The Swamp Report: TVNZ

Showing posts with label TVNZ. Show all posts

17 November 2013

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.

29 September 2012

ACC claimants plan legal bid for more compensation

A news report from One News

ACC claimants who have had their private details exposed in a major privacy breach are launching legal action to claim more compensation.
Nearly 7000 clients have been offered less than a few hundred dollars in compensation after their personal details were accidentally emailed to former National Party figure Bronwyn Pullar.
However, the mother of a 12-year-old client involved in the privacy leak claims that figure is not enough.
The mother, whose identity cannot be revealed because her daughter is a sexual abuse victim, claims ACC's $250 compensation offer is insulting.
"I want her to see that those that have done wrong are going to front up and treat it with the appropriate, the appropriate response and not just be fobbed off with a bit of pocket money."
Her daughter is one of 200 sensitive claimants offered $250. Two months since the offer was made, only 84 have claimed the money.
She, along with other ACC claimants, is planning to pursue ACC for a payment worth thousands of dollars
"If you're just one person then $250 is a lot of effort to go to the Privacy Commissioner and the Human Rights Tribunal, but if there's a group then you know it makes more sense to go and we'll probably take some group action," said lawyer John Miller.
So far ACC have paid out $21,000 in compensation to privacy leak victims in exchange for their silence.
"There may be people in ACC right now who're saying 'well most people haven't taken up this offer, that's a bit of a win for us' - well actually hold the phone," Green Party ACC spokesperson Kevin Hague.
ACC refused requests for an interview, saying they are bound by a confidentiality clause in the compensation agreement.

© 2012 Television New Zealand Ltd

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/acc-claimants-plan-legal-bid-more-compensation-5108082

19 June 2012

ACC breach victims could get thousands in compo

A news report from TVNZ

People caught up in the Bronwyn Pullar ACC privacy scandal could be paid thousands of dollars in compensation, ONE News has confirmed.
ACC is about to send out letters with details of settlements.
ONE News has learned the corporation is in the process of posting payment offers to some victims of the massive privacy breach.
"This is now not only causing embarrassment to ACC and harm to all these people, it's actually costing you and me, the taxpayers and levy payers," said Green Party health spokesman Kevin Hague.
Nearly 7000 ACC clients had their privacy breached in August when an ACC staff member accidentally emailed their details to Pullar.
ACC has repeatedly refused to tell ONE News how many of those claimants are being offered payments or how much.
One client expecting compensation from this breach also had his privacy breached last year. According to a letter from ACC, obtained by ONE News, the corporation paid him $10,000 in compensation. Over the last seven-and-a-half years ACC has paid more than $185,000 in compensation for 32 privacy breaches. That is $5,800 per settlement on average.
Those considered to have sensitive claims are most likely to be eligible for compensation. If ACC made its average payment to every one of 250 sensitive claimants, the bill would amount to almost $1.45 million.
ACC Minister Judith Collins told ONE News compensation is a matter for ACC.
"It's an operational matter."
Asked if she should take an interest given that it is a potentially very expensive operational matter, Collins repeated, "Well actually it's an operational matter."

© 2012 Television New Zealand Ltd

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/acc-breach-victims-could-get-thousands-in-compo-4937772

20 May 2012

ACC boss fronts up on privacy breaches

A news report from TVNZ

The chief executive of ACC has spoken out this morning about the raft of complaints that have emerged about the organisation in recent months. It has been a year of controversies and complaints around ACC, with boss Ralph Stewart scrambling to apologise earlier this week following the latest privacy breach blunder, which ACC tried to keep private.
ONE News revealed on Wednesday that an ACC employee sent confidential account information on more than 100 clients to the wrong people. Accounts for overdue levies for 118 ACC clients were mixed up and sent to other clients by mistake last Friday. As a result, inquiries are being conducted by the Privacy Commissioner and the police.
Speaking on TV ONE's Q+A this morning, Stewart said today that he "wishes" that from tomorrow there would be no more privacy breaches but he knows it won't be. The key thing is to declare for ACC that no breaches is our objective".
On the Bronwyn Pullar case, where it was revealed in March that an ACC employee sent confidential details about 6000 clients to claimant Pullar, Stewart said the organisation is looking at the case. "We are managing her case as we can under legislation, and as carefully and sensibly as we can through ACC."
Stewart said the privacy breaches have to be put into context as the organisation handles 1.7 million claims per year. "I think a sense of context helps to understand the privacy issues... Bronwyn is one of 1.7million claims last year."
And while, he would not say what it would take for him to resign, Stewart stressed that privacy is just one of his responsibilities in a complex organisation, and remained optimistic about the public trust in the organisation.
"In terms of public trust and confidence, I believe that ACC has it."
"The buck stops with me," he said.
Stewart listed three areas that the organisation is focusing on to protect client privacy. "We've conducted a complete independent report, now half-way through. It's being conducted by KPMG as experts, and also has on the panel the ex-federal privacy commissioner out of Australia," Stewart told Q A host Paul Holmes this morning.
"It will be completed by June, it will be made public," he said.
"Secondly, in terms of privacy, I think one of the key influences of privacy is development of the digital age. As a consequence we're sending out more files electronically - i.e. attaching things to emails - so we've commissioned a second piece of work to look at the infrastructure at ACC and say 'how can we take this from where we are, in terms of client records and privacy, and take it to world's best practice."
Stewart adds that he has also commissioned "80 privacy champions out of the ACC network to constantly monitor, maintain and raise awareness for privacy in ACC."

