Evolving the Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims
The Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims (ISSC) has been providing support to many survivors of sexual abuse and assault since 2014.
Since its introduction, the ISSC has largely achieved what was intended including increased access and participation in services and an overall improved quality of service.
On this page
What we're doing
We now find ourselves at that point again where changing needs and an ever-changing environment require us to look boldly ahead. We must think collaboratively about how we can further evolve and strengthen the delivery of services to support clients with a sensitive claim.
That's why in 2021, we embarked on a multi-pronged effort to evolve and strengthen the way we support survivors of sexual abuse and assault through the ISSC. At the heart of our efforts is engaging with our key stakeholder groups from start to finish to identify challenges and opportunities to improve outcomes for survivors of sexual violence.
Since December 2021, we've hosted several engagement activities with ISSC providers, suppliers, client advocates and representatives from professional bodies and government agencies to hear their feedback and work together on addressing key challenges.
Engagement activities
Past events
Whakarongorau Aotearoa information sessions, 28 February to 25 March 2024
Slide deck from Whakarongorau information sessions
Webinars about new Sensitive Claims Service tender for suppliers, 11 March to 13 March 2024
Slide deck for supplier webinars
Small suppliers webinar recording
Medium suppliers webinar recording
Large suppliers webinar recording
Webinar about new Sensitive Claims Service tender for providers, 20 March 2024
Slide deck for provider webinar
Training for Independence Sensitive Claims webinar, 12 December 2023
Slide deck from TI Sensitive Claims webinar
ISSC information sessions, 25 October to 5 December 2023
Slide deck from ISSC information sessions
Questions and answers from information sessions
Engagement sessions with Whakarongorau Aotearoa, 2 October to 5 October 2023
Slide deck from Whakarongorau engagement sessions
Questions and answers from Whakarongorau engagement sessions
Quarterly conversation, 28 July 2023
Summary of July 2023 quarterly conversation discussion
Engagement sessions across New Zealand, May 2023
Summary of feedback from the May 2023 ISSC engagement sessions
Answers to questions from the May 2023 ISSC engagement sessions
Quarterly conversation, 31 March 2023
Summary of March 2023 quarterly conversation discussion
Quarterly conversation, 25 November 2022
Summary of November 2022 quarterly conversation discussion
Quarterly conversation, 29 July 2022
Summary of July 2022 quarterly conversation discussion
Online hui, 9 and 18 March 2022
Key information from this hui
Summary of discussions from the 9 and 18 March 2022 hui
Frequently asked questions from the 9 and 18 March 2022 hui
Online hui, 16 December 2021
Key information from this hui
Article summarising discussion from December 2021 hui
Key themes from 16 December 2021 hui
Frequently asked questions from 16 December 2021 hui
Supplementary frequently asked questions provided prior to the hui
What's new
The tender for our new Sensitive Claims Service is now open
We are excited to announce that the tender for the new Sensitive Claims Service (formerly called the Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims - ISSC) is now open on GETS, the government electronic tender service.
We know that there will be lots of questions about the tender and the Service Schedule. All questions about the new contract or application process must be submitted on GETS. ACC staff, including Engagement and Performance Managers, and frontline staff, cannot answer questions about the procurement or application process. Please subscribe to the GETS notice and use the question function on GETS to submit your questions. This allows all questions and our responses to be viewed by all subscribers.
Whakarongorau engages the sector on design of new Waharoa
As part of our continuing partnership with Whakarongorau Aotearoa to design a more effective entryway (Waharoa) to the sexual violence response system, Whakarongorau hosted three engagement sessions in February and March 2024 about this work.
More than 50 ISSC suppliers, providers and other stakeholders participated in the sessions. During the sessions, Whakarongorau updated participants on the work done so far to design the new Waharoa, including the establishment of the Waharoa Design Working Group, who are contributing to the design.
In addition, participants were given an opportunity to provide feedback about key elements that are being considered for the design.
The detailed design efforts led by Whakarongorau will continue until June 2024. At that point, we will review the design and determine next steps.
Integrating rehabilitation services within ISSC
As we work to evolve the way we support survivors of sexual violence, we’re proposing some changes. One of them is that beginning December 2024 provider disciplines that were previously under the Training for Independence Sensitive Claims contract will move to the new Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims (ISSC) contract. The proposed list of future disciplines includes counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, physiotherapists,occupational therapists, speech language therapists, registered nurses, and dieticians.
The purpose of this proposed change is to enable ISSC clients to access talk therapy as well as rehabilitation services in a more streamlined way in the future. Under the proposed new ISSC service, clients will be able to work with their lead provider to tailor their support plan to ensure they are receiving an optimal mix of supports and treatment. These services and treatment will be delivered through packages of Tailored Support for Wellbeing.
With preparations underway to go to market with the new ISSC contract in April 2024, we wanted to make sure suppliers and providers are aware of this proposed change so they can begin to make any necessary arrangements.
What you can do:
- If you are currently a provider under the Training for Independence Sensitive Claims contract, we recommend that you ask your current supplier if they plan on tendering for the new ISSC contract. If they aren’t planning on tendering, and you’d like to continue providing services to our ISSC clients, visit Find Support - Home to find other suppliers who you may want to work with.
- If you do NOT currently provide services to our ISSC clients and would like to do so in the future, visit Find Support - Home to find suppliers who you may want to work with. To provide services to our clients, you will need to work through a supplier who holds an ISSC contract so it’s important that you begin making arrangements and establishing those relationships now.
