Sepuloni CarmelACCIDENT COMPENSATION (MATERNAL BIRTH INJURY AND OTHER MATTERS) AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for ACC): I present to the House a legislative statement on the Accident Compensation (Maternal Birth Injury and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I move That the Accident Compensation (Maternal Birth Injury and Other Matters) Amendment Bill be now read a second time. At the moment many women who are injured during birth cannot access the treatment and financial support they need through ACC. This reflects a broader issue with the ACC legislation. We know that women make fewer claims than men have fewer injuries covered than men and each woman's claim costs ACC a third less than a man's in entitlements. Officials initially thought this bill would support 18000 women per year by extending ACC cover to a list of maternal birth injuries that was based on injuries recorded when New Zealanders are discharged from hospital. Using its own estimates about how often the injuries on the list occur and how many parents will make claims ACC now expects to support 28000 women per year to access the support they need; 10000 more than initially estimated.This bill addresses a historical inequity in the ACC legislation. But it also represents the Government's first step towards addressing the gender and other inequities in New Zealanders' access to and the support they receive from ACC. I want to first acknowledge the Education and Workforce Committee which has reported back on the bill. The bill is a first of its kind and represents real progress towards our 2020 election manifesto commitment to return ACC to its original purpose of assisting all New Zealanders who have had an injury. I thank the committee for its diligent consideration of such an important piece of work.I also want to acknowledge everyone who has submitted on the bill during its select committee stage. I understand the committee considered submissions from many individuals including those who bravely shared their experience of birth injuries and notable medical organisations. Their input has proven to be invaluable in this process.A large number of submitters were concerned that the bill does not cover all maternal birth injuries. I want to reassure these submitters that the bill is intended to cover all maternal birth injuries that can be caused by childbirth. This is why I am very pleased with the two changes the Education and Workforce Committee has made to the bill. One of these is to add a number of additional birth injuries to the bill for cover. I welcome this change. I knew when I introduced the bill that the list would need to be carefully scrutinised to make sure that it is comprehensive. That is why I encouraged New Zealanders to make submissions on the bill and asked my officials to continue to work closely with the experts throughout this process. I am confident that the committee's change ensures that the bill provides comprehensive cover for birth injuries.The other change the committee made is to include a review clause for the list of birth injuries to futureproof the bill. I wholeheartedly endorse this change which will keep the list up to date with developments in medical science. The select committee process also thoroughly explored an alternative approach to covering these injuries putting a general definition of maternal birth injury" into the bill instead of listing all covered injuries. This would risk cover being applied inconsistently. Because of different medical professionals' interpretation of the general definition some parents could receive support for an injury but others with the same injury may not. That's the opposite of what we want to achieve. The committee's rigorous process has given me confidence that the list approach taken in the bill will remove uncertainty and limit the number of women who have to fight for the support they need through the courts. Most importantly it will support them in accessing treatment to aid their recovery as quickly as possible in what will already be a time of great change in their lives.This extension of cover to an estimated 28000 birthing parents will improve the support available to those who suffer childbirth injuries and in particular provide them with more timely access to surgeries and to pelvic physiotherapy. In addition if a birthing parent suffers a mental injury caused by a birth injury or any other physical injury that is the result of an injury on the list they can also be covered by ACC. I want everyone to know that the way that the accident compensation scheme is set up already allows for those consequential injuries to be covered and they do not need to be listed to be included.I want to thank my colleagues from across the House for their unanimous support for extending ACC cover to maternal birth injuries. This shows just how clear it is to all of us that this is a change that is not only necessary but long overdue. I also want to acknowledge the Green Party's differing views in the select committee's report. I understand that these concerns have been fully explored during the committee's thorough process and I look forward to discussing them at the committee of the whole House stage of the bill.As I have said before this bill also addresses some of the changes made in 2010 which disadvantaged tens of thousands of New Zealand workers. In particular the bill provides more clarity on what is involved for gradual process injury claims at work and more equitable cover for claimants.Aotearoa New Zealand looks very different from what it did 50 years ago and our workforce looks very different too. The old legislation reflects the inherent gender disparities in the accident compensation scheme that are the result of its focus on physical injuries which are more common amongst men in male-dominated types of work. This bill is our commitment to begin addressing the gender disparities in ACC and to reverse some of the 2010 changes so that we can provide better access to ACC and ensure it delivers better outcomes for all New Zealanders. I'm excited to see the real-life impact of this work and I look forward to the future where families will have the care and support needed from the start of their journey into parenthood and workers will be better supported by ACC. Thank you Mr Speaker. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): The question is that the motion be agreed to."