ACC explained: New Zealand's no-fault accident cover for Australians

Get hurt in New Zealand and ACC pays for most of your treatment, no matter whose fault it was. The catch: you give up the right to sue.

The short version

• ACC (the Accident Compensation Corporation) covers everyone injured in an accident in New Zealand, including visitors and newly arrived Australians [1][7].
• It covers injuries, not illness. Flu, arthritis and most hernias are on you [3].
• Your GP, physio or hospital lodges the claim for you. You have up to 12 months to claim [2].
• If you work, ACC can pay up to 80% of your pre-injury income, usually from day 8 [4].
• In exchange, you generally can't sue the person who hurt you for compensation [6].

How ACC is different from anything in Australia

At home, who pays for an injury depends on how it happened. Hurt at work? Your employer's workers' compensation insurer. Hit by a car? The CTP scheme in your state. Tripped on a dodgy footpath? Maybe a public liability claim, often run by a no-win, no-fee lawyer. Plenty of injuries fall into gaps between those schemes.

New Zealand folded all of that into one public scheme in 1974, after a Royal Commission chaired by Owen Woodhouse recommended no-fault cover for all injuries [6]. ACC runs it "on a no-fault basis", so cover doesn't depend on who caused the accident [6]. Fall off a ladder at home, get tackled at Saturday rugby or crash your bike on Tamaki Drive: same scheme, same process.

It's paid for through several accounts. Employers and the self-employed fund the work account, earners pay a levy through PAYE, motorists pay through petrol and vehicle licensing, and the government funds the non-earners account (children, retirees, the unemployed and visitors) from general tax [6]. If you're working in Auckland, the ACC earners' levy line on your payslip is your contribution.

The trade-off: no suing for injury

Here's the part Australians find strange. Because everyone gets cover, people with personal injuries generally can't sue an at-fault party for compensation. The one narrow exception is exemplary damages, which punish truly outrageous conduct rather than compensate you [6].

So forget the no-win, no-fee injury claim culture you know from home, and don't expect a big payout if a careless driver wrecks your knee. You get treatment, rehab and income support from ACC instead.

What ACC covers and what it doesn't

Covered

ACC covers most physical injuries caused by an accident [2]:

• sprains and strains (ankles, backs, knees, shoulders)
• cuts, bruises, burns, fractures and dislocations
• dental injuries from an accident or sport
• concussion
• work-related conditions that build up over time, such as noise-induced hearing loss
• treatment injuries, where a registered health professional's treatment directly caused harm that isn't a normal side effect
• mental injury that follows a covered physical injury, a traumatic event at work, or sexual abuse or assault (through the Sensitive Claims Service) [2]

ACC can also help with getting back to normal life, which may include treatment, help at home and at work, and income support [7].

Not covered

ACC won't pay for [3]:

• illness or disease, such as measles or the flu
• stress or emotional issues, unless linked to a covered injury
• age-related conditions like arthritis
• most hernias
• injuries that happen gradually, unless your work causes them
• damage to things like glasses, hearing aids or pacemakers

For anything that isn't an injury, you're back in the normal health system. That's where your eligibility as an Australian matters (see below).

Visitors: the gaps to insure

ACC's own visitor page is blunt. It covers injuries in New Zealand but not illness, disrupted travel plans, emergency travel home, injuries in transit to or from New Zealand, or treatment once you're back home [1]. Smartraveller says the same thing and tells Australians to get comprehensive travel insurance that covers medical evacuation [10].

Making a claim: what actually happens

You don't fill out a form and post it to ACC. The health provider does it for you [7].

1. Get treated. Go to a GP, physio, urgent care clinic or hospital emergency department. For a life-threatening injury, call 111.
2. Say it was an accident. Tell the provider how and when it happened. They lodge the ACC claim on your behalf [7].
3. Get your claim number. ACC must accept the claim before it contributes to funding [7]. Keep the number for follow-up visits, physio and X-rays.
4. Pay any part charge. ACC pays providers a set contribution. Many GPs, physios and urgent care clinics charge a top-up on top of that, so ask what you'll pay before treatment.
5. Ask about time off work. If you can't work, the doctor gives you a medical certificate, which you need for weekly compensation [4].
6. Claim in time. Claims can be made up to 12 months after the injury, and ACC may consider later claims if there's a good reason [2].

