ACC review finds ‘gossipy’ culture and ‘very high-risk’ hiring practices

A 2025 audit concluded ACC’s culture is not “toxic” but identified unclear strategy, patchy leadership and a failure to consistently uphold public service standards. Photo / Supplied

An independent review of ACC’s culture has described a “gossipy” organisation with inconsistent behaviour among its leaders and “very high risk” hiring practices.

The review was commissioned by the ACC board in March after a series of news stories raising concerns about its culture and potential conflicts of interests regarding senior staff.

Led by lawyer Phillipa Muir, the review drew on feedback from around 700 current and former staff and examined more than 60 internal documents.

It concluded ACC’s culture is not “toxic” but it was far from positive, pointing to unclear strategy, patchy leadership and a failure to consistently uphold public service standards.

Staff told reviewers they suffered from “restructuring fatigue” and the organisation’s strategy and priorities were unclear and often shifting.

While many long-serving staff reported enjoying their work, others said culture “depends on your manager”.

Workers described heavy frontline workloads, reluctance to call out poor behaviour and a low level of faith in HR complaints procedures. Engagement surveys were viewed as meaningless, with staff doubting the results were ever acted on.

The report found pockets of inconsistent leadership behaviour and “a gossipy organisation with low trust in internal complaints processes”.

ACC was also found to be falling short of good practice on bullying and harassment. It lacked a standalone policy, its “Speak Up” channel was deemed inadequate and existing policies were not always followed.

Its recruitment practices also came under fire. An April 2025 internal audit rated ACC’s recruitment and onboarding as “very high risk”, citing non-contestable senior appointments, “shoulder tapping” and an over-reliance on contractors and secondments.

The review made 10 recommendations, including that the board and executive acknowledge the failings of the 2024 restructure, establishment of a standalone bullying and harassment policy, the provision of safer speak-up systems, and stronger oversight of how the organisation responds to internal and external reviews.

ACC board acting chairwoman Jan Dawson said the board accepted the finding and acknowledged where it had “fallen short”.

“We will adopt all the recommendations from this review, but we need to work through some of them in more detail and prioritise their implementation,” she said in a statement.

“Leadership accountability is central, and the board and executive are responsible for driving and modelling the changes needed.”

ACC chief executive Megan Main admitted there had been “some poor behaviours that we could have done more to address”.

“We’re committed to fostering an environment that gives our people confidence to raise concerns, knowing they’ll be responded to appropriately. We will make sure the lessons from the review are learnt and the necessary actions are implemented.”

– RNZ