emailed to Auckland woman Bronwyn Pullar after an ACC staffer mistakenly clicked on it and sent it as an attachment without noticing.
An inquiry yesterday found simple human error was to blame for the breach, which has so far claimed the scalps of a government minister, the chairman and chief executive of ACC and could yet claim further victims as the hunt continues for the person who leaked an email from Pullar support person, former National Party president Michelle Boag, to ACC Minister Judith Collins.
Former ACC minister and Nelson MP Nick Smith said today he was pleased that the reports concluded that Ms Pullar did not receive any extra entitlements or benefits as a consequence of her friendship with him or that she was known through the pipfruit industry and to former ACC director John McCliskie. The inquiries were initiated out of allegations that because Ms Pullar had been involved with the National Party, she had received entitlements, he said.
"These reports show that is not true and that both myself and the board were very clear Bronwyn Pullar should not be treated in any way differently from any other claimant," said Dr Smith.
However, he said he still regretted writing the letter attesting to Ms Pullar's health prior to her accident, that ultimately triggered his resignation from his ministerial portfolios in March.
Dr Smith also noted that the system issue that led to the accidental email of a large file of client information could happen to other government agencies, and said there needed to be a broader review of systems to ensure that did not happen.
The release of the reports concludes the investigations on the ACC issues, but Dr Smith would not be drawn on the issue of his potential return to Cabinet, saying it was up to Prime Minister John Key. "We'll just have to see how it goes."
The report released yesterday remains silent on whether ACC was justified in going to police over claims that Ms Pullar tried to use the data breach to guarantee her benefit for two years - despite four members of the independent review team listening to a tape recording of the meeting where the blackmail threat was alleged to have been made. Police later tossed out the complaint because of a lack of evidence but ACC has so far refused to apologise to Ms Pullar over the claim.
The head of the review team, former Australian privacy commissioner Malcolm Crompton, said the blackmail allegation was outside the inquiry's terms of reference.
The inquiry, commissioned by the Privacy Commissioner and ACC, was one of two reports released yesterday into the mass privacy breach. The second was by Auditor General Lyn Provost. Both reports call for a culture change at ACC, which acting chairwoman Paula Rebstock promised yesterday would occur after the privacy breach raised "profound questions about our management of private information".
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said the breach threw the spotlight on the use of personal information by government agencies.
"Public sector agencies collect information from us on a very large scale, often by compulsion, in a situation where we really have no alternative but to provide it. The information is held these days in vast electronic databases. That information is the necessary lifeblood of those agencies and a major business asset for those agencies. But the bargain for us, the citizens, the clients, is we need to be able to trust those agencies to protect our information and not to misuse it or lose it."
Both reports released yesterday raise questions not just about the privacy breach, but also over the treatment received by Ms Pullar, who was a former high-flying business woman and moved in National Party circles. Mrs Provost found Ms Pullar received special treatment after she approached a former business associate, Mr McCliskie, who was on the ACC board, over her case and he set up a meeting with senior managers.
"Although meetings with such senior ACC officials are not without precedent, few claimants have that opportunity," she noted.

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/7541881/Privacy-breach-a-warning-for-others