- If you are an ISSC supplier or provider and would like to connect with current Training for Independence Sensitive Claims suppliers, see the list of existing suppliers:
Training for Independence Sensitive Claims suppliers
To learn more about this change and what it means for suppliers and providers, see the slides shared during our webinar on 12 December 2023:
Slide deck from TI Sensitive Claims webinar
Work continues to design new entryway into sexual violence response system
Earlier this year, we partnered with Whakarongorau Aotearoa | New Zealand Telehealth Services to develop a new entryway for sexual abuse survivors to access help and support. This will include a supported pathway to access the Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims (ISSC).
Currently, survivors use our Find Support website to learn about what ACC offers and to find ACC suppliers and providers. Through our extensive engagement with the sector, we realised we needed a more effective and centralised way for survivors to access support, information, tools and treatment.
As part of this work, we hosted four engagement sessions with Whakarongorau in October to obtain feedback from suppliers and providers on initial design concepts.
During the sessions, Whakarongorau shared early conceptual thinking of what the new entryway, or ‘front door’, could look like and how it could work. Over 50 people participated in the sessions, providing helpful feedback that will be considered as Whakarongorau moves on to phase 2, the detailed design phase of the new solution.
As part of the Phase 2 design work, Whakarongorau will look to engage with ISSC suppliers and providers along with other key stakeholders. Phase 2 continues through June 2024, at which point we will determine the best solution to take forward to develop and implement.
For more information about this work:
View the slide deck used at the information sessions
Recommendations from the ISSC Evolution Working Group
To support us as we evolve the delivery of our services for survivors of sexual violence, we established the ISSC Evolution Working Group in July 2022. We worked closely with this group over six months as they identified recommendations for change to be considered as part of the evolution of sensitive claims. We've consolidated their recommendations into a PDF.
Read the recommendations from the ISSC Working Group
Information about the ISSC Working Group
Learnings from our ISSC survivor survey
Last year, we surveyed survivors who received services under the Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims (ISSC) to get insights about their experience with our services and improvements they would like to see.
We are very grateful for their generous feedback and ideas. Their recommendations will help inform our efforts to further evolve and strengthen how we support survivors of sexual violence.
Improvements to Find Support website
We've updated the Find Support website to provide more information about how survivors of sexual violence can get support for a sensitive claim.
Find Support is where survivors go to find an ACC-funded therapist, which can include a counsellor, psychotherapist, psychologist, social worker, or psychiatrist. It’s also where they can learn about the support we provide under the Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims (ISCC).
We made the following additions to the site:
- information about what to expect from therapy (format and length of sessions, stages of therapy, what happens after your claim is approved)
- a glossary of common terms and phrases used throughout the ISSC process
- information about types of financial support available.
These changes were based on feedback received from our ISCC providers, suppliers, and client advocates.
Visit Find Support to view these changes and share the site with your clients
What we learnt from our ISSC provider survey
Earlier this year we invited all registered ACC providers who deliver services under the Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims (ISSC) contract to take a survey. Thank you to all who participated in our survey.
Feedback from the survey provided helpful insights from providers about the ISSC contract and what improvements they would like to see as we work to evolve and strengthen the delivery of services for survivors of sexual violence.
How survivors access support from ACC and MSD
For survivors of sexual violence their journey to recovery often begins by reaching out to Sexual Harm Crisis Support Services (Crisis Support) run by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Many then go on to access long-term care from our Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims.
Earlier this year we partnered with MSD to interview 14 service providers of both MSD’s Crisis Support and ISSC to better understand how this transition works and how clients access both services.
These interviews gave us helpful insights into a survivor’s journey across the support system and about some of the challenges impacting those who provide Crisis Support and ISSC support services. This will inform our efforts to further evolve and strengthen how we support clients with a sensitive claim, and how the sexual violence system can be better integrated to support survivors of sexual violence.
Some of the things we learnt were:
- growing demand of services from survivors of sexual violence has increased ISSC waitlists and reduced options available to survivors
- not all survivors who access crisis support services decide to seek help from ISSC.
- while suppliers seek funds to cover costs for survivor needs, existing funding may be diverted to meet longer-term survivor needs.
What is Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims
Through the ISSC we offer fully funded support, treatment and assessment services for survivors of sexual abuse or assault.
We provide support for anyone in New Zealand, including visitors to the country, who has experienced sexual violence. We may also be able to help New Zealand residents that have experienced sexual violence while travelling overseas. It doesn't matter if the event happened recently or a long time ago, ACC support services are available whenever they’re ready.
Survivors of sexual abuse or assault can access up to 14 hours of one-to-one therapy, 10 hours of social work, and up to 20 hours of whānau support before having their claim assessed for cover.
The first sessions focus on building a relationship with the therapist and deciding if they're the right fit.
For some people, a few sessions are all that’s needed. If ongoing help is needed, the therapist will work with their client to assess the level and type of support needed.
For more information and to find organisations that have therapists who can provide support, utilise the Find Support website.
If you want to offer therapy, you can apply to become a named provider on an ISSC supplier's contract.
Providing therapy for sensitive claims
ISSC terminology
We've put together a glossary to help you understand words, acronyms and phrases commonly used throughout the process of obtaining support for sexual abuse and assault.
Contact us
We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Contact us by email:
Email isscevolution@acc.co.nz