17 May 2012

Cost-cutting blamed for latest ACC privacy breach

A report from One News

A cost-cutting culture at ACC is being blamed for a series of privacy breaches involving client's personal information.
In the latest case, ONE News discovered an employee sent confidential account information on more than 100 clients to the wrong people. The accounts for overdue levies of the 118 ACC clients were mixed up and sent to other clients by mistake last Friday.
ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart fronted up to ONE News, saying he is "deeply apologetic".
It comes after another major privacy breach in March when an ACC employee sent confidential details about 6,000 clients to claimant Bronwyn Pullar.
"ACC is a repeat offender when it comes to these breaches of privacy," Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei told TV ONE's Breakfast. "Part of the problem is ACC is very focussed on cutting costs, getting people off ACC and reducing compensation to clients and not on providing a quality service to injured New Zealanders.
"That is a political decision made by the Minister and the chairman."
She said ACC Minister Judith Collins needs to intervene and not "take her hands off the issue again."
In a statement, Collins said she was unable to comment about the latest breach. "ACC's privacy processes are currently under investigation by the privacy commissioner so it is not appropriate," she said.

Defamation
ACC could face legal action over its latest breach of clients' privacy, a lawyer says. John Miller said this sort of situation seems to be becoming too frequent with ACC.
"This is not only a privacy breach, but this is, I think, defamatory material that's gone out that could affect people's credit," he said.
"ACC could defend a defamation suit by saying 'well, it's true,' but it may not be true, they may have got it wrong."
Labour's ACC spokesman Andrew Little says the blunder is unbelievable.
"With everything ACC has been through this year, you'd think that the one thing they'd be absolutely vigilant about is the information going out from them," Little said.
Each account contained the client's name, ACC number and how much they owe the corporation.
Stewart said the error is "deeply disappointing". In an email sent to staff yesterday, he blames the mistake on human error. ACC only admitted the error after ONE News obtained the email and started making inquiries.
Stewart admitted he would not have gone public and acknowledged the error if ONE News had not asked the question.
In two weeks ACC is meeting with major stake holders and independent auditors KPMG to address its problem with privacy.

31 March 2012

ACC scandal special

A press release from iPredict

Key Points:
• Collins set to survive ACC scandal but defamation actions expected to fail
• “Beehive staffer” most likely culprit for Boag email leak
• Police expected to investigate while new stock launched on probability of Prime Minister announcing an inquiry
• Nick Smith looks safe from further sanction and has 1/3 chance of being re-appointed a minister by year’s end
• National appears unaffected by scandal with new stocks on next TVNZ poll launched overnight
• Labour still favoured to win next New Zealand election

Click here to read more.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1203/S00407/ipredict-newsletter-acc-scandal-special.htm

Key vetted files for Pullar ties

An article from the Dominion Post by Tracy Watkins and Danya Levy

Prime Minister John Key has revealed he and his staff took the extraordinary step of combing through his parliamentary and electorate office files for evidence of any official contact with ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar as her case drags National into a widening ACC scandal.
Mr Key said the search confirmed there had been no contact other than at social functions where Ms Pullar had raised her beef with ACC with him.
A letter from Ms Pullar's private insurance company Sovereign detailing a $14 million claim was leaked on Thursday. It showed Mr Key's name on a list of high-profile people who were claimed to be Ms Pullar's supporters.
Ms Pullar yesterday said Mr Key had not helped her with her claim and she had only one conversation with him about her fight for compensation.
"It was at a National Party Christmas function in Auckland when he was the MP for Helensville. I was very distressed at the time and I took the opportunity to vent my frustrations. He listened politely, but I did not ask him to do anything and he did not offer to assist."
Ms Pullar said she had been asked by "one of her advisers" to write a list of people who knew about her dispute with Sovereign. The letter referred to her $14m claim but it is understood she settled with the insurer for about $1m.
Mr Key said it was nothing new for him to be a victim of name dropping, but he knew he had nothing to hide.
"I've never been part of any support group or advisory group. I don't have Bronwyn Pullar's mobile phone or any other phone number in my phone. I've never rung her. I've gone through all my electorate office and/or parliamentary office files. There has never been any correspondence received from her or sent to her," he told Close Up.
"If anyone believes I'm not telling the truth, well, bring out the information and good luck to you because you'll have to be imagining a situation I wasn't involved in."
National is being torn apart by a series of leaks which resulted in the downfall of former ACC Minister Nick Smith, who got involved in Ms Pullar's case without declaring a conflict of interest over their close friendship. Speculation over the source of one of the leaks this week saw ACC Minister Judith Collins threaten to sue Labour MPs Andrew Little and Trevor Mallard and Radio New Zealand. But after the two MPs failed to meet a 5pm Thursday deadline to apologise, Ms Collins yesterday refused to comment on her next step.
Fate drew three of the central figures in the saga – Ms Pullar, support person Michelle Boag and Mr Key – to Queenstown yesterday. Ms Boag was the author of the email to Ms Collins which which was leaked. Ms Collins has denied that she or her office leaked it.
But while Ms Boag and Ms Pullar apparently caught up, lunching together in Queenstown, Ms Boag and Mr Key never crossed paths, despite being at the same golf tournament.
Sovereign general manager of marketing David Drillien said yesterday he was "very confident" the letter, shown on television had not been leaked by his company.
"It looked to me like it was an original that was mailed out."
Sovereign had an electronic copy of the letter which was only accessible to a few people, he said.

