Sexual assault survivor says ACC process is retraumatising victims

RNZ News

27-05-2025

A woman who was sexually violated as a child says she needed to recount in detail what she suffered in order to be eligible for support from ACC.
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RNZ
A woman who was sexually violated as a child says she has been further traumatised by the process of applying for support from ACC.
Jenny, whose real identity cannot be revealed due to automatic name suppression, said she had been unable to work for more than 18 months due to stress as she went through the courts to hold her abuser to account for what he did to her in the 1970s.
After she made a complaint to police about five years ago, the man who sexually violated her was last year convicted and jailed.
But Jenny said she was left having to pick up the pieces of her life afterwards and to be eligible for support from ACC, she needed to recount in detail what she suffered.
"After you've been through something like that, you're left with having to put your life back together. So there were a couple of ACC courses I would have liked to do to help rebuild my inner self and move on, but in order to access any of that I've had to go and do an assessment and my argument is ... the person I went against in court was put away in prison. So why do I have to re-explain myself?" Jenny said.
"You've already got all my medical records and my history in your system. So why am I having to be retraumatised? I was really, really angry about this because it's only been a few months since my court case, so I'm already in a sensitive place.
"After I actually did their initial assessment I had really bad trauma for about a week. It's just really unfair what they're putting us through."
Jenny first disclosed the sexual assaults to ACC more than two decades ago and was told at the time she would never need to detail what she suffered again.
"It was even worse because it was the first time I ever disclosed anything to anybody because it had always been a secret and it knocked me for a six. It really did," she said.
But she had to relive it all again in an attempt to seek support while awaiting her abuser's trial.
"I challenged my counsellor about this and I said 'why am I having to do this when you've already got records and I've already just been through a court case?' and she said 'because we need to hear it in your words'," Jenny said.
"But 20 years ago, you heard it in my words. So why am I having to repeat it? I said I find this really triggering, but I wasn't listened to."
A woman who was sexually violated as a child says it the details she was expected to disclose to ACC would be humiliating for anyone.
Photo:
Supplied
The trauma of the process and the stress of the pending court date was too much.
"They said I had to do an assessment first before they could support me and I said I'm not here to do an assessment, I just want someone to walk beside me that understands what going through the court process is and they refused to do that. So I walked away," she said.
ACC said Jenny had a covered sensitive claim and was being supported in several ways.
However, Jenny said despite completing the assessment months ago, she had not received financial support or loss of potential earnings.
The details she was expected to disclose would be humiliating for anyone, she said. But it was especially problematic for survivors of sexual abuse.
"I'll ask you to go and talk to a stranger and tell them how your sexual life is and explain what you did - and you would find that embarrassing. Well, that's what we have to do. We have to disclose what happened to us. So you can see how triggering it is. It's really hard work," Jenny said.
ACC told RNZ there had been changes to its sensitive claims processes, so treatment better suited individuals' needs.
But Jenny said she had seen little change.
"They've put a change in because people are having to wait too long to see psychologists and psychiatrists and people are having to wait up to a year before they're seen. So half of the reason why these changes have come in is so people like myself are not getting retraumatised and yet it's worse," she said.
ACC head of client recovery Thomas Ronan said ACC needed a fresh assessment to update its clinical understanding of Jenny's injuries, and it was also used to assess loss of potential earnings.
"ACC provides support for anyone in Aotearoa New Zealand, who has experienced sexual abuse or assault here. ACC covers a mental injury caused by sexual violence not the sexual violence itself, which is why we need survivors to be assessed in order for us to determine cover, rather than use the documents provided to a court for criminal proceedings," Ronan said.
"It doesn't matter if the sexual abuse or assault happened recently or a long time ago, survivors can access ACC support services whenever they're ready. All claims are treated on a case-by-case basis and what support ACC can provide can vary depending on the person and their injury."
ACC acknowledges the process and time it takes to assess sensitive claims can be challenging for survivors.
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123RF
Ronan acknowledged the process and time it took to assess sensitive claims was "challenging for some survivors".
"While we can't eliminate the assessment requirement completely, over the past three years we collaborated with providers, suppliers, sector groups, agencies and professional bodies to make significant changes to the sensitive claims service to improve the survivor experience. One of the key changes was streamlining the assessment process to make it easier for survivors to access support and treatment," he said.
"Under the new sensitive claims service launched in December 2024, there are now two pathways to obtain cover. Depending on their clinical needs, we may be able to approve a claim for cover after the survivor completes a Cover and Well-being Plan. This will enable them to access treatment and support in a quicker way and they won't need a specialist cover assessment. If a survivor has more complex needs or requires financial support, they would need a specialist cover assessment.
"We've also moved away from a one-size-fits-all approach towards a more holistic model that allows clients to work with their provider to create a recovery plan that will better meet their individual needs.
"In addition, clients now have access to a broader range of support - not just talk therapy, but also support from other specialists, such as social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, speech language therapists, and dietitians.
"Despite the improvements we've made to the service, there are capacity constraints in the mental health sector, which means some survivors may experience delays accessing treatment. We do have providers in the South Island but acknowledge there can be wait times to access these services."
But Jenny said she understood the supports which might ultimately be available, but the hoops which survivors need to jump through to access them and the stress it caused was unnecessary.
Months on she was still waiting for financial support and for ACC to acknowledge the role it had played in her trauma, she said.
"I felt I wasn't listened to. I felt that I keep saying this is traumatising. You've already got the information. Why am I having to repeat myself. It was like I didn't have a voice," she said.
"I had already been through the court system that ... came out as a conviction so they obviously can see something has happened. I should have been able to access ACC organisations that help support your mental health without having to do the assessment.
"I've received no care."
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