Source: Radio New Zealand
Minister for Social Development Louise Upston. RNZ / Mark Papalii
A state abuse survivor is sickened she may have to repay welfare supports that kept her afloat while she was waiting for ACC compensation.
It comes as a lawyer and researcher flags his concerns the government is not meeting its own standards set in the Regulatory Standards Act.
The coalition, with Labour’s support, is changing the law so the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) can legally claw back payments once someone has been backpaid for an ACC claim.
The government has made the case the amendment will clarify the law and uphold fairness, ensuring people were not double-dipping on different supports for the same time period.
Survivor Victoria Bruce had since contacted RNZ to express her shock she and other survivors would be caught up in this change.
Bruce was currently applying for ACC’s Loss of Potential Earnings (LOPE) payments – weekly compensation payments available to anyone unable to work due to a mental injury arising from childhood sexual abuse.
The solo parent said she had also, over the years, claimed supplementary welfare supports from MSD like accommodation supplements and the winter energy payment.
“It isn’t about double dipping, not at all. Hardship support keeps you afloat when you’re struggling, but compensation recognises permanent injury and lost earning capacity.
“They essentially serve two different purposes, and treating them as interchangeable turns this concept of redress, of compensation, into an accounting exercise instead of real, genuine restoration.”
The minister in charge Louise Upston had made it clear that historic claims payments were unaffected by this change.
But Bruce said many survivors like herself would still find themselves in debt once MSD clawed back welfare payments when they had been paid out by ACC.
“It will be an absolute shock. I travelled to Wellington with my daughter, stood shoulder to shoulder in the government public apology and I did feel hopeful,” she said.
“I did feel that it was a turning point, that it was an apology, an attempt to set things straight and so in good faith, I engaged with the processes.
“I came forward, I lodged my historic claim with MSD, as I was requested to. I engaged with ACC, as suggested. I’ve been very open about how this abuse in care as a young child affected me and I feel I’ve engaged in full good faith.”
Bruce said it was a “disbelief” that the government would be pushing through legislation that was going to “damage” people.
“Not only damage people, but financially cripple people who are already emotionally crippled. It’s pretty sickening.”
Upston’s office said the minister expected MSD would continue to engage constructively with clients around their individual circumstances and explain the next steps and any obligations.
‘The government is not meeting its own standards’ – lawyer
Lawyer and researcher Warren Forster. RNZ / Ian Telfer
Lawyer and researcher Warren Forster said the coalition’s approach to the law change, prompted by a signficant High Court decision, was problematic.
Late last year, Justice Grice ruled MSD could not require people to pay back welfare supports once they had been back-dated compensation from ACC.
“They’re basically saying, we’re going to have retrospective legislation; we don’t like what the court did so we’re just going to insert this really complicated bit of law that no one can actually understand, and the effect of that’s going to be we get to ignore the court decision.”
Forster said he also had concerns the government’s law change would not meet its own standards of good law making, set out in the Regulatory Standards Act.
“They can’t have it both ways. If they want to have a set of standards about making law they can but they need to follow them.
“It’s completely inconsistent to say there’s one set of rules when we’re making law that we like and there’s another set of laws when we’re making laws that we don’t like so there needs to be consistency here and we have a very vulnerable group of people.”
He added the change was also unfair.
“Everyone who’s in this position has a disability and they’ve been denied ACC help for a long period of time, months, years, decades, and they’re not in a position where they can fight against MSD or ACC,” he said.
“They’re stuck in a system and they’re not getting rehabilitation that they actually would have been entitled to, they’re not getting the help that they should have got from ACC, and when it comes time to try and fix this what they’re saying now is, well, actually, we’re going to claw back everything we can.
“The law doesn’t actually say you have to pay that out of someone’s entitlement. If ACC wants to repay MSD, it can, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the person who’s injured and has been stuck in that system, fighting.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