30 March 2012

ACC row: Key denies backing $14m claim

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

Prime Minister John Key was last night dragged into the widening ACC scandal and forced to deny a report he was part of a group of senior National Party figures who backed Bronwyn Pullar's bid for a $14 million insurance payout.
Mr Key's denial came at the end of a day in which ACC Minister Judith Collins sued Opposition MPs over allegations she leaked an email relating to Ms Pullar, and Ms Pullar claimed she used "stealth" software to monitor ACC's handling of her claim.
It also emerged in Parliament that the Green Party recently received the sensitive information about 6700 ACC claimants that was sent to Ms Pullar, sparking the affair, but returned it to the corporation.
TVNZ current affairs programme Close Up last night said it had received a letter written by Sovereign Insurance to former National Party president Michelle Boag in 2007. The letter named 28 people, among them prominent National Party figures including John Key and former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley, as supporters of Ms Pullar as she sought a $14 million payout from the company in relation to injuries she suffered in a 2002 cycling accident. The claim, Sovereign said in the letter, was "greatly in excess of her entitlement".
Ms Boag is a long-standing friend of Ms Pullar who supported her during her battle with ACC, including attending a December meeting with ACC which has sparked investigations by the police and the Privacy Commissioner.
In the letter, Sovereign noted, it had been given a list of members of Ms Pullar's "claimed support/advisory team". The list included Sir Selwyn Cushing, Mr Key, Dame Jenny and Dr Wayne Mapp.
Mr Key was at the time the Leader of the Opposition. He has said he met Ms Pullar when he first entered politics - which was shortly after her accident - but had not had any contact with her since he became National Party leader.
Last night, he issued a statement saying: "I have not been involved in any 'claims support' or 'advisory team' for Bronwyn Pullar.
"The claim in the letter that I was part of such a team in 2007, or indeed any other time, is wrong."
Dr Mapp, a former minister who was an MP at the time, last night told Close Up he had met Sovereign to discuss the matter
"I simply facilitated some meetings ... they ultimately led to a settlement."
The Herald understands that settlement was in excess of $1 million. Ms Pullar did not respond to the Herald yesterday.
The letter preceded those that Nick Smith wrote in support of Ms Pullar's ACC claim while he was ACC Minister and which led to his resignation from Cabinet last week.
Green Party co-leader Russel Norman last night said the Sovereign letter "raises the question of whether John Key did declare his full involvement in this case".
"It also raises the question of whether, in the conduct of his private investigation into Nick Smith's conflict of interest, he too had a conflict of interest.
"These are questions that only an independent inquiry can legitimately answer."
Ms Collins, the current ACC Minister, yesterday initiated defamation action against Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little and also Radio NZ over allegations about the leaking of an email sent by Ms Boag to Ms Collins concerning Ms Pullar's claim. She demanded an apology from the pair, but Mr Mallard said Ms Collins' action was "an attempt to gag members of parliament, inside and outside of the House".
Meanwhile, it was reported that when Ms Pullar emailed Dr Smith's letter to ACC in support of her claim last year, she did so using software enabling her to track each time it was opened and who it was forwarded to without the knowledge of the email's recipients.
Internet security expert Peter Gutman, of Auckland University, said such "web bugs" were uncommon.
"Spammers use it on a massive scale, and beyond that it's used only by security geeks."

29 March 2012

Prime Minister's name on Pullar support letter

A news report from One News

A letter leaked to TV ONE's Close Up draws a link between Prime Minister John Key and attempts by former National Party president Michelle Boag to persuade an insurance company to pay up $14 million. It's the latest twist in a saga that started with Boag advocating for her friend and former National Party activist Bronwyn Pullar who suffered a head injury in 2002.
The letter, sent from Sovereign Insurance to Boag in 2007, was passed on to Close Up anonymously. The letter names National Party heavyweights, including Key and former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, in an attempt to get more than $14 million to settle an income insurance claim by Boag's friend Bronwyn Pullar. Sovereign says the claim was "greatly in excess of her entitlement".
Boag and Pullar are close friends and have a long association through the National Party. Pullar helped Boag successfully campaign for the party's presidency.
The wider party links emerge in the leaked correspondence with Sovereign noting: "We have been supplied with a list of 28 named people who are members of Bronwyn's 'claims support/advisory team'. This list includes prominent individuals such as Sir Selwyn Cushing, John Key, Jenny Shipley and Wayne Mapp."
At the time Key was National Party leader and in opposition.
After the resignation of minister Nick Smith for writing a letter in support of Pullar, the Prime Minister described his own relationship with Pullar as distant.
"I first met her when I came into politics in 2002. She was friends at that point with Michelle Boag and continues to be so," Key said at the time.
"I saw her at a few National Party events. For the life of me I can't remember seeing her ever since I've been a leader of the opposition, so it would be a good five or six years."

