Tony Carlyle is leading an online petition calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into ACC. Photo / Stephen Parker
Tony Carlyle is leading an online petition calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into ACC. Photo / Stephen Parker
A survivor of a head-on crash has gathered 750 signatures calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into ACC.
Rotorua man Anthony (Tony) Carlyle, a former lawyer and now an ACC claimant advocate, began the online petition on the New Zealand Parliament website late last year.
He started the petitionout of frustration with the Accident Compensation Corporation.
An ACC spokeswoman said the corporation was "aware" of the petition but would not comment on Carlyle's criticisms.
He has helped more than 100 claimants take reviews and appeals to district courts since discovering he had a brain injury in 1990 - 14 years after the injury first occurred in 1976.
Carlyle was passing a bus when the head-on collision occurred.
His head hit the steering wheel and he had skull damage around his right eye, the nerves were damaged and he lost muscle control.
"So I've got sight but it's not usable."
An ACC branch entrance. Photo / File
He limped for about three to four years after his crash and couldn't run because of the damage to his brain but he slowly regained most movement.
He doesn't remember the crash, nor does he remember four to five months prior or eight to nine months afterwards.
He had his own general law practice in Wellington at the time, after being admitted to the bar in 1970.
Carlyle's petition requests "that the House of Representatives urge the Government to have a Royal Commission into Accident Compensation appointed".
He said in his view there were "diagnosis, treatment, and compensation prejudices against injury types (in particular concussions and mild traumatic brain injury)" under the current system.
A security guard stands outside an ACC branch. Photo / File
Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post, Carlyle said claimants' entitlements depended on the date of their injury because the legislation has been changed three times, under various governments, since first being introduced in 1972.
After changes were made in 1990s, in Carlyle's opinion: "We then had a focus on profit and cost containment instead of looking at the person ... You became a file."
"You can't seem to get common sense from them," he said.
"If you're dealing with a gradual process injury, say [it was] caused by working with asbestos, or you've got a brain injury ... Or a back injury. You look fine and you're not and often the injury isn't picked up on time.
"You've also got the problem that if you've got a brain injury, what work can you do? It's important that the family is helped ... It's all focused on the person," he added.
Tony Carlyle is leading an online petition calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into ACC. Photo / Stephen Parker
He said a Commission of Inquiry would mean: "We step back and see where we are at, what do we need to do and how do we go about it?"
He said in his opinion "the law is one hell of a mess" and he was looking forward to speaking about his petition to the Education and Workforce select committee.
"We are in default of the United Nations obligations with ACC."
Carlyle said his claim was handled well because when it was first lodged he had a "superb" lawyer who later became a High Court judge.
However, he said nowadays, it was very hard to find a local lawyer taking on ACC matters.
"There's no money in it. I mean law is a business now not a profession."
An ACC review file held by a claimant. Photo / File
Carlyle said he had learned to manage with his brain injury but that wasn't possible for everyone.
"Every brain injury depends on the person. As you grow up you know black and white, yes and no, but you develop grey. You're tolerant, you're understanding. You're patient, you're considerate. When you have a brain injury, you don't have that grey."
The time period for signatures closes on January 31.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's accident compensation policy manager, Hayden Fenwick, said ACC was "a world-leading scheme".
"Research shows it works well for a large majority of claimants."
He said "any significant reform of ACC would be a lengthy undertaking and require substantial consultation, policy work, financial considerations and broad cross-party support".
Fenwick said Government passed legislation last year "to close gaps that disadvantaged older working New Zealanders and those working overseas, and had ongoing work to improve the dispute resolution process."
He said due to crossovers with health and welfare, significant ACC reform was not done while the likes of the Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction and the Health and Disability Review were taking place.