ACC privacy report may lead to wider overhaul

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

All government agencies' handling of private data may be reviewed after an independent inquiry into the ACC privacy breach found it could have happened in any department.
The report by former Australian Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton and accountancy firm KPMG examined what led to a spreadsheet containing details about 6748 clients being emailed to claimant and former National Party insider Bronwyn Pullar last year, and ACC's response when it learned of the breach in December.
It concluded that the breach, which was disclosed to the public, senior management and ACC Minister Judith Collins only when Ms Pullar went to the media with the information in March, was down to "a genuine human error".
However, "such an error was more likely to occur because of systemic weaknesses within ACC's culture, systems and processes".
The report also found ACC's subsequent response process could have been better "if appropriate policies, practices, escalation protocols and the right culture were in place".
It made a series of recommendations to improve privacy handling at the corporation.
Acting ACC chairwoman Paula Rebstock said the corporation would be implementing the review's recommendations in full.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Crompton said Ms Pullar had done the public "a service by making sure that we pay attention to the proper governance of personal information".
"Most organisations should be taking great note of the fact that it could have been them."
State Services Commissioner Ian Rennie said the report was "a dramatic reminder of the need for all government agencies to treat private information with the utmost care and respect".
"To this end, I am considering that state sector chief executives review their systems for handling private information. Any stocktake would initially be targeted on areas of greatest potential risk."
But Labour's ACC spokesman, Andrew Little, said he did not believe Mr Crompton's claim it was bad luck that the breach occurred at ACC rather than another department.
"There is nowhere else in the Government where there has been the apparent sloppiness in the approach to managing that information as at ACC."
Mr Little said the National Government on coming to power had painted a picture of an organisation in financial crisis that therefore needed to focus on cutting costs.
"That is at least one explanation for the more cavalier attitude towards claimants, their issues and their privacy. I don't think the Government can disown responsibility for it having got to this point."
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff, who commissioned yesterday's report, said it appeared ACC staff had been under pressure and "a failure in systems processes and perhaps leadership has led to them developing a somewhat cavalier attitude towards people's information and that needs to change".
Mr Little called for Ms Collins to be replaced as ACC Minister to allow the culture change required. Ms Collins dismissed that call, and Mr Little, as "silly".
A report by Auditor-General Lyn Provost into whether Ms Pullar gained any advantage in the way her claim was treated because of her connections with former board member John McCliskie, which was also released yesterday, found no evidence that was the case.
But the report did raise concerns Mr McCliskie and then-chairman John Judge failed to recognise wider allegations of illegality and fraud at the corporation brought to their attention by Ms Pullar late last year.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10829060

Culture of fear at ACC

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

Further action could yet be taken against senior ACC managers who failed to act on whistleblower Bronwyn Pullar's first warnings of a massive privacy breach.
As a damning independent report into the breach was published yesterday, ACC Minister Judith Collins has revealed that senior management were operating in a culture of fear at the time.
The report vindicates Ms Pullar, who revealed the breach after making repeated complaints to ACC management, board and staff members about privacy and other alleged breaches of the corporation's codes and laws.
Ms Pullar, an ACC client, was inadvertently sent private details of 6500 fellow clients. The information contained names and details of hundreds of people from ACC's sensitive claims unit, including rape and incest victims.
Since The Dominion Post revealed the privacy breach in March, the fallout from the scandal has included the resignations of Cabinet minister Nick Smith and chief executive Ralph Stewart, and the departure from ACC's board of chairman John Judge and directors John McCliskie and Rob Campbell.
Ms Collins said yesterday she had been told by Mr Stewart that, when he arrived in August last year, "even senior management worked in a culture of fear ... people felt they could not tell others about what had happened".
Asked whether she believed ACC should take action against senior managers involved in the case, she said it was difficult to comment on individual staff.
Interim ACC chairwoman Paula Rebstock said yesterday that she could not talk about individual managers either, but ACC would look at performance issues and take appropriate action. The corporation accepted it had a poor culture on privacy and would accept a string of recommendations to change that culture, she said.
Ms Collins said she expressed concerns about ACC's culture to Mr Judge on more than one occasion, and said she wanted clients treated with respect, courtesy and professionalism. The board did not seem to understand "just how important privacy was", and in June she dumped Mr Judge, Mr McCliskie and Mr Campbell by not renewing their directorships. She said it was a serious error of leadership by the board not to tell Mr Stewart of a list of serious allegations made by Ms Pullar at a meeting with ACC senior managers Philip Murch and Hans Verberne in December.
An ACC report of that meeting, given to Ms Collins three days after The Dominion Post exposed the privacy breach, said Ms Pullar threatened to go to the media and would withhold details of the breach unless she was given a guaranteed benefit. But a tape recording Ms Pullar made at the meeting showed the allegations were false, as was the statement by ACC that no specific details on the breach were given to the managers.
The report to Ms Collins also said that, given the serious nature of the breach, the details should have been escalated to more senior ACC management but were not.
Inquiries by police and the auditor-general later showed that statement was also wrong, and that the two managers at the meeting informed two superior managers and the board secretary about it.
Ms Rebstock said yesterday that, if any allegations in the report to Ms Collins were incorrect, "we will correct it". The original report was still on ACC's website yesterday.
Ms Pullar said she was pleased the report had vindicated concerns she had been trying to raise for years, and she was heartened that Ms Collins said all its recommendations were accepted. She said changes would provide better and fairer outcomes for everyone dealing with ACC.

