Fair Way Kōrero - Sept 2023
September 2023
Tē tōia, tē haumatia - Nothing can be achieved without a plan, workforce and way of doing things.
Nau mai, haere mai! Welcome to our ACC Services Kōrero September edition.
The start of Spring has finally sprung so we thought we would give you an update on some new initiatives within our ACC team.
Over the next few months we will be taking a closer look at our mahi through a customer lens, we will looking at how we might further streamline our processes for our customers, stakeholders and our people. Continuous improvement is very important to us in an ever-evolving world of technology and changing customer needs. We will be seeking your valuable feedback in our next edition, so get your thinking caps on as to how you think we might improve the way we do things.
Since our last edition, we launched of our updated website. In our new and improved ACC section, you will find a new look and feel, simple layout and fresh content. You’ll be able to find all the information you need about our ACC services, with dedicated sections for both our review and conciliation pathways. We have a new webform to answer customer questions and another to request conciliation. Under our Resources, you will be able to find editions of our quarterly Kōrero newsletter in What’s New and examples of some recent conciliations under Case Studies. If you haven't already had the chance, we recommend taking a look at www.fairwayresolution.com.
As always, our people are what makes things work around here, so we have contributions from across our team. Read on to meet our Workflow Coordinator Rekha and Blair shares his reflections on our recent Me Upoko Pakaru - Kia Rite! Māori Language Programme.
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
Auckland venue
New Fair Way office
Our Auckland team have recently moved into a new office, with purpose-built meeting rooms, along with facilities for online meetings.
The commute is a tiny bit shorter for the team – having simply moved from Level 15 to Level 10 in the same building at 66 Wyndham Street (formerly known as Chorus House).
If any customers would like to have their review or conciliation held in person, we can host them in our new office location.
Meet the team
Rekha Rawat - Workflow Coordinator
Kia ora koutou,
My name is Rekha Rawat, and I am based in our Christchurch office.
It’s been my absolute pleasure being part of the Fair Way family for the last four years and the key factors for me in sticking around for that long are Fair Way’s values (empathy and collaboration are my most favourite) and the way Fair Way cares for its employees which is outstanding.
I spend most of my time helping the ACC Services team including Resolution Practitioners and Resolution Coordinators in relation to circuit creation, venue booking, travel & accommodation, rostering, scheduling and coordinating with the wider team.
Not being the front face, I still find it very rewarding when we achieve our targets as a team. I always like to think that somewhere I managed to add some pieces to the puzzle by actioning things on time. My overall journey in Fair Way has been very gratifying but the most stimulating part was learning about people. Over the years, I realised that everyone is different and needs a different approach and everyone is unique in their own way.
I never dared to ask my colleagues what they think about me (imagine how courageous that would be), jokes apart, they always say nice things like it’s good to have me in the team. I also love being the part of such an amazing team.
My spare time involves going exploring beautiful NZ. I am slowly getting into hiking and NZ’s scenic views makes it worth all the sweat and sore legs. Apart from that, we try to spend quality time together as family and try to be thankful to God for everything he has given us in our lives.
Our te reo Māori learning journey
Update from Blair Wadams
Te reo Māori has been an official language of New Zealand since 1987 and in 2016, Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori (The Māori Language Act) enhanced the status of the Māori language as taonga valued by the nation and committing to its revitalisation and preservation for future generations. More and more, Te Reo Māori is becoming a vital part of our shared cultural identity in Aotearoa and its importance in the workplace is recognised through interactions between both colleagues and customers alike.
Over the past few months Fair Way staff have been enjoying weekly lessons via the "Me Upoko Pakaru - Kia Rite!" programme delivered by Haemata, focussing on some key foundational knowledge around pronunciation, karakia, pepeha and tikanga. While some of us had a bit of prior knowledge to draw on from schooling in New Zealand or self-learning, for others it was their first formal education on the language. Thankfully the shared enthusiasm and encouragement from our amazing facilitator made for a safe and fun learning environment where we all felt comfortable to give it a go no matter where we were on our learning journey. It was amazing how much benefit there was to even our most experienced learners in going over the basics again, dipthongs and their correct pronunciation in particular being something that was definitely worth coming back to each week.
In addition to the language itself, we also learnt a lot about the history of Te Reo Māori in New Zealand and the at times quite difficult path it has had to be as cherished and safeguarded as it is today. It’s hard to believe that only 40 years ago simply greeting a customer with “Kia ora” was considered by many to be controversial! By the end of the 10-week course there was a strong shared sense of empowerment in keeping alive the principles of Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori, the wero well and truly being laid down for all of us to carry on our learning together.
Within our ACC service, being able to provide assistance to applicants that is both authentic and culturally responsive is something that our practitioners and coordinators take great pride in. Having had the assistance of Haemata in growing our competence and confidence together, that sense of pride continues to grow and we are excited about opportunities to apply our learnings within our daily mahi. While there is still a lot more for us to learn, by supporting and encouraging each other we are hopeful that our shared kete of knowledge will continue to be full.
“Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi” - With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive.
Case study
Additional injuries from accident
The applicant had been involved in a significant accident. As we see in many cases, the applicant had received treatment in hospital for the most pressing injury, which was immediately covered by ACC, but as time went on it became apparent that they had suffered other injuries in the accident as well and ACC claims were made for those injuries at later dates. The passage of time can make it harder to assess the cause of the injury, and ACC had declined cover for some of the applicant’s injuries, which the applicant sought reviews of. The applicant was greatly affected by their injuries, which interfered with their ability to work.
It was identified at a case conference that there were gaps in the medical information, that if filled, might help the process. The parties therefore agreed to conciliation. Together, the parties were able to piece together all the relevant medical information and identify and recover the missing pieces of the puzzle. This meant ACC was able to re-evaluate its stance on cover and some of the matters did not need to go on to a review hearing.
The conciliation also had the added benefit of assisting the applicant to understand how ACC makes decisions, and why it had made the decisions it did. It enabled the applicant to express how they felt about the decisions, and the impact the decisions had on their life. This helped the relationship between the two 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.