Claim 'wrong' - Key
Key issued a statement today saying he has not been involved in any "claims support" or "advisory team" for Pullar.
"The claim in the letter that I was part of such a team in 2007, or indeed any other time, is wrong."
Sir Selwyn told Close Up he had gone in to bat for Pullar and he said Sovereign's then chief executive conceded to him they had handled her claim badly.
The letter claims Wayne Mapp, who was an MP at the time, also had a meeting with Sovereign.
"I simply facilitated some meetings," Mapp told Close Up. "They were very professional and proper meetings and they ultimately led to a settlement."
Mapp says he does not know who put the list together.
"I've not seen this particular letter myself. What I did was assist Bronwyn, who was assisted by Michelle, for her to be able to get compensation for her injuries based on the insurance policy she was paying for."
Dame Jenny Shipley told Close Up she was not aware of any list and had not attended any meetings. She said she did not want to get drawn into it.
The Sovereign letter also addresses what it considers threats by Boag if it did not pay the multi-million dollar claim. It states: "For nearly 18 months Bronwyn and her advisers, including yourself personally, have been saying to us that if we did not settle Bronwyn's claims against us in a way acceptable to Bronwyn that she would 'go to the media'. The inference we drew from this was that you would seek to obtain media coverage that would be detrimental to Sovereign."
Sovereign Insurance, which is now part of the ASB group of companies, eventually settled a lump-sum payment thought to be over $1 million.
Boag initially told Close Up she could not remember the letter and that she does not even remember writing to Sovereign herself. When prompted about the list of prominent people, she said that was Sovereign's definition and she had never supplied any list.
On the issue of threats to go to the media, Boag said that was redundant as she had already at that stage talked to the media.
Pullar did not return Close Up's calls.

Renewed calls for inquiry
The Green Party says it is now "essential" an independent inquiry is held into the ongoing saga.
"This raises the question of whether John Key did declare his full involvement in this case," Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said in a statement tonight.
"It also raises the question of whether, in the conduct of his private investigation into Nick Smith's conflict of interest, he too had a conflict of interest.
"These are questions that only an independent inquiry can legitimately answer.
Key has ruled out an independent inquiry to look into potential conflicts of interest.
"If it is true that the Prime Minister has no knowledge of being named in the Sovereign letter, or that his support of Bronwyn Pullar was as he has previously described it, then he has nothing to fear from an independent inquiry," Norman said.
Otago University political scientist Bryce Edwards said with Mapp admitting he gave his consent for the letter, "there's a lot of smoke" and Key needs to front up.
"He has to answer a bit more than just saying 'oh I wasn't part of any team'," Edwards told Close Up. Edwards described the letter as a "remarkable insight" into how the New Zealand political class operates.
"It shows how people operate using their well connected friends to basically intimidate people. I think a lot of people will be astounded by this.
"There's nothing necessarily illegal about that but it does bring up a sense of legitimacy.
"Would the public see this as legitimate to use these connections. I don't think they would."

28 March 2012

Collins 'happy' for computer to be checked in ACC probe

A news report from One News

ACC Minister Judith Collins is welcoming an investigation by the Privacy Commissioner into a leaked email sent to her from former National Party president Michelle Boag. The email contained information about ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar, but Collins and ACC management have denied leaking it to the media.
Pullar was inadvertently sent an email from an ACC employee which contained the private details of 6700 ACC claimants, including victims of sexual abuse and other violent crime. The leaked email had Boag's account of a December meeting where she and Pullar met with ACC management to discuss the privacy breach.
Pullar claims she promised not to divulge the personal details. She said ACC then leaked her name and details to the media, in an attempt to "destroy my privacy and reputation". An ACC report to Minister Judith Collins claimed Pullar threatened to go public about the breach unless the corporation gave her a "guaranteed benefit payment for two years".
The new investigation could include forensic scrutiny of computers used by Collins and her staff. Collins said she would be "very happy" for her computer to be examined.
Meanwhile, Labour is continuing to question the Government on who knew about the email. In Parliament today, Labour MP Trevor Mallard asked if the contents of the Boag email were discussed with Simon Lusk, who has worked on campaigns for a number of National Party MPs.
Collins said Lusk has no involvement with the email.
"I'm just staggered by Mr Mallard's comments today," she told media. "I'm not going to try and work out Mr Mallard's mind, I think he's still working it out himself."

23 March 2012

State Services Commission was aware of ACC leak

A news report from TVNZ

There has been an embarrassing revelation by the State Services Commission following ONE News' inquiries into the ACC privacy breach.
ACC claimant and National Party figure Bronwyn Pullar was inadvertently sent an email from an ACC employee which contained the private details of 6700 ACC claimants, including victims of sexual abuse and other violent crime. The commission has now confirmed Pullar sent it a copy of the spreadsheet containing confidential client details six months ago, meaning ACC should have been alerted to the breach before it met Pullar in December.
The commission made the discovery while re-checking emails after calls from ONE News. It says it has now deleted the information.

Expert to probe leak
Meanwhile, it has been announced global auditing group KPMG and former Australian Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton have been called in to investigate the leak.
The large data breach has "raised a number of concerning questions", NZ's Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said.

View the terms of reference for the investigation here

Schroff said the inquiry will look into both the leak and possible "systemic or organisational weaknesses" in how personal information is handled by ACC. The findings will be reported to the ACC Board and to the Privacy Commissioner.
Individual privacy complaints about the data breach will be handled by the Privacy Commissioner complaints investigation process. The final report is expected to be completed and made public by the end of June.
Meanwhile, the Auditor-General is also considering whether to hold an independent inquiry into ACC after requests from the Opposition, with a decision expected by Easter.
Green MP Kevin Hague has called for a separate inquiry into the actions of former ACC minister Nick Smith, who resigned from the Cabinet after admitting it emerged he wrote letter in support of Pullar's ACC claim.
Smith has said he would welcome such an inquiry, but Prime Minister John Key has ruled it out.
The Auditor-General's office said in a statement it expected to make a decision on whether to hold an inquiry by Easter, but warned any investigation would involve a significant investment of time and public money. "We need to make sure we understand the issues, the work being done by other agencies, and what value we could add before we make a decision," the statement said.
Hague and Labour MP Andrew Little lodged the requests for an Auditor-General inquiry and have called for a quick decision, saying there is a need for urgency. Little said he hopes to meet with the Auditor-General next week to talk about the scope of the potential inquiry.

