10. Question No. 10—ACCJAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for ACCQuestion No. 10—ACC10. JAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for ACC: What is her response to the briefing she received from ACC which states that there are inequities in the way disabled people are treated by ACC?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for ACC): As a Government we are committed to addressing inequities between the ACC health and welfare systems. Before we can do that we need to establish what they are and who they affect. That is why I commissioned advice on how the ACC scheme is serving women Māori Pacific and disabled people and am awaiting advice on ethnic communities. I wasn't surprised to see that there were inequities in the ACC scheme access and outcomes for those groups but it's actually exciting to have an evidence base for change and I'm working with officials on options to address the inequities also acknowledging the constructive support from the Green Party and Simon Watts from the National Party with regards to addressing those inequities.Jan Logie: Does she agree that the ACC briefing clearly highlights the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and other rights violations for disabled people and as a result cannot be ignored or designated as out of scope of Government work programmes?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We certainly would not want to ignore the evidence that's been put to us. The Government is committed to upholding New Zealand's obligations under the UNCRPD. However while every country that agrees to the convention has an obligation to implement it there is no requirement to do everything at once. So I think it's a recognition of the fact that this is ongoing work. We need to continue to do this. Also acknowledging the independent monitoring mechanism with regards to holding us as a country to account for the UN convention and the fact that we haven't been able to report back to the UN because of what's been going on with COVID and everything else but that they will be holding a hearing here so that we can actually discuss the progress that's been made and what else needs to be done.Jan Logie: Based on the advice she received from ACC about the Wai 2575 inquiry which states that there are significant areas for system-wide improvement in the Crown's response to Māori with disabilities what actions will she take now to improve ACC for Māori with disabilities and meet Te Tiriti obligations?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: ACC recognises its role in the wider Government system for supporting disabled people including our whānau hauā. They are working with MBIE and Crown Law to engage constructively in the Wai 2575 inquiry which will help to highlight areas for improvement in how the ACC health and welfare systems serve whānau hauā. But we already know that there are discrepancies in ACC system access and outcomes for Māori which are likely to disproportionately impact Māori disabled. ACC is working to address those discrepancies through Whāia Te Tika its Māori strategy. I acknowledge our Associate Minister for ACC who has been leading that work.Hon Willie Jackson: Can I ask the Minister are ACC's new Māori programmes and strategies resonating with Māori and what sort of response has she seen or received?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: They are resonating with Māori and I do again acknowledge the work that the Associate Minister for ACC the Hon Willie Jackson has been undertaking. It was really heartening to see comments last month by a Papakura marae health clinic GP and University of Auckland associate professor Dr Matire Harwood who said This is an exciting time for ACC never before have we seen any sort of major shift in the way ACC delivers care to Māori." And again I acknowledge the role that the Associate Minister is playing in leading that work.Jan Logie: Now that ACC is admitting to the "inequities between the level of support provided via ACC to people who become disabled as a result of injury and the level of support provided through other parts of the system to other disabled people." will she advocate for the next stage of the health and disability sector review to include reform of ACC to help address this inequity? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I think having an evidence base that highlights inequities is a very important platform for change and we certainly will be looking at changes on that basis. With regard to the health and disability system review can I say that just yesterday I met with—this morning actually—the Disabled People's Organisations Coalition and was really encouraged to hear that they are feeling engaged and positive about the work the Government is doing in relation to the health and disability systems review.Jan Logie: Point of order Mr Speaker. I'm not quite sure the core question about whether she'd advocate for the inclusion in their terms of reference was addressed.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I believe it was.Jan Logie: If ACC is out of scope of the health and disability review and the Minister has said she won't consider changes to ACC until that review is finished can she see that disabled people might feel that their needs are once again being put in the too-hard basket?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Just to clarify I didn't say that we wouldn't be considering any changes to ACC in relation to addressing inequities. I didn't say that that couldn't happen because of the disability systems review and I think just to be clear the health and disability systems review has broader implications for other agencies as well and ACC certainly is one of them.Jan Logie: So does the Minister think that the easiest approach to this longstanding problem might be to actually implement the recommendations of the 1967 royal commission on social security and commit to a social insurance scheme that cares for and supports people with impairments in one system no matter how they got the impairment or whether they were working at the time of impairment? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The original intent of the ACC scheme is to provide New Zealanders with cover for personal injury caused by accidents in exchange for them sacrificing their right to sue and that is how we have landed where we are with the scheme that we have. I think we all recognise in the House that we're very fortunate to have the ACC scheme. Internationally I think it's one of a kind but that doesn't mean there aren't things we could improve with regards to the scheme that we currently have in place. As I said earlier certainly looking at the evidence base in relation to inequities is a good platform for looking to change."