Way Finders is undergoing a major upgrade to our Client Management System * November 29th to Dec 3rd 2024*.

Please be aware of the following times of service disruption while we get this set up and installed:

  • Friday the 29th November: we will closed.
  • Monday Dec 2nd morning: we will be closed.
  • Monday Dec 2nd afternoon and Tuesday Dec 3rd: we will be operational, but may have reduced capacity to respond to queries on these days.
  • By Wednesday 4th Dec we should be up and running as usual, but we might have a little bit of backlog to attend to.

Thank you for your patience during this time and also during the time following this, as our team get used to using a new system.

What you can expect when you contact us

You have come to the right place.

We are a navigation service. We listen to your story and together with you, we work out how you may wish to approach your ACC issue.

We are not an advocacy service and do not do all the work on your behalf. However, at times we can contact ACC on your behalf to facilitate the next steps or get the pathway cleared, for you to take back control of your situation.

Think of your ACC journey as climbing a mountain. We can give you the right tools, guidance, and equipment. We can come alongside you for the journey and show you the right direction, but we cannot climb the mountain for you.

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A man in a green shirt, smiling while looking at a laptop. He is wearing headphones with a mic and he has his hand up to the mic.
A mother surrounded by 3 children

Our service is FREE!

There are no hidden fees or costs to engaging with us.

We’re not ACC

We are totally independent from ACC, therefore our advice is impartial.

Jargon-free service

We commit to talking in plain language and explaining the ACC jargon.

Use us without limit

There is no limit to how many times you can contact us, and you are welcome to get back in touch as more queries arise.

We’re always available

If you email us, or you don’t get to speak to us straight away when you call, we aim to get back to you within two working days.

Virtual meetings

Once we have made initial contact with you, you may prefer to have a virtual meeting via Zoom or Teams, and we can set this up.

Bring a support person!

You are welcome to have a support person, or third party attend these virtual meetings to help recall what was discussed as we do not routinely record these ourselves.

Regardless of difficulty, we’re here all the way

Your contact and query may be able to be resolved within one call to us, especially if it is a simple matter of confirming an ACC process or getting started on your ACC journey. If it is complex, we will stay with you throughout your journey.

We can help you find your way
through the ACC system.

Understanding ACC decisions and seeking support

To help you with your ACC-related query, we may request:

A copy of the ACC decision letter

If your contact or query is related to a decision that ACC has issued that you do not understand, or do not agree with, we may ask to see the letter that ACC has sent you with the decision – this is called the ‘ACC decision letter’.

Further clarifying information

A copy of the internal guidance document used by ACC to make their decision

In almost every instance when ACC ‘says no’ (issues a decline letter), we will also request that you obtain from ACC, and share with us, a copy of the document that ACC used to form the basis of their decision. This document is called ‘the internal guidance document’. We use this document to help us understand ACC’s line of thinking and it guides us to provide the best response to you. It is important that we use the correct names of the forms and documents that ACC uses, so that we get the right information to help you. Read more about this document here.

We may need to gather this information through multiple calls and contacts. We can provide a summary email outlining our discussion and recommended next steps.

Additionally, we can:

Consult with ACC on your behalf with your permission (requires completing an 'Authority to Act' form)

Prior to any conversation we will ask for ‘Authority to Act’ on your behalf, which involves filling in a simple form and sending it back to us. Your navigator will explain the very easy process to you. Once we have completed your support, we will ask ACC to remove the Authority to Act form.

Support you in certain meetings with ACC

We can, in exceptional circumstances be your support at special meetings, often known as such things as ‘formal review hearings’ and ‘conciliated meetings’ in the ACC world.

Assist with preparing for meetings and provide guidance on what to present and how to do so.

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Your Information and Your Privacy

Your privacy matters to us. We take your privacy and handling any information you give us with the utmost of care and respect. We have a strong privacy policy and we have strong systems and processes in place that we review regularly to endeavour to ensure privacy breaches remain at zero. You can read our Privacy Statement here. In a nutshell, we treat any information you give in the strictest of confidence and ensure our practices and processes are fully compliant with the principles of the Privacy Act 2020. If you feel we have breached your privacy in any way, we take this matter extremely seriously and urge you to fill in a complaints form so that we can thoroughly investigate what has happened.

Learn more
View our Privacy Statement

Accessibility

Our services are primarily offered virtually. What matters to you matters to us in regard to how your needs are met. We aim to provide accessible services by identifying and breaking down barriers to ensure access is as simple as it can be. We can arrange interpreters for you, or deliver our services through a different means which suits you better (such as a virtual video meeting via Zoom for example). Please let us know what your needs are and we will see what we can do to accommodate these.

If you have any feedback about how we can make our services even more accessible, please let us know using our suggestions form.

If you feel we have fallen short of your expectations

It is our desire to deliver exceptional, personalised service to every person, every time. We understand trying to find your way around a big organisation like ACC can be hard, and that is why we exist. Although we can’t guarantee that you will get the result from ACC that you were hoping for every time, as sometimes that just isn’t possible, we do hope that our team can help you understand things better and feel more able to move forward with the knowledge you now have.

Have you got a suggestion that could help make our services better? Did we fall short of your expectations in some way? Please let us know.

If you feel that we have missed the mark and let you down in any way with our service to you, we strongly urge you to talk to us so that we can aim to improve our services to you.

You can do this by simply speaking with any navigator, or, you may wish to lodge a formal complaint.
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To do this, please use this form and tell us what has happened. We will investigate this thoroughly in line with our complaints procedure, and keep you informed during the whole process.
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You can use the same form to leave us suggestions or feedback too – think of it as a virtual ‘Make a suggestion’ box!

Let's have a conversation
View our Privacy Statement