About the Accident Compensation Act 2001
Below is a summary of what the Accident Compensation Act 2001 covers, how it
guides the way we work, and how we help injured New Zealanders, and visitors
to New Zealand.
Entitlement dates
In March 2010, the existing Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(IPRC) Act 2001– which was passed by Parliament in September 2001 – had its
name changed to the Accident Compensation (AC) Act 2001.
Most of what the AC Act covers did not come into force until 1 April 2002. This
means there are restrictions on who can access the entitlements covered by the
AC Act – for example, lump sum compensation can only be paid for injuries that
happened after that date.
Main amendments to the Act
The AC Act underwent several amendments, most notably in 2005, 2008, and
2010. The amendments can be accessed at:
Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Amendment Act 2005
(external link)
Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Amendment Act 2008
(external link)
Accident Compensation Amendment Act 2010 (external link)
For a summary of these amendments, scroll down the History of ACC in New
Zealand page.
Summary: client-related parts of the Act
Note:

This summary focuses only on the client-related parts of the Accident
Compensation Act. For a guide that will help you access relevant parts of the
entire Act, see Access parts – Accident Compensation Act 2001.

This summary does not replace or alter the laws of New Zealand and other
official guidelines or requirements.
We now use the term ‘client’ to refer to the injured people we help, but the AC
Act uses the term ‘claimant’.
What the Act includes
The AC Act reflects the Government’s key goals, which are:

injury prevention

complete and timely rehabilitation

fair compensation

Code of ACC Claimant’s Rights.
To access the complete AC Act, see Accident Compensation Act 2001 (external
link).
Preventing injuries
The AC Act makes injury prevention a primary function of ACC. It states that:

ACC must continue to ensure its injury prevention activities are targeted at a
cost-effective reduction in levy rates

ACC will take part in joint ventures or sponsorships aimed at reducing injuries

ACC must ensure that its injury prevention initiatives are coordinated with
those of other agencies, including WorkSafe New Zealand/Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Management of injury-related information
The AC Act includes a requirement to manage injury-related information right
across the different agencies that are involved with injury prevention.

Information about injuries is collected from a variety of databases, including
ours, to achieve the Government’s objectives in injury prevention.

The framework will apply to all government agencies that collect information
on injuries.
Disclosure of information by ACC

The AC Act added a provision to report information to the Department of
Child, Youth and Family Services for the purposes of preventing injury to
children.

ACC is required to pass on information about work-related injuries to
WorkSafe New Zealand/Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) who will use the information in relation to the Health and Safety in
Employment Act 1992. Note, at the time of writing a Health and Safety
Reform Bill is under consideration.

After the 2005 amendments, we no longer need to find ‘error’ to accept a
claim from a patient injured in the course of medical treatment. However, we
are required to report a risk of harm to the public. That means if we see a
concerning case, or pattern of behaviour, we are obliged to report it to the
Ministry of Health and/or the relevant professional body.
For more on the work we do to prevent injuries, see Preventing Injuries.
Cover
As the AC Act says, we offer no fault personal injury cover for everyone in New
Zealand, including visitors to New Zealand and New Zealanders who are overseas
for less than six months.
The term ‘personal injury’ is defined in the AC Act, Part 2, Section 26: Personal
injury (external link).
The type of help we can provide depends on the injured person’s needs. We will
assess their situation and may be able to provide support in many ways
including:

treatment

rehabilitation services

lost earnings compensation.
To learn more about the assistance we can provide for injured New Zealanders,
see What support can I get?
For more information about conditions for ACC cover, see Am I covered?
Treatment
Obviously, the purpose of treating physical or mental injuries is to restore injured
people back to health.
We buy services for our clients in a number of ways, by:

providing bulk funding to public hospitals via the Ministry of Health for various
treatment services

funding, or contributing to funding, of treatment providers for sessions with
clients

purchasing treatment services under contract (for example elective surgery).
For more about the treatment we may provide, see What support can I get?
Additional (ancillary) services
The AC Act and regulations set out what ancillary services we can pay for or
contribute to. These include:

emergency transport by ambulance

transport to treatment

transport for certain types of vocational and social rehabilitation

travel for escorts and support people in specific situations

assistance with accommodation in certain situations.
To find out more about ACC’s ancillary services, see:
Ambulance and emergency care
Travel and accommodation for treatment
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is aimed at helping our clients back to health and independence.
Rehabilitation includes:

social rehabilitation: helping injured people learn to live with an injury and its
effects

vocational rehabilitation: helping injured people back to work after an injury.
Rehabilitation also includes the injured person’s treatment and any associated
services, such as transport to treatment.
Our philosophy is that rehabilitation means working in partnership with our
clients, their employers and treatment providers to contribute to improved quality
of life by:

identifying needs

providing appropriate support and entitlements provided in the Act

assisting in the restoration of function

facilitating participation.
Social rehabilitation
The purpose of social rehabilitation is to help injured people get back to
independence, so they can live their lives as normally as possible. To do this, we
assess a person’s individual needs, and may provide entitlements such as:

aids and appliances (for example wheel chairs and walking frames)

home help

child care

attendant care

modifications to the home

training for independence programmes.
For more on social rehabilitation, see Rehabilitation plan.
Vocational rehabilitation
Vocational rehabilitation is focused on helping an injured person back into work.
We, and our vocational providers, will work with employers to help an injured
employee back to work, if they are able to return to the same job.
If they can’t go back to their usual job, an initial occupational assessment will
identify what work might suit them. An initial medical assessment will also
consider whether they are medically able to do it.
For more on vocational rehabilitation, see Vocational rehabilitation.
Code of ACC Claimants’ Rights
The AC Act sets the requirement for a Code of ACC Claimants’ Rights to be
developed and approved by the Minister, following public consultation. The
resulting Code specifies clients’ rights and what service standards we must
provide.
To read more about the Code of ACC Claimants’ Rights, see Regulations –
Accident Compensation (AC) Act 2001.
Fair compensation
Lump sum compensation
The AC Act reintroduced lump sum payments for people who are permanently
impaired by their injury. That injury must have happened after 1 April 2002 for
the injured person to be eligible for a lump sum payment. Assessments for lump
sum payments begin two years after an injury, or when the person’s condition
has stabilised. The amount depends on how impaired the client is because of the
injury.
If a client is permanently impaired as a result of an injury that occurred before 1
April 2002, they could be eligible for an independence allowance.
Weekly compensation
If a client's injury claim is accepted and they can’t work because of it, they may
be eligible for weekly compensation payments to replace their usual wage. That
usually means we pay 80% of the client's earnings before they were injured, but
there are some conditions.
If the client was injured before they joined the work force, we can in some
situations, pay weekly compensation to cushion their loss from not being able to
earn to the same extent that they could if they hadn’t been injured.
For more on weekly compensation, see:
Weekly compensation – loss of earnings
Weekly compensation – loss of potential earnings
Death benefits
If a family member dies as a result of their injuries, we may be able to help the
family of the deceased too. The AC Act sets out what support is available if this
happens.
Funeral grants are available to help towards the cost of a burial, cremation and
related ceremonies, and survivor’s grants can be paid to the partner, children and
other dependants of someone who died because of an injury.
If the person who died had dependants, ACC may be able to pay weekly
compensation to them. Also, when a parent dies as the result of an injury, we can
help with the costs of caring for children.
For more on death benefits, see:
Funeral grant
Survivor’s grant
Weekly compensation: accidental death
Childcare payments following accidental death
Last updated: 24 January 2014
Last reviewed: 24 January 2015