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7538313/Culture-of-fear-at-ACC

Coalition welcomes opportunity provided by reports

A press release from the ACC Futures Coalition

The two reports on ACC commissioned by the Privacy Commissioner and the Office of the Auditor-General may highlight failures but they also provide an opportunity to rethink the direction of the scheme, according to the ACC Futures Coalition.
“We welcome these reports,” said ACC Futures Coalition spokesperson Hazel Armstrong. “They confirm that there were problems at the governance and senior levels of the corporation with regard to the management of risk and claimants’ information.”
The report of the Privacy Commissioner (conducted by KPMG) found that the release of claimants’ details to Bronwyn Pullar, which occurred in August 2011, was a genuine error but occurred because of systemic weaknesses within ACC's culture, systems and processes.
“There is much to like about the KPMG report,” said Ms. Armstrong, “for example, we are pleased to see the emphasis that the report places on organisational culture. The report emphasises the need for a balance between ‘privacy, customer service and efficient and effective management so that “firm is also seen as fair” by ACC and its external clients and stakeholders.’ The report also stresses the importance of a culture of respect for claimant privacy which will lead to the wellbeing of clients and to achieving community trust in ACC.”
“We see these points as recognition of the link between the problems with the culture around the protection of information and the wider culture of the corporation,” said Ms. Armstrong.
“When discussing the culture of corporation the report raises the challenge arising from conflicting political views on the role of ACC and the resulting fluctuations in scheme performance, stating that this has resulted in ambiguity for staff in terms of customer service and managing claimant entitlements. There is a need for multi-party agreement on the future of the scheme,” said Ms. Armstrong, “something which the ACC Futures Coalition has been calling for since its inception.”
“These reports represent an opportunity to achieve a consensus on the future direction of the scheme,” said Ms. Armstrong. “We have begun the process of developing our own manifesto for ACC and are organising a one-day seminar in late October to assist us with that process. We want to contribute to a debate about how we can restore the scheme to its original founding values and we hope that all the parties and the Minister, will join us.”
“Both of the reports also identify failings at governance level around management of risk,” said Ms. Armstrong.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1208/S00364/coalition-welcomes-opportunity-provided-by-reports.htm

Inquiry into aspects of ACC's board-level governance

A press release from the Controller and Auditor-General

In April 2012, I decided to inquire into aspects of the interaction between the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and one of its claimants, Bronwyn Pullar. I wanted to know whether the ACC Board had policies and procedures for managing interaction between Board members and individual claimants who might be known to them. I wanted to be sure that a claimant could not gain any advantage by approaching a Board member.
My inquiry found no evidence that Ms Pullar's approach to one of ACC's Board members affected her claim to ACC. However, the Board had no formal policy to guide Board members on communication with individual claimants, a deficiency it is rectifying. The handling of the matter depended on the long experience in governance of ACC's Chairman and Deputy Chairman, who were the two Board members concerned.
Of greater concern was ACC's failure to recognise Ms Pullar's wider allegations of illegality and fraud as risks to the organisation. I have no view as to whether there is any justification to the allegations, because that was not the subject of my inquiry. However, a public entity should always take allegations that threaten public trust in the organisation seriously. ACC is one of New Zealand's largest public entities and an important part of public services for New Zealanders.
My inquiry team concluded that ACC management and the Board members concerned failed to appreciate the risk that those allegations presented. It seems that the Board and ACC management were so focused on the appropriate separation of governance and operational matters that they did not recognise these issues as possible symptoms of systemic failure.
The events that gave rise to my inquiry occurred when the Board was relatively new and there was extensive change in senior management. Change in ACC will continue, because it will have a new Chairperson, several new Board members, and a new chief executive in the next few months. I consider that a new Board member, even if that person is an experienced director, will take two to three years to understand key actuarial and financial aspects of ACC, as well as its culture.
I asked my Deputy, Phillippa Smith, to carry out my inquiry. Because my inquiry concerned issues of practical governance, we engaged James Ogden, an experienced company director, to advise her on those matters. I am grateful to Mr Ogden for his assistance. I also thank the ACC personnel we interviewed and Ms Pullar, for their assistance with my inquiry.

accboardlevelgovernance.pdf

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1208/S00357/inquiry-into-aspects-of-accs-board-level-governance.htm

