3. Question No. 3—ACCJAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for ACCQuestion No. 3—ACC3. JAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for ACC: Will she direct ACC to ensure all survivors including families and witnesses of the tragic terrorist attack on 15 March 2019 can access ACC support?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for ACC): As a Government we continue to provide support to survivors of the 15 March mosque attacks and their whānau through a range of mechanisms depending on need and circumstance. The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) established a bespoke welfare programme for those affected by the mosque attacks; we invested into mental health support services at the Canterbury DHB; have made changes to visa programmes to allow greater access to domestic support for survivors; and of course ACC continues to cover those who are entitled to the scheme. To ensure people are able to navigate that support MSD has also been providing an intensive case-management service Kaiwhakaoranga. This ensures survivors witnesses and their whānau have a single point of contact for accessing support across Government and in their communities. While we continue to assess the situation for ways we can better understand and address the needs of survivors across Government I have no immediate plans to direct ACC in the way the member suggests.Jan Logie: Does she agree that mental injury and trauma as a result of experiencing a deadly terrorist attack may have as significant an impact as a physical injury and also require a higher level of compensation for inability to work and ongoing support?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I don't think any of us can underestimate the mental trauma that those who were witnesses to the mosque attack have experienced. The decision was made to put additional support into place through the DHB with regards to mental health also the single point of contact and the wraparound support via MSD. We continue to monitor the situation to see how we can continue to support those who have been impacted by the mosque attacks.Jan Logie: What is the Minister's response to those victims who have clearly said that the support from the health and welfare systems has not been adequate?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We have an ongoing programme to ensure that we are looking at ways that we can support those who have been impacted by the mosque attacks. That work involves a range of Ministers including Minister Radhakrishnan Minister Little myself as the Minister for ACC and others also. So we want to continue to assess the situation and ensure that the supports that are in place are working. If the member comes across families or individuals who she feels are not getting access to the supports that we've put in place or that they are not adequate then I would encourage the member to send those cases through to us.Jan Logie: Does she agree that ACC can provide a greater level of ongoing support and healthcare than is otherwise available?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I am often approached—and I think every ACC Minister would have been across the course of time that this scheme has been in place—to look at expansion and ways to expand. That is not just with regards to the mosque attacks and the mental trauma that people have experienced here. Moving forward we need to continue to look at the scheme and see that it's fit for purpose. With regards to the suggested directive that the member has asked that I make today there is no consideration being given to that type of directive.Jan Logie: Is she unwilling to extend ACC to cover mental injury to all victims of the attack alone because the cost of compensation for inability to work is considered too high?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I think it would be unfair to put the reason for not utilising ACC or looking to expand it in this circumstance down to any kind of fiscal constraint. We need to keep in mind that there are numerous situations where ACC have an expectation placed on them that they would look to expand the provisions of ACC. To the member I will say that I'm comfortable with regards to where we settled in ensuring that we had adequate wraparound support across the agencies that I spoke about with the two ministries leading that work being the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Health.Jan Logie: Could a decision to extend just for these additional victims of the terrorist attack force wider reform if Cabinet didn't support that?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: If I am interpreting the member's question correctly I think that it would be fair to say that if there was any expansion of the ACC scheme to cover the area that the member has spoken about then there would be expectations from a broader range of New Zealand to also revisit other decisions. So we do need to make sure that we are looking at the entire landscape and picture with regards to the support that ACC offers and taking into consideration the expectations of New Zealanders in a range of different circumstances.