23 June 2023
Sarah Brodrick
[FYI request #22917 email] Kia ora Sarah
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-025315
Thank you for your request via FYI website of 26 May 2023, asking for the following information under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
•
I would like ALL Official Information that ACC holds in regards to what support services ACC has at
present for ACC Claimants of Māori descent to navigate ACC injury-related claims and entitlements,
which includes treatment and care provided by ACC service providers and the management of the ACC
Claim and entitlements by the ACC recovery partner and internal departments (not asking for personal
details of ACC Claimants or staff members)
•
I would like ALL Official information that ACC holds in regards to the Māori pilot programme ACC
currently has, including the demographic areas that this programme covers (not asking for personal
details ACC Claimants) any general information and statistics
•
I would like ALL Official information that ACC holds in relation to what support services are available to
Māori currently living in Tāmaki Makaurau
•
I would like ALL Official information that ACC holds about how many ACC Claimants of Māori descent,
have had ACC Claim entitlements and cover declined and or terminated any general information and
statistics (not asking for personal details of ACC Claimants)
How we have interpreted your request
Your request asks for ‘all’ official information relating to range of subjects. We note you have made
similarly broad requests, including about ACC’s complaints processes (see our response of 7 June 2023, ref
GOV-025190). In our view, the term ‘all’ is very general, and does not clearly identify the sort of
information you are after. Noting this, we have interpreted your request as seeking documents that are
current and provide an overview of the services and programmes you have mentioned. This interpretation,
we hope, provides you with information that is relevant to your enquiries.
The Ombudsman website contains guidance on making official information requests, which you can find at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/resources/making-official-information-requests-guide-requesters. Supporting Māori clients
ACC has developed and continues to work towards effective support services for Māori, under our wider
Māori Strategy – Whāia te Tika. These includes the introduction of Kaupapa Māori pathway, Rongoa Māori,
Hapai and Raranga. These are discussed individually below, with reference to how they are implemented
nationally and regionally (including in Tāmaki Makaurau).
Included with this response are links to relevant information on our website and a number of key
documents, which can be found in the attachments. This includes information on the specific initiatives, as
well as Whāia te Tika. As much of the information is publicly available (as per our links), we are refusing to
provide that information with our response. This decision is made under section 18(d) of the Act.
GOV-025315 Page 1 of 4
Kaupapa Māori solutions
With the implementation of Kaupapa Māori pathway, ACC is aiming to provide whanau with a choice of
services that deliver culturally appropriate care. This is a regionally based pathway, and is available in
Tāmaki Makarau. Further information on this programme is available on our website at:
www.acc.co.nz/about-us/our-campaigns-and-programmes/kaupapa-maori-solutions/ In addition to this, please find the following documents on this subject in the attachments:
•
Kaupapa Māori – Health services and Injury prevention initiatives •
Kaupapa Māori solutions key messages.
Information about Kaupapa Māori solutions in Tamaki Makaurau is available in the following news stories:
www.acc.co.nz/newsroom/stories/acc-heads-north-to-design-kaupapa-maori-pathway/
www.acc.co.nz/newsroom/stories/northern-partners-to-design-kaupapa-maori-solutions/. Rongoa Māori
Rongoā Māori is the traditional healing system used in te ao Māori. ACC fund Rongoa Māori as a social
rehabilitation entitlement. You can find information on this on our website at the following links:
www.acc.co.nz/im-injured/what-we-cover/using-rongoaa-maaori-services/
www.acc.co.nz/about-us/rongoa-maori-services/
www.acc.co.nz/newsroom/stories/rongoa-maori-a-traditional-healing-choice-for-all/ (Newsroom story)
www.acc.co.nz/newsroom/stories/rongoa-maori-practitioner-hopes-traditional-healing-system-becomes-
mainstream/ (Newsroom story)
Hāpai
Hāpai is a unique, culturally responsive partnership between kiritaki (clients), whānau and kaihāpai,
focused on improving access, experience and outcomes that supports their journey to oranga. It is a
reciprocal partnership that is grounded in tika, aroha, pono and seeks to restore mauri, provide manaaki,
and enhance the mana of whānau.
By applying Te Ao Māori principles to our interactions with kiritaki, we ensure they receive the right
support when they need it. Hāpai is a capability stream currently being offered to physical injury clients
in
our
Supported Recovery
and Partnered Recovery
spaces
. The following documents on Hāpai project are
provided in the attachments:
•
Hāpai project stages
•
Hapai roll out map and expansion schedule.