ACC trips over itself

An article from TVNZ by Simon Bradwell

Can ACC claim compo for shooting itself in the foot? It should.
This has been a hugely damaging fortnight for ACC. And I say that with all due respect to the mea culpa of ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart over the whole business.
And what a murky and sorry business it is too. So let me try and shine a light through it for you.
I've spoken to Stewart, to Bronwyn Pullar - the ACC claimant who received the spreadsheet containing details of more than 6000 ACC clients - and, most importantly, I've seen the spreadsheet itself. It's the blandest looking thing you can imagine. It's like graph paper. It has several pages, each of which contain information. The first three or four pages contain break-downs of how ACC branches around the country are performing. You might wonder why no one at ACC cares about that being released: the answer is that ACC essentially has a monopoly, so the information isn't even commercially sensitive. Big deal.
The meat in the spreadsheet is the list of claim details. Imagine a column of boxes. Each one has a number. Next to it, another column of names (these had been removed when we saw it, for privacy reasons, obviously). Next to that, details of the ACC branch. Then the type of claim, in the briefest form imaginable - "work accident" was the most descriptive I saw. There was a column containing the outcome of the claim. Now given that this spreadsheet contained only details of claims under review, it's not surprising that all the claims I saw had been declined. After all, that makes sense. No one would ask for their claim to be reviewed if it had been accepted. The last column showed whether the claim had been referred for dispute resolution.
Now there is absolutely no doubt that information should never have been sent out. But we didn't see any medical records, or other personal information like addresses or phone numbers.
You can draw your own conclusions as to how offended you'd be if you were on that spreadsheet. I've taken many calls from people who are. Certainly if you were one of the clients of the Sensitive Claims Unit, which treats victims of sexual abuse, you'd have every right to be horrified.
I've interviewed ACC chief executive Stewart several times. He looks like a man who needs a good night's sleep. I believe that he is genuinely apologetic and sincere. That's not to say he hasn't made mistakes. In my first interview with him, he told me the primary information in the spreadsheet was the name, claim number and branch number.

Not good enough
When ACC claimants started telling me otherwise, he confirmed other information was contained, and he hadn't told me because it wasn't "primary" information. Not good enough, I'm sure you'll agree.
This wasn't the time to hide behind semantics. Full and open honesty is always the best policy. To be fair to him, Stewart's been upfront with me about everything else, and I believe he wants to make sure such a breach never happens again. He and ACC minister Judith Collins say the employee who sent out the email is distraught. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.
What a smart operator Collins has been during this. You can only imagine the phone conversation between Collins and Stewart that morning the scandal broke. Could have stripped paint, I imagine. Then she let Stewart twist in the wind for a whole day, doing interview after humiliating interview.
Then, having created a safe distance between her and the debacle, she fronted up to counter-attack Pullar for not giving the information straight back. That strategy seemed bizarre until it emerged ACC was indeed asking police to investigate. Which made Collins seem prescient and progressive.
And what of Pullar, the woman who received the spreadsheet? In my interview with her for ONE News, she was adamant she's done nothing wrong and will be cleared of trying to blackmail ACC over the return of the file. Her passion and conviction were unmistakeable.
Nick Smith's demise over writing letters for Pullar is a separate issue. It's getting lumped in with the privacy breach, but it shouldn't. It's nothing to do with it. And combining the two issues to strengthen calls for an inquiry into ACC is off the mark. Smith wrote those letters, not ACC. And he's paid the price.
Let's hope the Privacy Commission's inquiry looks at the sharing of files about sensitive claims between different ACC branches. Because that definitely warrants further scrutiny. It appears to be at an unacceptable level.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff, who will be involved in investigating ACC, made a good point to me. She said that this sort of inadvertent breach is a result of the electronic age. And it should be a reminder to us all to use care and safeguards with emails.
The privacy breach was bad. Unacceptable. But it was an accident. And after all, Accident is ACC's first name.

21 March 2012

Nick Smith quits as minister over 'two errors'

A report from One News

Government Minister Nick Smith has quit the Government over two conflicts of interest in letters he wrote regarding a friend's ACC claim. He became emotional in the House as he announced his resignation as minister for Climate Change, Environment and Local Government.
"I do so because I made not one error of judgement, but two in dealing with a conflict of interest in respect of a friend who had made repeated attempts to me during my period as Minister of ACC to advocate and interfere in her case," he said.
Smith said the Prime Minister "has quite properly accepted my resignation".
His first error was in July last year when the friend, former National Party official Bronwyn Pullar, said there were concerns about her status prior to a cycling accident she had in 2002. He then wrote a letter "providing knowledge of her in that pre-accident period". Smith said he made plain he was writing in the capacity of a friend and he did not intend to interfere in ACC decisions. "It was an error in judgement" to have written the letter and to have done so on ministerial letterhead, Smith said.
The second mistake was to not declare a conflict of interest in his involvement with another request from Pullar in 2010, he told the House. Then Associate Minister for ACC Pansy Wong had received a request from Pullar via an MP in March that year. Wong declined as she knew Pullar and declared a conflict of interest. ACC then prepared a formal response which Smith signed off, but he failed to declare his own conflict of interest, he said.
He apologised to his friends and family for the mistake.
Arriving in Wellington just before 2pm, Smith faced questions from waiting media but refused to answer and asked to be treated with "a little humanity".
PM John Key said in a statement: "Dr Smith has been a hard-working and diligent Minister, but perceptions do matter and he knows he has let himself down.
"I am very disappointed to have lost such a capable Minister. Dr Smith has made a huge contribution to the National Party and to this Government."
Gerry Brownlee will stand in as Local Government Minister, Craig Foss for Climate Change Issues and Chris Finlayson for Environment.
Labour deputy leader Grant Robertson said after Smith's resignation that it was clear Smith was a "close associate" of Pullar and that ministerial standards had reached a "new low".

