Fair Way Kōrero - Dec 2023
December 2023
I orea te tuatara ka puta ki waho. - A problem is solved by continuing to find solutions.
Nau mai, haere mai! Welcome to our ACC Services Kōrero December edition.
And just like that, we've reached the end of another busy year. December is often a month of reflection, looking back on the year that's been and acknowledging the hard work by everyone that has gone into the delivery of our service. It’s been amazing to see so many of the team consistently recognised this year through both the kind feedback received from our customers, as well as our external quality framework. A recent highlight has also been welcoming aboard our newest team member Denisha, who you can meet and learn more about below.
While the lead up to Christmas is always busy, we've also spent a bit of time looking at our goals and plans for the new year, including mapping out a couple of exciting project initiatives that we look forward to sharing more about with you in due course. Although much of the ACC review process is enshrined in legislation, we are grateful to have a team so dedicated to finding opportunities both great and small to improve the experience that our customers have as we assist them through to a resolution.
We hope you have a safe and relaxing break over the summer holidays. After a busy year, some of our team will be taking a well-deserved break across the Christmas and New Year period, however we will have people available in between the public holidays should you need to get in touch. You can find our opening hours below.
We hope that you enjoy reading our Kōrero and please reach out to us with any feedback or to make suggestions for the next edition.
Ngā mihi
Blair and Gess
Operations Managers - ACC Services
2023 in review
Reflection by Genessa Tabak
It’s hard to believe we are coming to the end of 2023, the year has certainly flown by!
We’ve had some awesome highlights over the year that's for sure.
We’ve seen our customer satisfaction continue to increase, 76% of our customers surveyed are satisfied with our customer service. We are really proud of the great work the team has done to achieve this, having introduced several new customer experience initiatives during the year.
Over the past year and a half we have also seen the start of an Independent External Quality Assessment process undertaken through Holland Beckett. We are super proud of our very high results and the fantastic feedback received throughout this process. Holland Beckett have been particularly impressed with our customer focused proactive case management and the very high quality of our decision writing, ensuring decisions are written for our customers and are easy to follow and understand. We are grateful for the opportunity to receive independent external feedback to ensure we are continuously looking for ways to build on our customer experience.
We have seen consistently strong volumes of new reviews coming through which has been keeping us on our toes in assisting customers through the review/conciliation process combined with the increased complexity of matters.
Another great highlight has been our ACC team completing the Me Upoko Pakaru a 10-Week Māori Language Programme with Haemata Limited. We are now feeling much more confident incorporating our learnings into phone conversations and tikanga hearings and conciliations.
All in all, it’s been a busy but very rewarding year for our team.
Meri Kirihimete!
Meet the team
Our newest member — Denisha
My name is Denisha Datt, and I am a Resolution Coordinator based in our Auckland Office. I’m the newest member of the ACC team, going on 4 months soon. I studied criminology and conflict resolution prior to joining Fair Way and am very passionate about peaceful conflict resolution. Understanding that conflict is a natural part of life, but how we deal with it is what really matters.
Every day is a treat, but two highlights of my time here so far have been the amazing people I’ve met and a trip to Fair Way’s Christchurch office as part of my induction training and to meet the team based there.
The work we do is different everyday but at the cusp of it - it involves scheduling case conferences, hearings, and conciliations, being the main point of contact for the parties and the Reviewer, as well as taking phone calls on the Fair Way line. I think the work we do is very important and impactful - providing a review service that a lot of people don’t even know about.
Making phone calls, getting to know the applicants and their stories have been some of the more rewarding yet also challenging aspects of the role as we get to connect with others and help them throughout the review process, but it can also be challenging at times navigating certain conversations when an applicant is upset or frustrated and perhaps just wants to vent. So, it’s important to give them a chance to express their concerns to ensure they feel heard and then continue with the purpose of the call.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with family and friends, volunteering in the wider community and being out in nature.
Christmas and New Year
Opening hours
The Fair Way team will be available across the Christmas and New Year period, except for the official statutory days.
Please note that we may have reduced capacity in some services during this period.
You can reach us by phone on 0800 77 44 14, by email at reviews@fairwayresolution.com or online across this period.
Christmas Opening Hours:
Mon 18 December – Fri 22 December:
08:00 – 17:00
Sat 23 December – Tue 26 December:
CLOSED
Wed 27 December – Fri 29 December:
08:00 – 17:00
Sat 30 December – Tue 2 January:
CLOSED
Wed 3 January – Fri 5 January:
08:00 – 17:00
Case study
Chance to talk
The applicant was an elderly person who had been declined funding for a mobility scooter and sought a review of that decision. From a case conference, it was identified that part of the issue was the adopted modes of communication between the parties – the applicant and their family preferring to discuss issues personally. The parties agreed to enter into conciliation.
By bringing the parties together, the applicant was able to let ACC know why they were upset with the decision, and that they had not been able to understand it previously. The conciliation provided the opportunity to have family members involved in discussion, who assisted the applicant to understand the decision and make them feel supported and comfortable.
It also became clear that the applicant’s perception of ACC was coloured by events that occurred many years prior. Through the open discussion, ACC was able to better understand the applicant’s circumstances, and address the relationship between them. It was established that the applicant could be assessed for transport for independence and the relationship going forward was set to be a positive one.
Newsletter feedback
Get involved in the next edition!
If you would like to provide some feedback or suggest topics of interest for future editions. please email submissions@fairwayresolution.com – we welcome your contributions.