New Zealand’s accident compensation scheme has long been hailed as world leading. Introduced just over 50 years ago, ACC (as it is widely known) provides comprehensive coverage for personal injuries for all New Zealanders and visitors. In return for ACC’s no-fault coverage, New Zealanders have given up the right to sue in cases of personal injury.
ACC
was intended to make compensation for personal and work-related injuries fairer
and more accessible for everyone, not just those in paid employment. However,
as with all broad-brush approaches to complex and varied questions, it has not
always worked out that way.
While
dealing with physical injuries (falls, fractures and the like) has been
comparatively straight-forward, there has been a greater understanding in
recent years that long-term, often life-threatening conditions can be acquired
in a workplace environment and are therefore also a form of personal injury
that ACC should compensate. Within that,
some glaring anomalies have become apparent.
One
of the most obvious impacts relates to volunteer firefighters. While they are
covered for physical injuries incurred while performing their duties, they are
not covered for any wider work-related illness or injury because they are
volunteers and therefore not in paid employment as firefighters. Indeed, ACC categorises
volunteer fire fighting as a “leisure” activity, because no taxable income is
involved. Employed firefighters, by contrast, are fully covered.
But
86% of all firefighters are volunteers. According to the “Hidden in Plain
Sight” report last year, volunteer firefighters are the primary responders to most
fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical emergencies across New Zealand. The
annual economic contribution of their services is more than $820 million. Yet
ACC treats them less favourably than it does the much smaller number of
employed firefighters, who do the same work.
For
some years now, the United Fire Brigades Association, which represents
volunteer firefighters and whose Board I chair, has made representations to
successive ACC Ministers under both governments to change this anomaly so that
volunteers are treated equally with their employed counterparts. With one
exception, our representations have been met with polite indifference. We have
been told any change along the lines we have been proposing would have to be
applied to all volunteers across the community, which would be far too
expensive.
That
is a spurious argument. The issue we have been raising relates specifically to
emergency service volunteers and the special risks they are exposed to. It
would be comparatively easy to craft an amendment to deal with this situation,
if there was the political will to do so.
The
only ACC Minister to show any real interest in and understanding of the issue
was Matt Doocey, who was, unfortunately, reshuffled out of the portfolio
earlier this year. His successors are yet to show their interest.
Earlier
this week, Queenstown volunteer firefighter, Katherine Lamont, launched a
petition to Parliament to change the ACC legislation to give volunteer
firefighters the same ACC coverage and benefits as employed firefighters. The
United Fire Brigades Association has welcomed her initiative and fully supports
the petition. In its first few days, the petition has already received more
than fifteen thousand signatures. It can be signed at https://petitions.parliament.nz/5872f736-ed2f-443c-f919-08dd5b668762
before April 30.
The
egregious anomaly regarding the inferior treatment of volunteer firefighters is
reflective of the extent to which our volunteer emergency workers are generally
taken for granted. Yet, without them we would have no effective national
emergency management response.
The
government likes to talk of the work of the National Emergency Management
Authority. But without the on-the-ground input of volunteer firefighters, it is
no more than an irrelevant bureaucratic paper tiger. Our volunteers need to be
nurtured and treated equitably, rather than ignored. If NEMA counted for
anything and was worth taking seriously, it would be prominently advocating for
the volunteers on whom it relies. But, to date, there has been nothing – it is
no more than a handful of people running round central Wellington with
clipboards and spreadsheets. NEMA’s annual operating budget of around $50
million could be far more effectively applied to meeting the needs of volunteer
firefighters in emergency situations.
The
United Fire Brigades Association will continue, now bolstered by the strong
support for Katherine Lamont’s petition, to lobby the government to amend the
ACC Act to ensure volunteer firefighters are treated equitably with their
employed counterparts. The petition also provides a wider opportunity for New
Zealanders generally to have their say on the issue, which is why the UFBA is
encouraging people to support it.
The
“Hidden in Plain Sight” report made clear the value of the contribution
volunteer firefighters make to the wider national community. It is not
unreasonable to expect the government to recognise that contribution by
ensuring they are treated fairly and equitably for the service they provide.
That,
after all, is supposed to be the New Zealand way.