ACC's claims line is 0800 101 996 if something goes wrong or you need to check on a claim [1].

Ambulances

Ambulance trips aren't automatically free for injuries. ACC covers ambulance transport within 24 hours of an injury that meets its criteria. Otherwise, St John's part charge for eligible people rose from NZ$98 to NZ$125 per call-out on 1 July 2025. Visitors who aren't eligible for publicly funded health care can face a NZ$800 charge [8]. Never let cost stop you calling 111 in an emergency, though.

Weekly compensation if you can't work

This is ACC's version of income protection, and it's generous by Australian standards.

ACC can pay up to 80% of your pre-injury income [4][6]. To qualify, you need to be an employee, self-employed or a shareholder-employee at the time of the accident, and on the day (or day before) your medical certificate says you can't do some or all of your usual work [4]. Payments usually start from day 8 after the injury, sooner in some cases such as a repeat absence for the same injury or approved surgery [4]. Payments are capped at a maximum set by ACC, so high earners won't get the full 80%.

Some employers manage work injury claims themselves, so check with your employer before applying [4].

If you move back to Australia while on ACC

ACC can keep paying weekly compensation after you move overseas, as long as an overseas doctor confirms you still need it and sends a medical certificate at least every 13 weeks [5]. Payments only go into a New Zealand bank account in New Zealand dollars, so don't close your Kiwi account [5]. But ACC won't pay for treatment or rehab while you're living outside New Zealand [5]. Once you're back in Australia, you'll be relying on Medicare and any private cover. Plan any surgery before you leave if you can.

How ACC fits with the rest of your health cover

ACC sits beside the public health system, not instead of it. For illness, your cover depends on your status [9]:

• Australian visitors (staying up to two years) can get immediately necessary public hospital treatment, prescriptions and maternity care under the Australia–New Zealand reciprocal health agreement. They can't get subsidised GP care, can't enrol with a GP practice and aren't entitled to publicly funded ambulance transport [9].
• Australians living in New Zealand for two years or more, or who can show they intend to stay that long, are eligible for all publicly funded services and can enrol with a GP [9].

That second group covers most Australians who move to Auckland under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement and plan to stay. Our guide to living in New Zealand under the Trans-Tasman arrangement explains the rest of your rights.

A few practical points:

• Medicare doesn't pay in New Zealand. The reciprocal agreement is what gets visitors into public hospitals, and it stops at the limits above.
• Travel insurance still matters for visits. ACC doesn't cover illness or getting you home [1][10].
• Private health insurance in New Zealand mostly speeds up elective surgery and specialist care. ACC already covers most injury treatment, so check what a policy adds before paying for injury extras.
• Dental injuries from an accident are covered by ACC [7], which is a nice surprise if you've paid for an Australian dentist after a footy knock.

New to Auckland and want to know which physio or after-hours clinic other Aussies use? Ask in Cooee New Zealand, our Facebook group for Australians in New Zealand.

Sources

1. If you're a visitor injured in New Zealand – ACC
2. Injuries we cover – ACC
3. Injuries we don't cover – ACC
4. Weekly compensation – ACC
5. Payments after moving overseas – ACC
6. Accident Compensation Corporation – Wikipedia
7. Getting health care and finding a doctor – Immigration New Zealand
8. Ambulance charges explained – Hato Hone St John
9. Reciprocal health agreements – Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora
10. New Zealand travel advice – Smartraveller

Keep reading

• Enrolling with a GP in Auckland: fees, waiting lists and after-hours
• Living in New Zealand under the Trans-Tasman arrangement
• Medicare when you live abroad
• Private health insurance when you move overseas