Little Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Little Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 20 March 2012. Volume:678;Page:1066. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
8. 
ANDREW LITTLE (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister for ACC 
: Will she set up an independent inquiry to reassure all New Zealanders that ACC and its Ministers act with the utmost integrity when in possession of people’s intimate and sensitive information? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 I am confident that the independent Privacy Commissioner’s review will outline the next steps for the ACC’s handling of personal information and I encourage anyone with concerns or allegations around this to make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. 
Andrew Little 
: Is it correct that up to the time of the meeting in December 2011 of two senior managers from ACC ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar and former National Party president Michelle Boag ACC had no knowledge of the mass privacy breach of 6700 ACC claimants? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I believe that the member is correct. I believe that ACC was not aware—from the report that it has given me which I had released last Friday—of the nature of the alleged breach and consequently it was not able to get that information back. 
Andrew Little 
: If ACC had no knowledge of the mass privacy breach at the time of the December 2011 meeting why did ACC send two senior managers to a meeting with an ACC claimant? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I suggest that that is going to come out in the Privacy Commissioner’s review and I further note that ACC has sought the assistance of the New Zealand Police. 
Andrew Little 
: What actions were taken—between the time of the December 2011 meeting and 12 March 2012 when the mass privacy breach became public—by ACC to recover the wrongly released information? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: That information has already been released in the report that was put on the ACC’s website last Friday. I am surprised the member has not read it because it is quite clear in that report that— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Come on this is Parliament. Answer here not on a website. 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I am happy to table it if the member would like me to. It is quite clear that ACC wrote to the claimant and asked to get back any information that she had—confidential information that she should not have had in her possession—and that she had not given back to ACC. 
Andrew Little 
: What assurances can she give that the undertaking given on the ACC website that “any information” collected by the sensitive claims unit “is seen only by sensitive claims unit staff and in some cases an independent assessor.” is being observed? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Quite clearly with the information that was inadvertently provided to the claimant who then did not give the information back to ACC there was some information relating to some sensitive claims unit claimants. I think that is an appalling breach quite frankly of their privacy. So I am not yet convinced that all the steps that need to be taken have been taken and that is why not only is the Privacy Commissioner conducting a review of what has happened and the way forward but also there is going to be a review of all the processes to make sure that this does not happen again. But I would say to that member that over the years there has been the odd instance where there has been a privacy breach. This was one inadvertently made by ACC and I do not think that anybody would think that the staff member who had this spreadsheet attached to the email did so deliberately. 
Andrew Little 
: How many other privacy breaches is the Minister aware of involving a former Minister for ACC writing on behalf of a single claimant and a former president of the National Party and other people being involved in it? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I am not aware of any in those particular circumstances. However I am aware of a former Minister in the previous Labour Government releasing confidential information.