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Ngāi Tūhoe Professor Tracey McIntosh is a sociologist and Professor of Indigenous Studies and Co-Director of Wānaga o Waipapa at the University of Auckland.

Professor Michael Tarren-Sweeney is a Professor of Child and Family Psychology at the University of Canterbury.

Dallas is a survivor of abuse in State care.

This statement was read on behalf of the Human Rights Commission by Disability Rights Commissioner, Ms Paula Tesoriero.

Dr Else is a writer, researcher and editor, and wrote the first comprehensive history of post-war adoption in New Zealand from 1944-1974.

Sir Martin is a disability rights activist.

Professor Stanley will give evidence about the nature of abuse in State care based on her extensive research for the published book The Road To Hell: State Violence against Children in Postwar New Zealand.

Evidence from Sonja Cooper and Amanda Hill on behalf of Cooper Legal will address: The beginnings of the civil claims against the State for abuse in psychiatric hospitals and Social Welfare care; How the claims grew, and how the State responded – with a mixture of ‘listening’ forums and fierce, uncompromising defence in the Court; How State mechanisms such as the Courts and Legal Aid played a role in the claims process; The role of our human rights law – both national and international – in progressing the civil claims; Settlement processes both past and current, and why they are not fit for purpose; and The disadvantages experienced by many survivors, including: less access to information; fewer resources to obtain help; often poor literacy or mental health and economic circumstances which pressure them to accept amounts of compensation which do not reflect their experiences; and What they see as the way forward for the claims process as part of a larger truth and reconciliation process.

Ms O’Hagan will provide historical context of abuse in the psychiatric system, including as it relates to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, key milestones between 1950 and 1999 and the survivor movement.

Dr Stace will give a disability perspective on the road to the Royal Commission.