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New Zealand Government
November 30, 2000
Prevention, Rehabilitation And Compensation – In That Order
Press Release
New accident compensation legislation, introduced to the
House today, promotes prevention rather than cure.
Accident Insurance Minister Dr Michael Cullen says the Injury Prevention
& Rehabilitation Bill takes a much broader view on accident compensation
than any previous legislation.
"In a sense we have returned to the original principles of committed
injury prevention, effective and timely rehabilitation and fair compensation
that Sir Owen Woodhouse prescribed over 25 years ago but successive
governments had failed to get right."
Dr Cullen said the new government came into office with a firm commitment to
reforming New Zealand’s
accident compensation system.
"We have taken a two-part approach to this reform. The first objective
was to remove competition in workplace insurance and the Government
introduced legislation to do that in December 1999.
"The second part of our strategy is reflected in this Bill. It has four
key objectives: to minimise the incidence of injuries – at work, at home and
at play and on our roads; to ensure that injured people have access to early
and effective rehabilitation; to make sure that the compensation paid to
injured New Zealanders is fair; and to minimise the costs of injury to the
community as a whole.
"The Bill, which returns lump sum entitlements to people who suffer
non-economic loss for permanent impairment and introduces a Code of Claimant
Rights, is expected to become law about this time next year, " said Dr
Cullen.
The Bill will not impact on the new lower ACC levies announced this week and
set to come into force next April. "I have an absolute assurance that
the new rates can be, at worst, maintained into the future and hopefully further
reduced next year," said Dr Cullen.
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