'At the moment'
Asked about the matter earlier this morning, Key said he had confidence in Smith "at the moment", but said that could change this afternoon. Under repeated questioning as to the nature of the relationship between Smith and Pullar, Key said he was not prepared to comment, and said Smith is "only human". A spokesman for Smith said he was friends with Pullar.
Labour's ACC Spokesman Andrew Little earlier said Smith knew what he was doing and he should not be allowed to continue in his current role . "It was an artful letter from a minister that knew exactly what he was doing," he told TV ONE's Breakfast. "He was trying to use his ministerial influence to get a decision in favour of someone who was a friend of his - you just don't do that as a minister and he knows that."
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters used Parliamentary privilege yesterday to claim it was "a shabby case involving blackmail, sex, a minister with a conflict of interest".
Responding to the claim Smith became emotional when telling media he was happy to answer questions about his public life, but not his personal life, he said he has a wonderful wife who he has been loyal to during the entire period of his marriage, and will be loyal to until the day he dies. The couple married in 2009.
Pullar was also inadvertently emailed the names and details of thousands of ACC clients, including about 250 sensitive sexual abuse cases. ACC has laid a complaint over Pullar, who it has accused of threatening to go public about being sent the confidential information unless ACC promised to pay her a benefit for two years.

Nick Smith under mounting pressure over ACC letter

A news report from TVNZ

Government Minister Nick Smith's response in the ACC privacy scandal is finding short shrift with his political opponents.
Smith has admitted writing a letter supporting the ACC claim of former National Party official, Bronwyn Pullar, while he was the minister for the agency, on his ministerial letterhead. He said he regretted doing so and it was an error of judgement, and has apologised to Prime Minister John Key.
A spokesman for Smith said the minister was friends with Pullar, who was injured in a cycling accident in 2002. Smith had written a reference for Pullar last July in a personal capacity. The letter was to be used for medical assessment but Smith was unaware whether it had been used to support Pullar's case for ACC compensation.
But Labour's ACC Spokesman Andrew Little said Smith knew what he was doing and he should not be allowed to continue in his current role as minister for Climate Change, Environment and Local Government. "It was an artful letter from a minister that knew exactly what he was doing," he told TV ONE's Breakfast.
"He was trying to use his ministerial influence to get a decision in favour of someone who was a friend of his - you just don't do that as a a minister and he knows that."
Little said Smith should not be trusted with the huge responsibility of managing reforms of local government as he has shown his decision making is not reliable. "I think Nick Smith has acted in a way that shows he's not fit to be in cabinet, he is a long standing MP, a seasoned cabinet minister," he said.
"He knows where the boundaries are and he has tried to curry favour for a close personal friend and the department for which he is responsible and that is not acceptable for a minister".

Shabby case
NZ First leader Winston Peters used Parliamentary privilege yesterday to claim it was "a shabby case involving blackmail, sex, a minister with a conflict of interest".
Responding to the claim Smith became emotional when telling media he was happy to answer questions about his public life, but not his personal life. He said he has a wonderful wife who he has been loyal to during the entire period of his marriage, and will be loyal to until the day he dies. The couple married in 2009.
Pullar was also inadvertently emailed the names and details of thousands of ACC clients, including about 250 sensitive sexual abuse cases.
ACC has laid a complaint over Pullar, who it has accused of threatening to go public about being sent the confidential information unless ACC promised to pay her a benefit for two years.
Yesterday Peters along with Labour's David Shearer and Grant Robertson called on Smith to resign over the issue.

© 2012 Television New Zealand Ltd

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/nick-smith-under-mounting-pressure-over-acc-letter-4788009

15 March 2012

ACC maintain personal details were not released

A news report from One News

ACC has given ONE News access to the spread sheet at the centre of a mass privacy breach.
The details of 9000 claims, including 137 from ACC's highly confidential sensitive claims unit, were included in the spread sheet that was emailed to a member of the public last August. ACC offered ONE News a copy of the leaked material after several clients came forward claiming the problem is worse than the corporation initially admitted.
Statistical information about ACC branches around the country as well as basic client identification information is included in the copy of the spread sheet. Also included is a basic description of each claim, whether or not it was accepted and if it had been forwarded on for dispute resolution.
But ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart reiterated today that "there is absolutely no personal information whatsoever contained in that file".
"If people are concerned about medical records, x-rays for instance, it is not included in the file," he said.
However, several claimants have come forward claiming ACC contacted them saying private details of their claims were released. Whangarei man Allan Nicholas told ONE News yesterday he received a phone call from ACC who told him his review application and the outcome were released.
"Personal information, of a sensitive nature to myself. [I'm] very miffed to know that information had gone out," said Nicholas.
ACC has now contacted two-thirds of the 6,000 clients affected in the security breach and completed a report that is in the hands of Minister Judith Collins. It is likely to recommend a three-way investigation involving ACC, an independent accounting firm and the Privacy Commissioner.