Damning reports show Government’s role in ACC dysfunction

A press release from the Green Party by Kevin Hague

Reports into ACC provide the most compelling evidence yet that the Government’s focus on saving a buck has caused ACC to lose sight of its role in helping injured and vulnerable New Zealanders, the Green Party said today.
Following requests from the Green Party, reviews into the Bronwyn Pullar Privacy breach and ACC board governance were conducted by the Privacy Commissioner and the Auditor General. Reports on both were released today.
“They reveal a corporation in desperate need of a culture change which the Privacy Commissioner stated must ‘start at the very top’,” Green Party ACC spokesperson Kevin Hague said.
“The reports cite the previous ACC minister’s focus on denying claimants every dollar he could as driving the culture at the corporation.
“And they show that ACC was prepared to sustain human casualties in its drive to achieve the Government’s goal.
“The current minister must now lead the top level change that’s been called for.
“The reports reveal a corporation bumbling along with archaic ideas about communication and responsibility which meant it failed both to treat claimants with decency, and to recognise enormous risks to the organisation even when they hit it in the face,” Mr Hague said.
The Auditor General expresses concern that serous ‘accusations of systemic illegality and fraud were not taken seriously by the corporation’.
And the Privacy Commissioner highlighted ‘an almost cavalier attitude towards its clients and to the protection of their private information’.
“These are two of the most damning reports on a Government entity I’ve ever read.
“It is clear that if board chairman John Judge had not already resigned, he would have been sacked today,” Mr Hague said.
The reports highlight three key issues:

1. As a result of Nick Smith's direction to prioritise ACC's bottom line, the organisation had inadequate focus on the needs of its clients;
2. The culture policies and systems of the organisation are a chaotic shambles that are not fit for purpose;
3. Restoring public trust and confidence is an essential goal and will require very major change starting from the top.

“Given the seriousness of the findings, the Minster must now request that the Auditor General bring forward her review into claims management at ACC. Most of the serious claims Ms Pullar made appear not to have been considered by the board.
“What’s now needed is for visionary leadership to turn this organisation around and focus on the original principals on which it was founded.
“The Minister must ensure that future appointments to the board are up to this task,” Mr Hague said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1208/S00337/damning-reports-show-governments-role-in-acc-dysfunction.htm

Damning report expected on ACC

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

An independent investigation into ACC, prompted by revelations of a mass privacy breach, is expected to condemn the corporation's culture and processes.
A report due out today is expected to bolster widespread criticism of ACC's repeated breaches of thousands of its clients' privacy since the mass breach was exposed by The Dominion Post. It is also expected to criticise ACC's leadership, privacy systems and the corporation's technology for dealing with highly sensitive information.
Fallout from the March privacy breach has included the resignations of Cabinet minister Nick Smith and ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart, and the departure from the corporation's board of chairman John Judge and directors John McCliskie and Rob Campbell.
The report is being made public on the same day that another by the Auditor-General's Office, on how ACC manages risk at board level, is tabled in Parliament.
Both investigations arose after an ACC client - later identified as Bronwyn Pullar - revealed she had been sent private details of 6500 fellow clients. The information contained names and details of hundreds of people from ACC's sensitive claims unit, including rape and incest victims.
In the ensuing fallout, The Dominion Post revealed that ACC grossly misrepresented what happened at a crucial December meeting between Ms Pullar, her supporter Michelle Boag, and two senior ACC managers.
In a report to ACC Minister Judith Collins, the corporation said Ms Pullar threatened at the meeting to go to the media and to withhold details of the mass breach unless she was given a two-year guaranteed benefit. The corporation laid a blackmail complaint with police.
But a tape recording of the meeting, made by Ms Pullar and provided to ACC, made a mockery of the blackmail allegations. It showed no such threats or demands were made, and that Ms Pullar was already on weekly ACC compensation. After police were provided with a copy of the recording, they dismissed the complaint, saying no offence had been disclosed.
Today's reports are not expected to end the scandal, as Ms Collins has taken defamation action against Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little for suggesting her office was involved in leaking an email identifying Ms Pullar as the whistleblower.
The privacy report has been compiled by former Australian federal privacy commissioner Malcolm Crompton and accountancy firm KPMG. Ms Collins has seen the draft and has said she agrees with it. Ms Pullar and Ms Boag would not comment because they said they did not yet know what was in the final report.

