Accident Compensation Corporation

ACC invests the premium it collects in various ventures. It has a portfolio of $40b and its investment manager was believed to be the highest paid public servant in New Zealand.[25] Of its top 50 investments, 47 are listed companies in NZ and overseas. Notable exceptions include a 22% shareholding in Kiwibank and the consortiums building Transmission Gully Motorway and the Puhoi to Wellsford Motorway.[26]

ACC has attracted controversy at several junctures since its establishment due to the nature of some its investment decisions. In 2003 Green Party MP Sue Bradford revealed that ACC held investments in brewery industry giants DB Breweries and Lion Nathan, which she claimed contravened ACC's legal obligation to engage in ethical investments to protect New Zealand's global reputation.[27] In 2016 ACC admitted it had indirectly invested in six companies on its own exclusion list, including weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin and British Tobacco.[28]ACC's ethical investment policy was drawn into question again in 2019, when Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick publicly criticised the Crown Entity for continued investment in fossil fuels, arguing that in light of the climate emergency this investment was unethical and that divestment should take place according to the precedent set by its exclusion of investment in tobacco companies.[29]

ACC CoverPlus Extra was introduced by ACC to provide cover for self-employed workers and business owners that would fail to otherwise be covered adequately by the standard ACC CoverPlus policy. It works by paying an agreed level of compensation, in the event of an injury resulting in time off from work.[30]

With this cover already agreed upon, any business would not have to prove loss of income and has certainty on their amount of cover in the event of an accident-related injury. The ACC CoverPlus policy was designed to cover employees at 80% of their net taxable income. With ACC CoverPlus Extra, a self-employed contractor would get 100% of the pre-agreed compensation paid until they were fit to return to full-time work. A business owner would be able to get compensation under ACC CoverPlus Extra even if the business continued to earn income whilst the business owner could not work because of injury. This would not be possible with the standard policy.[30]

ACC allows certain companies to manage and fund the claims of its employees who are injured at work. In return, they are given a large discount in ACC premium. ACC says this provides companies with a financial incentive to have good health and safety practices at work.[31] More than 140 New Zealand employers participate in this programme. ACC Futures Coalition and Green Party criticize this programme because creates a conflict interest for employers to wrongly deny claims and say it should be cancelled.[32]

ACC clients have occasionally threatened or attempted to harm ACC staff. In 1999, a staff member was fatally stabbed by a claimant at an ACC office in Henderson.[33] In 2010, ACC logos were removed from company vehicles after several staff had their cars rammed or were "driven off the road by other drivers". The following year a threat against former chief executive Ralph Stewart led to a decision for security staff to be posted outside his home. There have been at least two threats to blow up a car bomb outside ACC offices and police have had to be called on several other occasions. In 2012, there were a total of 134 recorded threats made against staff—the majority against case managers "making difficult decisions".[34]

In 2013, it was reported that 64 people have been convicted of defrauding ACC of a total of more than $10 million over the past four years. This includes clients claiming they were "injured" but who kept working while receiving ACC benefits and medical practitioners who billed ACC for more treatment than they actually provided. Another category of ACC fraudster includes widows who continued claiming payments after their (injured) partners have subsequently died. Sometimes these payments went on for nearly 30 years before the fraud came to light, with one woman having received nearly $150,000 after her husband had died.[35]

ACC staff have defrauded the corporation on a number of occasions. Jeffrey Chapman, former ACC chief executive from 1985 to 1992, was imprisoned for defrauding ACC and other government agencies; Gavin Robins, his successor from 1993 to 1997, was also charged with fraud but was acquitted.[36] In 2011, a senior manager was convicted of dishonesty offences involving property leased to ACC by private business interests.[37] In late 2012, Jonathan Wright, an ACC-contracted medical assessor, was convicted of dishonestly obtaining over $18,000 in falsified travel expenses from ACC.[38]

A treatment injury is one caused in the course of treatment by a registered health professional, and are not a necessary part or ordinary consequence of the treatment.[39] Until 2005, these were called "medical misadventure" claims.

ACC has had a number of breaches of privacy relating to claimants. The most significant occurred in 2011 after the release of details of 6700 claimants to an ACC claimant, Bronwyn Pullar. Pullar had been battling ACC since suffering a head injury in 2002—and had 45 separate complaints against the agency—only one of which was about the privacy breaches.[40] In 2011 she and former National Party president Michelle Boag, had a meeting with two senior ACC managers to discuss her concerns. ACC referred the matter to the police claiming Pullar had threatened to go to the media about the privacy breaches if she didn't get what she wanted. The police listened to a tape recording of the meeting and decided there was no case to answer.[41]

In March 2012, ACC Minister Nick Smith resigned from Cabinet after it was revealed that he had written letters on behalf of Pullar, who was a personal friend of his, while he was ACC Minister.[42] ACC chairman John Judge continued to insist his version of events was correct and as a result ACC Minister Judith Collins did not renew his tenure on the ACC Board. The chief executive of ACC, Ralph Stewart, also resigned the next day.[43] Three other board members—Murray Hilder, Rob Campbell, and John McCliskie—also resigned.[44]

The fallout from the affair continued in May 2012, when Collins sued Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little for defamation over comments they made on Radio New Zealand broadcasts linking her to the leak of an email from Michelle Boag following the release of the files.[45] The case was settled after a High Court hearing in November 2012.[46] An independent review of ACC was conducted toward the end of 2012; it found the organisation "lacked a comprehensive strategy for protecting and managing claimants' information" and said ACC had an "almost cavalier" attitude toward its clients. The review showed that the culture within ACC enabled its staff to target clients involved in privacy breaches and complaints rather than demonstrating respect for claimants. In 2013, a "training academy" for staff was mooted, with an "emphasis on a client-centred approach".[47]