© 2012 Television New Zealand Ltd
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/acc-maintain-personal-details-were-not-released-4779759#

14 March 2012

ACC claimants say personal information released

A news report from ONE News

Shocked Accident Compensation Corporation claimants say their personal information was released in the mass privacy breach revealed this week.
Thousands of confidential ACC claims were mistakenly sent to a member of the public when an ACC employee sent an email last August in one of the worst breaches of privacy in New Zealand's history. The email contained the details of 9000 claims, including 137 from ACC's highly confidential sensitive claims unit which handles delicate cases like sexual abuse. The claims related to 6748 clients and ACC is telephoning and mailing an apology to them.
Claimants say the problem is worse than the corporation has admitted. Whangarei man Allan Nicholas was at home this morning when he got a phone call from ACC. But instead of giving their name, the caller wanted Nicholas to give his, as well as his date of birth. "I was quite appalled and quite disappointed," Nicholas told ONE News.
And being asked for personal information was not the only surprise. Yesterday, ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart told ONE News the primary information in the file mistakenly emailed was the client's name, their claim reference number and their branch number. "There was no personal information contained in the email," he said.
But Nicholas says ACC told him that his review application and the outcome were released. "Personal information, of a sensitive nature to myself. [I'm] very miffed to know that information had gone out."
ONE News put those criticisms to Stewart who now admits in some cases review outcomes have been released. He also apologised for the tone of the phone call this morning and invited Nicholas to contact him personally to discuss his concerns.
Another ACC claimant, who ONE News has not identified because she is a victim of sexual abuse, also told about getting a phone call from ACC. "I hung up, and I went screaming for my husband to tell him. And we rang him back, and I again lost the plot and I said 'how dare you?'", "Vanessa" told ONE News.
And after experiencing other privacy breaches she has lost faith in ACC's sensitive claims unit. "It needs to be shut down completely. It needs to be restarted, and I think that it just literally needs to be cleaned out," she said.
ACC minister Judith Collins met with ACC executives today and is expecting a report on the debacle as early next week. But today she hit back at the person who received the emails and blew the whistle.
"I cannot imagine how someone who's received the information wrongly has not instantly either given it back to ACC or given it to the Privacy Commissioner. This is an appalling thing to have done to 6,000 innocent people," Collins said.
ACC says it is going to invite the Privacy Commission to audit its process. The organisation told ONE News this evening that it has contacted 2199 people out of the 6748 affected by the privacy breach.

Rape victims fearful
Meanwhile, rape victims are fearful their details were among the 9000 confidential ACC claims mistakenly sent out, a victim support organisation says. Kim MacGregor from Rape Prevention Education told TV ONE's Breakfast that phone lines have been running hot since news emerged of the breach. She said many people who put in a claim under the sensitive claims unit are concerned and anxious that their information has been released.
MacGregor said in order to get funding for counselling under ACC the abuse victim has to give every detail about the sexual violence that occurred. "Many people would not have told anyone else but their counsellor," she said. "If the offence is within the family many family members will never know."
MacGregor said some victims are "fearful" because when they were abused the offender threatened them or their family if they told anyone about the attack. "So there is a great deal of fear for virtually every victim of sexual violence that has put a claim into ACC because they don't know whose information was released to the public," she said.
MacGregor said full names were released but not the details of the offences. "A lot of clients are saying it has put them right back to the beginning of their therapy because they're not feeling safe."
She said ACC could provide counselling for all victims of sexual violence who have put in claims.

Compensation
And the victims of the privacy breach may not get compensation. ACC yesterday said anyone who would like to seek a settlement or compensation could write to the corporation's privacy officer and the issue would then be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Under the breach of Privacy Act victims can only be compensated if they can prove they have been harmed in some way, which includes humiliation and injury to feelings. But compensation will not be automatic - every case will have to be dealt with individually.

© 2012 Television New Zealand Ltd

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/acc-claimants-say-personal-information-released-4775496

ACC privacy breach victims may not get compo

A news report from ONE News

Victims of the biggest breach of privacy in New Zealand's history may not get compensation.
ACC will telephone and mail an apology to 6748 clients after details of more than 9000 confidential claims were sent to a member of the public.
Last August an ACC employee hit send on an email at corporation offices. Neither she nor ACC realised she had committed one of the worst breaches of privacy in the country's history. The email contained the names of 9000 claims, including 137 from ACC's highly confidential sensitive claims unit which handles delicate cases like sexual abuse.
ACC yesterday said anyone who would like to seek a settlement or compensation could write to the corporation's privacy officer and the issue would then be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Under the breach of Privacy Act victims can only be compensated if they can prove they have been harmed in some way, which includes humiliation and injury to feelings. But compensation will not be automatic - every case will have to be dealt with individually.

'A genuine mistake'
The boss of the Accident Compensation Corporation is vowing the mistake will not happen again. ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart arrived for a "please explain" meeting with the privacy commissioner Marie Shroff yesterday afternoon after he admitted earlier in the day that ACC broke the trust of thousands of New Zealanders.
"At ACC privacy is everything. We deal with clients who have accidents and their private and medical records. This will not happen again," Stewart said. "I apologise most profusely."
Stewart said the Auckland staff member who accidentally emailed the spreadsheet is distraught but her job is not at stake. "It was a genuine mistake. We found out in December from the person who received the email," Stewart said.
Shroff says the law may have been broken. "If it turns out that ACC has been negligent in dealing with clients' private information, there is potentially a breach of the Privacy Act," she said.

