Fair Way Kōrero - March 2023
March 2023
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, He tāngata, He tāngata
Nau mai haere mai, welcome to the first edition of Kōrero, our new quarterly newsletter, which is designed to keep you informed about what's going on in Fair Way's ACC service. As the whakataukī above emphasises, it is the people who are of the most importance to us, the people in our team, the people who we assist, and the people like yourselves that we work with closely every day.
Through the Kōrero, our aim is to further strengthen the connections between all of our people, offering you the chance to get to know some of our team a bit better, while also keeping you aware of any service updates or new initiatives we may be implementing. Highlights from this edition include a summary of recent cultural capability training our team completed with the Tūhono Collective, as well as a spotlight on Reviewer Pete Barker as he reaches his 41st year of service.
We hope that you enjoy reading our Kōrero and please reach out to us with any feedback or suggestions for the next editions.
Ngā mihi
Blair and Gess
Operations Managers - ACC Services
Tikanga dispute resolution - reflection on training
Written by Jim McKenzie, Senior Resolution Practitioner
Tēnā koutou
You may have read in the news about the Supreme Court’s decision in the Peter Ellis case and the growing incorporation of tikanga into the common law. Here at Fair Way, we are also looking at how we can improve our dispute resolution practices through the use of tikanga.
Late last year, reviewers attended an intensive and practical 3-day mediation training session with Tūhono. This followed a shorter course which was put on for the wider Fair Way team.
The course introduced us to the Tūhono model of practice, inspired by traditional Māori narratives and dispute resolution practices. Tūhono seeks to establish unique pathways for resolving disputes using Māori beliefs, principles, values, and practices that derive from traditional knowledge.
The facilitators were generous in sharing their knowledge, and patient in dealing with our many questions.
The course was both thought provoking and informative. For me, the course has improved my confidence in this area, and furthered my understanding of Te Ao Māori. For example, it has helped me to move from a mindset of seeing karakia as simply a procedural step, to seeing it as an integral part of creating a safe space at the outset of a mediation process and helping to cleanse at the end of the session. It has also allowed me to reflect on my practice more broadly and given me some tools I can use in any mediation process.
There is a genuine interest amongst my colleagues to learn more about tikanga. Regardless of our previous knowledge and experience, we all benefited from taking some time out from our usual hearings and case conferences, to think more about how we can improve on the service we provide.
Attending one course does not make us experts in tikanga, but for many of us it is the start of a journey to become more understanding and inclusive of Māori customary practices.
We are looking forward to putting our learning into practice, and we encourage you to speak to your clients about whether there is anything they would like the reviewer to do in their case to accommodate any cultural needs.
Ngā mihi
Jim McKenzie
41 years of ACC reviews
Interview with Pete Barker, Senior Resolution Practitioner
Tell us about your career journey and some of your career highlights?
Well, it has been a long road. I often refer to it as my life sentence here. There are too many highlights to mention. The things I find most satisfying are training and mentoring new (and some old) staff, developing our services to include ADR (mediation, conciliation and facilitation), and resolving difficult and long-standing cases.
41 years is a very long time. What are some of the changes that you have seen?
There are three major changes I will highlight.
The first is that ACC now attends the review hearings as a party. When I started in this role, ACC did not attend, we simply received the relevant documents from them. ACC were very excited at the prospect initially but soon realised it required a different set of skills. This led to them appointing Review Specialists who now attend the hearings.
The second is our transition from a Crown entity to a private company. This has allowed us to develop our services to a wider range of customers. We also now have competition in the ACC service.
The third is the development of technology. When I commenced, we lugged around huge volumes of paper. Now it is all electronic. Further, we now use technology to run our case conferences and review hearings through Zoom. The carbon footprint is massively reduced.
41 years on you must really enjoy your work, what do you enjoy the most about your role?
Meeting all the people I do and assisting then to move forward with their lives. In this role we get incredible insights into peoples’ lives. This is a very privileged position to be in.
The other thing I like is working in a small team who are all striving to provide the best service to our customers.
How would your colleagues describe you and what you bring to the team?
I hate to think! I would like to think they find me knowledgeable, flexible, and always available and willing to assist where I can.
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned about dispute resolution over your many years?
The most important person in the room is the one that has the most at stake, especially so if they are not going to be successful. The focus must be on them throughout the whole process. To balance that, we must ensure all parties get to have their say. If all parties walk away feeling that they have been heard, then our service is a success.
Work life balance is very important, how do you like to spend your downtime?
Fishing and golfing are my two passions outside work. I find both are recreations that are both competitive and also involve a unique camaraderie in that, while competing, you also cheer your rivals on when they have success. Of course, the 19th hole is also a highlight.
Conciliation
Results and recent improvements
Fair Way is seeing great outcomes achieved through conciliation, which is a type of mediation. Representatives, accredited employers and third-party administrators are all welcomed in the process, along with ACC and its customers. It’s a chance for everyone involved to come together, explore issues, and reach an agreed solution with the support of a skilled practitioner.
In the year ending 30 June 2022, 82% of cases that went through our conciliation resolved some or all matters. If any matters remain unresolved after the conciliation process, they can proceed to a review. Not only is the resolution rate pleasing to see, we’re also hearing positive feedback from our participants. Recent comments include:
• “The conciliator was understanding of my situation, relieved my anxieties and kept the meeting on track.”
• “The Mediator was very concise and did a great job of ensuring everything ran well.”
• “Felt I was listened too - I felt the mediator was fair”.
• “I just wanted to thank you for Thursday. I thought you gave us a great set of parameters to work within and kept everything focused and productive.”
Late last year we introduced two new improvements to our conciliation service – practitioner choice and an online request form.
Practitioner choice
Applicants and their representatives are now welcome to choose the Fair Way practitioner that they would like to undertake the conciliation. Choice of practitioner is common in many of our other mediations services – such as Family Dispute Resolution or in our suite of workplace services – and is now an option for ACC matters.
If you are not already familiar with our practitioners, you can find short introduction to our team here. If you have particular needs for a case, you can always reach out to Gess and Blair to discuss which Fair Way practitioner could work best with your parties during conciliations.
Online form
We have made it simpler to request a conciliation and select a practitioner. With our new webform, you can send us a request in minutes. Simply visit our website and make note of your preferred practitioner when you submit your request. We’ll contact ACC to explore whether conciliation is a suitable resolution pathway for your claim.
You can also make a request via ACC on the ACC6239 form or review cover sheet when requesting to work with us, or during a case conference if it is agreed by all the parties.
Newsletter feedback
Let us know what your think
If you would like to provide some feedback or suggest topics of interest for future editions of the newsletter, please email Blair (blair.wadams@fairwayresolution.com) or Gess (genessa.tabak@fairwayresolution.com) – we welcome your contributions.