SpeechMARJA LUBECK (Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Committee): Thank you Madam Chair. This is a good opportunity to take a call as chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. I'm happy to take a call here and talk about the Minister's Accident Compensation Corporation portfolio. The Hon Carmel Sepuloni addressed our committee on the broader themes and issues that she is working on in her portfolio. This new process as has been mentioned before allowed us to take a sector-wide lens to what outcomes have been achieved for New Zealand. The year 2022 marks 50 years since the ACC legislation was first introduced here in New Zealand and we heard how the Minister has been working hard to make sure that the system assists all New Zealanders who have had an injury and to make sure that the system is fit for purpose for New Zealand in the 21st century in particular by improving gender balance fairness and equity in the scheme.This Estimates period will see the first step in this gender rebalancing mahi with the passage of the Maternal Birth Injuries Bill which is the first extension of the accident compensation scheme cover since 2008. Once enacted later this year this bill will benefit up to 28000 more women per year. With regards to making accident compensation more equitable also our committee was pleased to hear about ACC's work to improve outcomes for Māori. We heard about their strategy Whāia Te Tika which aims to improve engagement with Māori and ensure that the entire scheme works well for them.The Government is also continuing to improve the sustainability of the accident compensation scheme and in particular its non-earners account with ongoing investment in its baseline. As at 31 March 2022 the solvency of the non-earners account was 72.3 percent up from the 55 percent it had fallen to before the Government made changes to its funding policy. The Minister can be proud that this change is providing certainty to children the elderly and other non-earners that the entitlements they receive can continue to be sustainably funded.Budget 2022 also increased funding for sexual abuse assessment and treatment services. We talked to the Minister about what this would mean noting that it will both increase the number of hours ACC clients spend with clinical staff and the rate of pay to those staff per hour. The investment will build the service back up to providing consistent 24/7 clinical cover over the forecast period. The Government's 2022 minimum wage increase meant an approximately $38 increase in ACC's minimum loss of potential earnings weekly compensation rates but claimants had to wait three months for 1 April to 1 July to actually receive this money. The Minister addressed the committee and explained how the investment through Budget 2022 will bring forward the timing of ACC's weekly compensation rate changes so that it is aligned with the timing of any changes to the minimum wage. So it means that all these changes can then happen at the same time. This will disproportionately benefit low-income earners and particularly in respect of loss of potential earnings entitlements for ACC's Māori and Pacific clients.I want to acknowledge the Minister and finish by acknowledging the new format that we have considered these entities within. It has provided for an increase in ministerial accountability and of course for many years in the Estimates debate we would see that the Ministers would be limited to taking one or two five-minute calls. Now the Minister as has been seen already in this debate is addressing the Opposition's points very frequently. Again this provides for increased scrutiny and we thank the Minister for her time at the committee.