The psychological impact of the Christchurch mosque killings shows the need to reform accident compensation so it covers mental as well as physical injuries, a leading ACC lawyer says.
At present, ACC does not cover mental injury unless it is accompanied by physical injury, or unless trauma was suffered in the course of a person's employment.
That meant many relatives and bystanders caught up in the horrors of the mosque attacks would fall outside ACC's scope of cover, former Dunedin ACC lawyer Warren Forster said.
"My concerns relate to how holistic and integrated care can be provided in the most effective manner possible to families and communities over directly affected by the events," he said.
"I understand that these concerns are being considered by the Government among the many issues that they currently face."
The fact that many of the people killed in the shootings were either foreign nationals or born overseas also raised issues.
"It is true that it doesn't matter where people live in relation to obtaining `cover', but cover is a separate issue from `support and entitlement'," he said.
"If the person killed lived in New Zealand and had earnings here, then the family is entitled to weekly compensation of up to 80% of that person's earnings in New Zealand and this is payable no matter where the family lives, but if the person had earnings overseas then no compensation is payable for lost earnings.
"This could mean that a family of a person who was an earner in New Zealand might receive over $1 million of weekly compensation over a period of 10-20 years, and the family of a person who was from overseas will not receive any compensation as the person had no earnings in New Zealand."
If a person injured in the shooting left New Zealand to live elsewhere, their weekly compensation would continue subject to certain conditions, but not rehabilitation payments.
A person who incurred a mental injury in the course of their work was entitled to weekly compensation, lump sum compensation, and rehabilitation, Mr Forster said.
However, anyone who volunteered to assist and experienced trauma has no cover and no entitlements.
"These people may receive treatment from the public health system and may be entitled to some financial support from the Ministry of Social Development."
Such anomalies raised concerns whether the ACC system was fit for purpose, he said.
