ACC announces chief executive Megan Main won’t seek reappointment; News comes as organisational change looms

ACC chief executive Megan Main believes the right plan is in place for the state insurer to deliver for Kiwis.

Megan Main won’t seek to be reappointed as Accident Compensation Corporation’s chief executive once her five-year term ends in November 2026.

ACC made the announcement today, as the Government is due to unveil its response to a review of the state insurer before Christmas.

ACC chairwoman Jan Dawson thanked Main for her service.

“Megan joined ACC at a time when performance had been declining for many years,” Dawson said.

“Under Megan’s leadership, we are now seeing significant and sustained improvement in rehabilitation rates and financial performance. Megan will leave ACC with the right momentum in place to continue this positive trajectory.”

The Government has been urging ACC to be more scrupulous to put a lid on soaring claims costs.

For some months, it has been sitting on a report on ACC’s claims management processes, which it got actuaries at Finity Consulting to do.

ACC Minister Scott Simpson is expected to unveil changes to the way the insurer operates, on the back of the report, next week.

He recognised Main had led the organisation “during a period of significant change and scrutiny”.

“Megan has remained focused on delivering the core roles of ACC,” Simpson said.

“Megan has worked with the board and partners to improve client outcomes and strengthen service delivery. Recent results are promising.”

ACC has been making headlines for taking a tougher approach towards moving claimants off support.

In July, it committed to halving the annual growth rate of the pool of people it supports for more than a year (via weekly compensation) from 13% in 2023/24 to 6.6% in 2025/26, and to 3.8% the following year.

With ACC registering more than two million claims in 2023/24, it aims to slow its overall claims growth so that it no longer surpasses population growth.

The cost of ACC has been making it harder for the Government to follow through on its commitment to get its books back in surplus. Indeed, it has gone so far as to create a new, rosier measure of its surplus/deficit that excludes the impact of ACC.

Main said that serving as chief executive had been a “huge privilege”.

“I’m proud of the performance improvements we’ve collectively achieved in this time, and I’m confident that we’ve got the right plan to set ACC up to deliver even better outcomes for New Zealanders into the future,” she said.

“I am grateful to work alongside such dedicated people who care deeply about ACC’s purpose. ACC has been a big part of New Zealand for over 50 years, and I wish ACC every success for the next 50.”

The ACC board will start recruiting for a new chief executive. Main will continue working with the board to ensure a smooth transition.

She took up the role under the Labour Government in November 2021.

Before that, Main was instrumental in running the managed isolation regime during the pandemic, as an executive at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.

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