Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:621;Page:16230] 
10.  
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
 to the  
Minister for ACC 
: Does she stand by her statement in the House on 13 October 2004 that Mr Steve Longford “appealed to ACC because of his outstanding work in the area of family violence injury prevention”; if so why? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 Yes. I am advised that one of Mr Longford’s areas of expertise is in assisting practitioners to identify and investigate child safety issues through the use of behavioural intelligence. 
Sue Bradford 
: Is the Minister aware that Mr Longford’s profile on both the  
Bold Perspectives Shared Objectives 
 website of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and the website of Mr Longford’s own company makes no mention of his expertise in family violence prevention; if so what information does the ACC have that verifies his expertise in that area? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: That information was drawn to my attention by the member’s contribution in the general debate last week. Until then I had not checked Mr Longford’s personal website. One of the ways I can confirm his expertise or relieve the member’s anxiety is by assuring her of the validity of the advice that I received and reported to the House last week and also by advising the House that Mr Longford has been engaged by Government agencies in Australia in the area of child safety. 
Hon Mark Gosche 
: What is the Minister’s response to yesterday’s editorial in the  
Dominion Post  
on the matter? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I agree with the editorial’s statement that detecting fraud is part of the ACC’s job and I strongly support that role. What the editor failed to reflect in the editorial is that I was advised and reported to the House that fraud detection is not the purpose of Mr Longford’s visit. This does not undermine my commitment to the detection and prevention of fraud. 
Sue Bradford 
: Is the Minister aware that Mr Longford’s speech at the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association conference in March this year was entitled “Detecting deception through behavioural intelligence” and can she assure the House that that will not be the primary focus of his speech to the Bold Perspectives Shared Objectives conference? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Yes and yes. 
Sue Bradford 
: How does it help accident victims’ rehabilitation from injury if they are living in fear that their case managers are more concerned to profile them as potential criminals or malingerers than to support them in their rehabilitation? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: They may do well to reflect on the changes in the legislation which ensure that rehabilitation is legislatively defined and does not meet the outcomes that member is alluding to. 
Sue Bradford 
: Does the ACC have any commercial relationship with Mr Steve Longford or with any company with which he is associated other than arrangements around the conference that is coming up; if so what is that relationship? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I am advised that the ACC does not have any commercial arrangement with Mr Longford. The only engagement it has with him is the invitation to the conference as a speaker next year.