13 October 2023
AS Van Wey
[FYI request #23363 email]
Kia ora AMy
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-027820 Thank you for your email of 9 October 2023, in response to our 3 October email, where we recommended
that you make your request of 30 September (GOV-027820) to ACC using your own email account.
You reiterated your preference that our response be made via the FYI webiste. You also asked some
additional questions, for all of which you provided some contextual information. We have therefore
recorded your request as consisting of the following questions:
Request 1: Please provide the information via this website, as I had requested, and as you had
implied you would provide once you had the relevant information. Request 2: Please provide the scope of practice that those ECA's were contracted to provide services
for. Request 3(a): Please provide the evidence that those physicians had a valid practicing certificate
with the Medical Council of NZ at the time of their ECA reports.
Request 3(b): Please provide me with the number of instances for each physical year since 2013,
where ACC sought and obtained ECA reports from physicians in areas outside their scope of
practice, and /or from persons who were not permitted to practice medicine in NZ (e.g., did not hold
a current practicing certificate). We know the number is at least two, as I've just named two
instances in the last year.
Request 4: For each of the physical years since 2013, the number of times ACC sought ECA advice
without first: (1) notifying the claimant that they were seeking an ECA as required under ACC's policies, the Act,
the Code, and the Privacy Act 2020; and (2) providing the claimant with a list of options of ECA's, as required under ACC's policies, the Act,
the Code and other legislation (See HDC Code of Consumer Rights Regulations 1996); and (3) seeking the claimant's consent to disclose records, as required under ACC's policies, the Code,
the Privacy Act, and the HDC Code of Consumer Rights; and (4) without having first discussed with the claimant what information ACC had obtained, and from
whom, and provided that information to the claimant, as required under ACC's policies, the Code,
and the Privacy Act. We know the number cannot be zero, because lodged 8 privacy complaints on 10 October 2022
alone, and followed up with additional complaints on the following days and months.
Request 5: For each of the financial years, since 2013, please provide me with the number of
instances where ACC (1) obtained information from third parties without first obtaining the informed consent of the
claimant (specifying what information they were seeking and from whom), (2) disclosed unrelated information to third parties (e.g., ECA's, ICRA, FairWay, external lawyers), (3) made inaccurate or false statements to claimants about what information they held to the
claimant, FairWay or others, and
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(4) withheld the relevant information from medical assessors, claimants, ECA's, ICRA, and or
FairWay; and (5) sought information from the wrong persons.
In accordance with section 15(1AA ) of the Official Information Act 1982, we are treating your 9 October
request as a new request that replaces your request of 30 September 2023 (which had replaced your
request of 16 September). Accordingly, the time limit for making a decision on your request has been
adjusted to 7 November 2023.
However, we have decided to make a decision on your first three questions now (requests 1 to 3(a)). We
will be in touch with you regarding the remaining questions in due course.
Decision on requests 1 to 3(a) We are concerned that the disclosure of information onto a publicly accessible website in response to
requests that cite specific ACC claims could reveal information that relates to those ACC claims and the
individual client(s). Furthermore, we cannot verify the requestor’s identity, and their right to receive this
information, against our records.
Noting this, we are refusing questions 1, 2 and 3(a) under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy
of natural persons. In doing so, we have determined that the public interest in making the information
available does not outweigh the privacy interests.
As noted in our email of 3 October 2023, you can make a new request for this information by contacting
ACC directly via your own email address.
If you have any questions about this response, please get in touch
You can email me at
[email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you can also
contact the Ombudsman v
ia [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
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Document Outline
