Gisborne’s ACC injury claims and costs region’s highest since 2021

ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker said more people were getting injured, and it was taking longer and costing more for them to recover. Photo / ACC

During 2024, more than 20,000 people from the Gisborne region made an ACC injury claim at a cost of more than $64 million.

It was the highest number of injuries since 2021 and the highest cost for injuries in the Gisborne region in the past five years, a trend that reflected a nationwide trend according to ACC.

For comparison, ACC said it accepted 20,121 injury claims from the Gisborne region at a cost of $41m in 2020.

“To put it simply, more people are getting injured, and it is taking longer and costing more for them to recover,” ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker said.

Broken down by where the injury happened, there were 13,932 active claims for home/community injuries, 4150 active claims for sport/recreation injuries, 2758 claims for work injuries and 525 claims for road injuries for a total of 21,365 active claims in 2024.

The data comes after ACC released a new annual document called “Injuries in New Zealand”, aiming to raise the collective awareness of the risk of injury.

ACC Minister Scott Simpson said “Injuries in New Zealand” will be released annually to help raise collective awareness and promote injury prevention.

The report shows that in the past 20 years, since 2004, the costs of supporting New Zealanders with injury have climbed from just under $1 billion to nearly $4.4b in 2024.

Last year, ACC provided financial support to 162,571 people who couldn’t work because of injury, paying out over 18 million days of weekly compensation. The total cost of weekly compensation in 2024 was $2.5b.

Although these injuries only represent 6% of all injuries, they account for around 60% of the cost.

Whitaker said the high number of injury claims and costs put pressure on the sustainability of the ACC Scheme.

“We want all New Zealanders to get the help and support they need when they’re injured now and for many generations to come,” he said.