#MeToo spur for surge in ACC claims
The #MeToo movement and more generous support for sexual abuse victims has increased the number of people seeking treatment in New Zealand by 88 per cent.
ACC is now receiving 21 claims a day related to mental or physical injuries from rape and sexual violence, up from 11 a day in 2013.
The 88 per cent increase in people making sensitive claims in the past five years is stretching treatment services.
As a result, ACC is asking contracted providers to consider letting interns and newly-graduated counsellors take on sexual assault victims — a job which is usually left to more experienced staff.
The spike in people seeking help is partly the result of a policy change in 2014, when ACC introduced a more flexible system which covered the full costs of victims’ initial treatment.
ACC acting chief customer officer Emma Powell said it was also influenced by higher rates of awareness and reporting.
“It’s no secret that, even before the #MeToo movement became very public over the last 12 months, there has been a growing a consistent conversation in the public about sexual violence and about consent and the impacts to young people as well as adults and children.”
Wellington Rape Crisis service coordinator Sandra Fuller said ACC’s assessment process was still “a work in progress”.
“It is a massive improvement on what existed before,” she said, adding: “I don’t think it works for everyone.”
Hayley Young, who was raped while serving in the NZ Navy in 2009, said ACC covered the initial costs of her therapy but rejected a claim for lost income and ongoing treatment.
“I didn’t have physical injuries so they were looking for a mental injury. The therapist’s definition of a mental injury was if I was reacting disproportionately to what had happened to me. Her assessment was that we can’t cover you because you’re acting proportionately to what you’ve been through.”