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7530250/Damning-report-expected-on-ACC

Minister furious over ACC's privacy stance

An article from Stuff by John Hartevelt

ACC Minister Judith Collins wants the state insurer to start sacking staff who breach a new "zero tolerance" policy on privacy breaches.
A furious Ms Collins has revealed her astonishment at the failure of ACC to include privacy among nine of its "top priorities".
"I'm not going to sit back and let one of the most important government entities [that] we have let people down time and time again around things such as privacy.
"They have to act in the way that I expect them to act. When I go around the branches, most of the people there absolutely understand it.
"But, actually, a few are letting them down and when we have things like the audit and risk committee having nine priorities for the year and not one of them [being] privacy, how can that be acceptable given everything else that's going on?"
Ms Collins' comments come as figures from ACC show 11 staff members have been reprimanded over "serious misconduct" since 2010. The breaches involved: theft; fraud against ACC or a claimant; serious misuse of ACC property, including information and systems; dishonesty; disobeying a lawful and reasonable instruction from a manager; and any act that had the potential to bring ACC into disrepute. Nine staff were sacked as a result of the breaches and two were given final written warnings.
Ms Collins said while the serious misconduct cases were "a shame", she was pleased they were taken seriously and not covered up. "I think that they need to be - and they are now - taking on a culture of zero tolerance to privacy breaches, in particular," she said.
Police had a "zero tolerance" approach to staff accessing private details about people without good reason.
"People lose their jobs over it, and that's something that I think ACC needs to have, which is that we have people's very personal information, we should treat it with respect and should understand it's a very privileged position."
ACC has been under siege over repeated privacy breaches since March, when it was revealed the private details of 6500 clients were accidentally sent to claimant Bronwyn Pullar. The revelation sparked a string of controversies, culminating in three inquiries and the resignations of Cabinet minister Nick Smith, board chairman John Judge, chief executive Ralph Stewart and three other board members. Separate inquiries by the privacy commissioner and the auditor-general will be released within weeks.
Ms Collins said she expected the new board members, including a new chairperson, to be in place "just after that".
"When I reappoint or appoint people to the board, that has to be someone who is going to be able to spend the time necessary in bringing about the cultural change that I expect from ACC . . . We need to do an awful lot around the culture of customer service and respect towards members of the public that I know most of our staff are providing."
Green MP Kevin Hague said even basic data protection systems at ACC still appeared to be hopeless.
"When every other state agency, let alone private sector organisation, was busily doing its best to protect data and figure out how to keep people's privacy protected, how come ACC, an organisation that was dealing with some of the most sensitive information out there in the state sector, was effectively doing nothing? I suspect that their focus has been not on meeting client needs. I think their focus has been on their financial result . . . thinking about clients as liabilities rather than people to whom they owe service."

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7464891/Minister-furious-over-ACCs-privacy-stance

Ex-chair's moves slow ACC probe, says Collins

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

Investigations into the source of a crucial leak of information about the Bronwyn Pullar ACC scandal have been hampered by the corporation's former chairman, John Judge, replacing or wiping his computers, according to ACC Minister Judith Collins.
But Ms Collins says she has no evidence that Mr Judge leaked the email, and Mr Judge yesterday stood by his earlier denials that he was the source of the leak.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff in late March began an investigation into how the email identifying Ms Pullar as the Accident Compensation Corporation claimant at the centre of a privacy scandal at the ACC was leaked to the Herald on Sunday. The email Ms Collins received from former National Party president Michelle Boag helped to end her colleague Nick Smith's ministerial career.
Ms Boag, as well as all recipients of the email - including Ms Collins, ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart and Mr Judge - have denied leaking the email.
But Ms Collins told the Herald last night that the email from Ms Boag was forwarded to Mr Judge's personal and only email account. She had been advised by ACC that Mr Judge had his home computer replaced some time in April, and his old one "is no longer able to be accessed".
"In addition, I've now been advised that Mr Judge was given an iPad from ACC ... and that iPad was wiped clean by Mr Judge's computer expert before it was returned to ACC in June."
Ms Collins told the Herald: "I am aware now that that is an issue around being able to access the forensic data which would normally be on the computer."
Ms Collins said she could make no further comment because the matter was still subject to the Privacy Commissioner's inquiry.
Mr Judge was unavailable to respond to Ms Collins comments last night but earlier yesterday said he did "absolutely not" leak the email.
The email was among documents submitted by ACC to police to support a complaint it made against Ms Pullar. ACC alleged that at a December meeting she and Ms Boag attempted to strike a deal to exchange the private information of thousands of other ACC claimants mistakenly emailed to Ms Pullar in return for a guaranteed benefit for her.
But in early June police said they would not lay charges against Ms Pullar. A few days later Ms Collins effectively forced Mr Judge and two other board members out of their jobs.
Mr Stewart announced his resignation shortly after although he is expected to remain in his job until the end of the year.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10823956

