On 29 October 2012, the ACC Futures Coalition, for which Hazel Armstrong is the Spokesperson, held a conference called ACC: A Better Future. Among the attendees were several medical, legal, political and economic experts, who contributed their own specialised presentations on their respective areas of interest. You can find out more about the ACC Futures Coalition here, or by reading the Coalition’s manifesto.
Copies of the notes used by speakers, and audio recordings of certain presentations are available below. The biographies of the Conference speakers can be viewed here.
Keynote Speaker: Sir Geoffrey Palmer SC
Sir Geoffrey Palmer SC was the keynote speaker. He summarised problems with the way the Woodhouse report had been implement and proposed that ACC be made a public service department with direct ministerial accountability. A transcript of his speech can be found here, and you can download the audio recording here.
Dr Felicity Lamm: Injury Prevention
Dr Felicity Lamm outlined perennial issues standing in the way of effective injury prevention strategies, such as the lack of rigorous evidence and accurate data, and the emerging issues of the changing, increasingly precarious workforce. She proposed some ideas for a way forward. A copy of her Powerpoint presentation is viewable here.
Hazel Armstrong: Rehabilitation and Vocational Independence
ACC Futures spokesperson Hazel Armstrong outlined the history of rehabilitation and vocational independence under ACC and proposed changes to the current regime. Her Powerpoint presentation can be viewed here, and a recording of her speech is available here.
Grant Duncan: Organisational Culture
Associate Professor Grant Duncan gave a presentation on the organisational culture within ACC. A transcript of his speech can be downloaded here.
Workshop: Full Funding, Experience Rating & Injury Prevention
Associate Professor Susan St. John questioned the commitment to full funding, and raised the question of experience rating, her Powerpoint presentation can be viewed here. Dr. Felicity Lamm explored experience rating in more depth.
Workshop: Choice – The AEP & Work Account Privatisation
Glenn Barclay identified the problems with the privatisation agenda in the work account while Fritz Drissner explored the issues with the Accredited Employers or Partnership Programme, while questioning whether it should be opened up to smaller employers.
A Powerpoint presentation which accompanied their workshop is viewable here.
Workshop: Rehabilitation, Vocational Independence and Independent Assessors
Dr Denise Powell and Dr Sarah Derrett reported on their respective pieces of research. Acclaim (Otago) had conducted an on-line survey of long-term claimants while the research conducted by the Injury Prevention Research Unit, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, focused on the outcomes of injury. Both challenged current ACC practice.
The Powerpoint accompanying their workshop can be downloaded here.
Workshop: Reviews and Complaints
Philip Schmidt led a workshop on ACC reviews and the complaints process. A copy of his accompanying handout can be found here.
Workshop: Occupational Disease
Hazel Armstrong and Ben Thompson led a workshop on occupational diseases. Here is the Powerpoint which accompanies their workshop.
Workshop: Noise Induced Hearing Loss
Louise Carroll, Professor Peter Thorne and Mike Sharp led a workshop on the causes of, responses to and treatment of noise induced hearing loss. A copy of Mike Sharp’s Powerpoint presentation, entitled Changes in ACC cover for Hearing Loss, can be downloaded here.