12 November 2020
Anthony Jordan
[FYI request #13973 email] Tēnā koe Anthony
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-007330
Thank you for your request of 14 October, asking for the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1. Minutes to all the meetings pertaining to the sale of Fairway Resolutions
2. Information to then Minister of the ACC, recommending/indicating the sale of Fairway
Resolutions
3. Information specific to any concerns the ACC had with any Risk of loss of Independence and
Transparency with such a dispute resolution service been sold to private hands
4. Information specific to any concerns the ACC had with any Risk of loss of ability for Public to
be Privy to Official Information act requests if sold to Private Investors
5. What share (if any), does the ACC have in Fairway Resolutions
6. What process is used to ensure the ACC is content that the reviewers and Fairway process is in
the best interest of all parties with no ex-ACC staff employed
Background
Until 1 July 2011, FairWay Resolution Limited (FairWay) was a registered company solely owned by ACC.
After this date, FairWay became a Crown-owned company listed in Schedule 4A of the Public Finance
Act 1989, with the shares held by the Minister of Finance and the Minister for ACC on behalf of the
Crown. From 1 July 2017, FairWay became an independent, employee-owned company as all of the
Crown-owned shares in the company were sold to an employee trust. The sale of FairWay by the Crown
was a matter undertaken by Treasury, not ACC.
Questions 1 to 4
As described above, ACC was not a decision maker in the decision to transition FairWay to private
employee-ownership. Because of this, ACC was not involved in any meetings to discuss the sale of
FairWay, and there are no minutes of such meetings to provide.
ACC did not provide advice to the Minister for ACC regarding the sale of FairWay.
Likewise, ACC did not produce any bodies of work covering the concerns ACC might have had regarding
the risks that you have outlined in your questions 3 and 4. We have searched catalogues of ACC
briefings, reports and other documents that would commonly be the source of such information, should
it exist, however no such information has been found.
For this reason, we are declining to provide you, under section 18(e) of the Act, the information asked
for in your questions numbered 1 to 4, as it does not exist, or despite reasonable efforts to locate this
information, it cannot be found.
Question 5
ACC is not a shareholder of Fairway.
GOV-007330
Question 6
Under the Accident Compensation Act 2001 (the AC Act), Reviewers must comply with statutory
obligations while conducting ACC reviews.
Reviewers have a duty to act independently, comply with the principles of natural justice and exercise
due diligence in decision-making. As part of the duty to act independently, the AC Act also requires
Reviewers to disclose any previous involvement with a claim other than as a Reviewer. There is an
additional obligation on ACC to secure the independence of the Reviewer (e.g. a Reviewer cannot be a
person employed by ACC or employed by a subsidiary of ACC).
ACC ensures these obligations are met through its contractual arrangements with FairWay, through the
usual contract management processes.
How you can reach us
If you have any questions, you can email me at
[email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.
Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800
802 602.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Sasha Wood
Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement & Support
Accident Compensation Corporation
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