This service is not currently available in Tamaki Makaurau but will be in the next stage of the rollout
process.
Raranga
Raranga is the name of ACC’s cultural safety uplift project. One of its aims is to support Māori to participate
in their hauora (health) and orange (wellbeing). As part of this, we have developed a cultural safety policy,
and a number of resources for providers, including;
• Kawa Whakaruruhau - Cultural Safety Policy
• Frequently asked questions – Cultural Safety policy
• Our approach to Cultural Safety (quick guide)
• Te whānau Māori me o mahi: Guidance on Māori competencies for providers.
These documents are available on our website at:
www.acc.co.nz/for-providers/provide-services/cultural-safety-and-competencies/
GOV-025315 Page 2 of 4
Māori Injury Prevention
As well as supporting our injured clients, ACC has a range of initiatives to prevent injuries. ACC has
established a Māori Injury Prevention portfolio to address the needs of whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori
Māori. Further information on this work is on our website at:
www.acc.co.nz/preventing-injury/maori-injury-prevention/
ACC claims information
Please find information on claims decisions (accepted, declined and ‘held’), broken down by ethnicity, in
the appendix to this letter. When reviewing this information, please refer to the notes provided.
Decisions on entitlements are not recorded on individual claims files. Unfortunately, these decisions are not
recorded in our systems in a way that can be identified by an electronic search. Consequently, we could
only determine the information through a very extensive and lengthy manual search through each of the
individual claims. Given this, we decline your request as the information cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research. This decision is made under section 18(f) of the Act.
If you have any questions about this response
You can email me a
t [email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you can also contact the Ombudsman via
[email address] or by phoning 0800 802 602. Information about how to make a complaint
is available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Ngā mihi
Sara Freitag
Acting Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement
GOV-025315 Page 3 of 4
Appendix: ACC cover decisions by ethnicity
Notes
• Accredited employer claims are excluded from the information.
• Information is provided by calendar years
• Ethnicity data are prioritised for reporting purposes. A client may identify with any number of
ethnicities, and can select more than one when lodging a claim. For reporting purposes, ACC selects
one ethnicity for each client based on the following priority order: Māori, Pacific peoples, Asian,
MELAA, other ethnicities, European.
• Data were extracted on 21 June 2023 and may differ if re-run at a later date.
Table 1: Number of accepted claims per year, 1 January 2018 to 20 June 2023, by ethnicity
Ethnicity
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 (YTD)
Māori
262,724
257,365
236,526
241,160
234,672
118,710
Pacific Peoples
126,615
124,914
110,022
107,801
109,530
58,722
Asian
180,342
191,382
178,062
184,587
197,069
100,670
MELAA*
23,112
24,079
23,535
24,387
25,496
13,366
Other Ethnicity
63,940
71,763
65,540
64,999
63,240
32,472
European
1,304,491
1,322,437
1,236,015
1,240,188
1,197,931
602,539
Unknown
39,083
54,027
52,951
56,061
57,170
31,092
Total
2,000,307
2,045,967
1,902,651
1,919,183
1,885,108
957,571
* Middle Eastern / Latin American / African
Table 2: Number of declined claims per year, 1 January 2018 to 20 June 2023, by ethnicity
Ethnicity
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023 (YTD)
Māori
8,480
8,328
7,240
7,699
7,559
2,858
Pacific Peoples
3,575
3,694
3,201
2,814
2,649
1,239
Asian
2,988
2,860
2,547
2,637
2,680
1,110
MELAA*
546
579
550
523
520
195
Other Ethnicity
1,351
1,611
1,281
1,322
1,315
524
European
30,431
30,436
25,639
26,758
26,208
9,751
Unknown
1,055
1,516
1,352
1,469
1,292
563
Total
48,426
49,024
41,810
43,222
42,223
16,240
* Middle Eastern / Latin American / African
Table 3: Number of held claims per year, by ethnicity
Ethnicity
2022
2023 (YTD)
Māori
82
2,254
Pacific Peoples
17
621
Asian
18
696
MELAA*
5
152
Other Ethnicity
14
463
European
368
9,448
Unknown
15
484
Total
519
14,118
* Middle Eastern / Latin American / African
GOV-025315 Page 4 of 4
