National to open up ACC to insurance companies

25 July, 2008

The National Party has officially announced it would open ACC to competition if elected this year, effectively throwing open workplace rehabilitation and compensation to insurance companies.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says ACC plays a critical role in the working lives of nearly all New Zealanders at one time or another.

"ACC is recognised worldwide as a leading scheme for accident and injury cover and is more efficient and fairer than what private insurers could ever do.

"Accident protection and compensation is a critical work rights issue and workers have come to rely on having a secure and predictable system in place to provide cover and support in the unfortunate event of accident or injury.

"Kiwi workers are the ones at the sharp end of accident insurance and our members will be determined to have their say because it's their lives and wellbeing at stake. If that means we would need to treat choices over ACC as an industrial issue then we would do so."

Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said Kiwi workers would pay the price in any move towards privatisation.

"Kiwi workers pay much less for ACC.  In Australia, workers pay on average $2 in every $100 towards their worker compensation scheme, but in New Zealand under ACC it is 78 cents per $100.

"And workers are back on the job earning a full wage quicker - ACC has 88% of claimants returning to work within six months, outperforming both the Australian average (85%) and all three comparable state monopoly schemes of NSW (86%), Victoria (85%) and South Australia (77%)."

"There is already plenty of evidence that says ACC is one of the best schemes in the world. National seems to have ignored this and remove the right of workers to continue to access this brilliant scheme."

EPMU delegates from around the country unanimously condemned the privatisation of ACC at the union's recent national conference.

The Council of Trade Unions has released a detailed critique of National's ACC policy here.