ACC making little progress on sensitive claims - report

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Kate Shuttleworth

An independent report of ACC's handling of sensitive claims has found the corporation has made little progress on implementing recommendations made by an independent panel in 2010.
The sensitive claims unit takes claims from victims of sexual or violent assault. The recommendations cover a wide range of actions, including improving communication with clients, working closely with the sector representatives to refine ACC's systems and processes, and examining ways to ensure treatment and assessment is carried out by a well-qualified, fit-for-purpose workforce.
The report - compiled for ACC's board by Dr Barbara Disley - found the corporation made progress with one recommendation made in 2010, but only average progress in six recommendations and minimal or "limited" progress in another six.
Poor progress was made on establishing a working party involving professional groups to examine the credentials of professionals treating and assessing victims of sexual abuse or violent assault.
The independent report did not mention the privacy breach where ACC last year emailed the details of 6748 clients - including nearly 250 claimants who were victims of sexual or violent assault - to Bronwyn Pullar. The corporation sent a four-page letter of apology to the sensitive claims clients, offering them $250 compensation for the breach.
The report found ACC's most far reaching change had been the introduction of 16 immediate counselling support sessions for sensitive claimants.
The report found a striking number of claims made to ACC this year were put on hold - to date 1026 claims were on hold, 250 had been declined and only 49 had been accepted.
Dr Disley sought in-depth input from ACC to compile the report, which was also informed by an online survey of clients and service providers, interviews with service providers and representatives of professional bodies, feedback from Child Youth and Family.
"There's still work to be done in some areas, and my report contains recommendation on how ACC can continue to make progress towards fully implementing the original recommendations made by the independent review panel."

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10820174

ACC change must not go too far

An editorial from the New Zealand Herald

Changing the "culture" of an organisation is a subtle exercise, requiring care to see that it does not go too far. The Minister in charge of the Accident Compensation Corporation, Judith Collins, has taken drastic steps to change its culture since the Bronwyn Pullar business. The previous chairman, chief executive, two board members and several officials have departed. Now it has been given new orders: improving "trust and confidence" has replaced "cost containment" as the first priority.
The minister had been under pressure to go much further and change the corporation's primary aim of rehabilitation. Labour and the Greens have criticised staff incentives to get patients back to work as soon as possible. They call it "depriving people of their entitlements". Inevitably, they believe, some people will be driven back to work too soon. It should be remembered that nothing in the Pullar case supported that suspicion. She was aggrieved that the corporation would not provide her with an income but gave the public no evidence to strengthen her claim. Her disclosures concerned other cases accidentally "leaked" to her in an email from ACC.
That privacy breach turned out not to be as serious as she had led the country to believe. The "patient details" were no more than names, a case number that could identify the nature of each name's claim, and an indication of the outcome of a review of their claim.
The Privacy Commissioner has told patients it was mostly inoffensive information at the lower end of seriousness. The corporation has offered them consolation payments of something less than $500. The sum seems proportionate to the offence.
It is much harder to restore a sense of proportion to criticism of ACC's culture. The attitude expressed in messages between ACC staff, which Ms Pullar had also obtained, was as telling as the tape of the meeting in which her supporter, Michelle Boag, mentioned the leak to ACC officers.
The careless language and loose accusations in ACC's internal exchanges were probably the reason the minister took drastic action. It was an insight into a culture that has been been too hard on some categories of claim, especially those requiring surgery, as Herald investigations had found. Too many rejections of those claims have been reversed on appeal.
But it would be too easy to replace that culture with one at the other extreme. ACC cannot be an automatic entitlement with no questions asked. It is an unusual system, copied by no other country, in its uncritical attitude to the cause of injury. "No-fault" compensation may be a good way to save lawyers' fees but the same unquestioning principle could not be applied to medical assessments. When ACC seeks a second opinion, though, its medical officers must not influence it as they clearly tried to do in the Pullar case.
ACC is funded by employers, motorists and taxpayers as insurance against sudden disability. It offers cover that ordinary commercial insurance provides elsewhere. Since New Zealand has to be competitive it is vital that ACC's costs are not out of line with workplace insurance in other places. It has to ensure it is paying out only for genuine injuries and for loss of income only for as long as the claimant is genuinely unable to work.
Ms Pullar reportedly received $1 million from a private company for the injury for which she also sought ACC support. Since private insurance can set its own premiums, within the bounds of competition, it can afford to be more lenient. As a public insurer, ACC has to be rigorous.
But it should also be sensitive, fair, considerate and dignified in its dealings with people and its discussions about them.
That is as far as the culture change need go.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10816711