Inquiry into breach
ACC says no medical details were released - only claimants' names and reference numbers were sent out. It says the breach is only a fraction of the 1.6 million claims the corporation reviews each year, but admits it has only now recovered the data.
"The period between December and March is too long and not acceptable," Stewart said, adding that the corporation could have been more proactive.
The revelations has led to a call for an internal inquiry from ACC Minister Judith Collins.
But, the breach, and a smaller one two years ago, have some calling for an independent inquiry.
Green party co-leader Metiria Turei says the party is very concerned that the breach could be the result of "cost-cutting in the backroom".
Labour's ACC spokesperson Andrew Little is questioning why the serious breach of privacy was not raised during a select committee meeting earlier this month.

12 August 2010

ACC funding cuts for sex victims reversed

A news report from TVNZ - click here to view

A massive public backlash from survivors of sexual abuse, and health professionals, has forced an about-turn on ACC cuts brought in last year.
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has backed down on its changes and will now provide abuse victims with extra support.
Last October, ACC slashed counselling for people with "sensitive claims" - victims of rape and other sexual abuse. Funding was restricted to those with a diagnosed mental injury resulting from sexual abuse or assault, sparking outrage and protests from sexual abuse groups. To get support, victims of sexual abuse had to undergo an extra psychiatric assessment to prove they had a mental injury.
ONE News spoke to one abuse victim who failed the psychiatric assessment and says it brought back all the bad memories. "I have not had a chance to move forward because I have been so re-traumatised with having to deal with the system that I haven't been dealing with my abusive past," he said.
ACC's general manager of claims, Denise Cosgrove, said the organisation had listened to the people affected. "Those groups included the public, the sexual abuse treatment sector, and the independent panel appointed by the minister to review the sensitive claims pathway," she said.
From next week people with a new ACC sensitive claim, or with a claim already in the system but awaiting a decision, will be able to access up to 16 hours with a counsellor, without having to prove mental injury.
Cosgrove said those hours should be sufficient to meet the needs of many people, who would not need further ACC cover or ACC-funded treatment. She acknowledged last year's cuts "exposed gaps in the services available to people who have suffered sexual abuse".
But our victim, who didn't want to be identified, said 16 hours of counselling is still inadequate. "Sixteen hours will never be enough, it's not time enough for people to feel comfortable with disclosing their sexual abuse past," he said.
A number of details to the ACC changes are yet to be finalised, such as special arrangements for children, and what support will be available for people who have suffered a relapse, or whose sensitive claims have previously been declined.
Since the introduction of psychiatric assessments in November, ACC says 2503 applications for counselling have been lodged. Only 304 have been approved and 1188 declined, and the rest are being assessed.

19 June 2010

Dancing star supports abuse summit

A news report from TVNZ

A Kiwi celebrity is putting his weight behind New Zealand's first ever Sexual Abuse Survivors' Summit drawing on his personal experience to help others.
Aaron Gilmore of Dancing with the Stars fame was abused for more than five years and will draw on his experience to be a key speaker at the summit tomorrow.
He was just 12-years-old when he was first sexually abused by a woman 23 years his senior.
"When I first met her she was very, very kind and caring so to have someone that was showing that interest, it was like a second mum," Gilmore says.
The woman continued the abuse for more than five years.
"There's a real learned helplessness about it and also I saw it as my fault," Gilmore says.
However, the abuse did not stop Gilmore from going on to have a successful dancing career and now he is using that profile to raise awareness about male sexual abuse ahead of the summit.
Organising committe member Gudrun Frerichs says it is often much more acceptable for females to go to counselling or to seek help but males tend to deal with things by themselves.
It is thought the number of boys abused before they hit 16 is around one in eight but Ken Clearwater who heads the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust says it is closer to one in three.
"It's just the fact that men and boys really struggle to come forward in our male culture to talk about being a victim of childhood sexual abuse or even adult men who've been raped, it's really hard for them to come forward and disclose that" says Clearwater.
Some researchers suggest the country's prisons hold many male sexual abuse victims, which is because studies show males often respond to their abuse violently later in life.
The summit already has around 100 people registered to attend and less than a quarter of those are men.

06 May 2010

Nicholas accuses Minister of bullying

A news report from TVNZ

A pile of t-shirts has become the source of a stoush between sexual abuse survivors and the ACC Minister, who the high profile anti-abuse advocate Louise Nicholas has accused of bullying. Nicholas wanted to present the shirts expressing concerns about counselling cuts to Nick Smith. But he turned her down in a phone call she claims was bullying and intimidating, something he denies.
Labour deputy leader Annette King read a message high-profile anti-rape advocate Louise Nicholas had hoped to deliver in person to Smith, along with 33 other messages written on t-shirts by abuse survivors.
"'I was raped. Now I have to fight ACC for counselling. When do I get to stop fighting?' Well, that's a pretty powerful message," says King.
But he turned Nicholas down in a phone call which she says was bullying and intimidating.
"For myself who has actually gone through, you know, bullies before, it was like being re-victimised all over again. It was this power and control attitude that came through," says Nicholas.
Labour took her cause to the house and tackled the Minister about the phone call, "berating and bullying her, saying the courageous women who signed t-shirts were part of a fiasco and a media circus," said King.
Smith firmly denied King's claims. "I totally reject the assertions that the member has made," he said. The Minister confirms he made the comments described. But staff who listened in on the conversation say in no way was he bullying, angry or aggressive.
Nicholas, who has had plenty of battles in the past, sees it differently. "I was saddened and I was frustrated that I was unable to do my job which is survivor advocate," she says. She says she is still hoping to get the Minister to listen to the voices of victims.

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/nicholas-accuses-minister-bullying-3530160