$456m ACC project hurdles
A transformation challenge has thrown up some obstacles for the no-fault accident insurer, writes Tom Pullar-Strecker.
Confidence has been dented that a $456 million overhaul of the Accident Compensation Commission will be completed on time and on budget.
ACC got the go-ahead from ministers last year for its massive ‘‘Shaping Our Future’’ project.
It is designed to reduce paperwork for healthcare providers and ensure most claimants can deal with ACC online using ‘‘self service’’ tools.
A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Steven Joyce said adapting ‘‘off-the-shelf’’ software to meet ACC’s needs was proving more complex than expected and transferring records to the new system was more resourceintensive than had been forecast.
‘‘These pressures are not abnormal within a programme of this scale and complexity,’’ she added.
The hurdles have led Treasury to downgrade its confidence-level for the project to ‘‘amber’’ from ‘‘green/amber’’.
That means it believes it is still feasible Shaping Our Future will be delivered on time and on budget and meet its original objectives, but that there are ‘‘significant issues’’ requiring attention. ACC chief operating officer Jim Stabback, said the project remained on track for completion in mid-2020, ‘‘within the approved whole-of-life costs of $456m’’.
But he said the complexities made it more likely that ACC would need to eat into ‘‘contingency funding’’, which was included in the $456m figure signed off by the Cabinet.
Advisors from the Treasury, ACC and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and government chief information officer Colin MacDonald, had previously described Shaping Our Future as a ‘‘low-margin investment’’ in purely economic terms.
Before the project was approved, they warned a small increase in ACC levies might be needed to pay for the work, if ACC had to dip into the contingency funding.
Stabback said the project would ‘‘absolutely’’ still be worthwhile, because of the service improvements that were expected. ‘‘Our customers have told us we need to change to ensure they can better access the services they need when they need them. And that’s the aim of the programme.’’
From next month, businesses would be able to access their ACC levy invoices online, he said.
Consultant PwC is acting as ACC’s ‘‘transformation partner’’. Wellington consultant Tenzing is supplying implementation and support services. New software is being supplied by Californian company Guidewire.
MacDonald said on Tuesday that the public service was on track to meet targets set in 2012, that 70 per cent of transactions were conducted online by the end of the year. Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne, said the Government was exploring new ways to integrate the delivery of services with those of the private sector.
In future for example, when someone approached the superannuation age they might get a message from their bank.
‘‘You click ‘on the box’ and the application form is taken care of, and on the date, your first superannuation payment arrives.’’
Major IT-based projects:
Inland Revenue Business Transformation project. Lifetime cost: $1.77 billion. Status: Green/ Amber. Customs NZ Joint Border Management System. Lifetime cost: $208m. Status: Amber. Land Information NZ Replacement of Landonline. Lifetime cost: Not yet disclosed, may exceed $141m. Status: Green/ Amber.
These pressures are not abnormal within a programme of this scale and complexity.