Skip to main content Skip to navigation within this section
Abuse in Care - Royal Commission of Inquiry

Abuse in Care - Royal Commission of Inquiry

This Royal Commission is an independent inquiry into abuse in state care and in the care of faith-based institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand.

0800 222 727 or Text 8185

Weekdays 8:30am - 4:30pm

Share your experience Kōrerotia mai tō wheako
  • About the Royal Commission Mō te Kōmihana a te Karauna
    • What the Royal Commission is about
    • How it works
    • Te Tiriti o Waitangi
    • Te Taumata
    • Survivor Advisory Group
    • Terms of Reference
    • Working with Māori
    • Our people
    • Deaf community
    • Pacific community
    • Disability and Mental Health community
  • Our inquiries Ā mātou uiui
    • Faith-based Institutions Response
    • State Institutional Response
    • Disability and mental health
    • Foster Care
    • Māori experiences
    • Pacific peoples experiences
    • State and faith-based redress
    • Children's State residential care
    • State psychiatric care
    • Protestant and Other Faiths
    • Catholic Church
    • Youth Justice care
  • Our progress Kauneketanga
    • Reports
    • News
    • Timeline
    • Document Library
    • Latest updates
    • Engagement
  • Get involved Kia whai wāhi mai
    • Sharing your experience
    • Sharing your experience from prison
  • For survivors Mā ngā purapura ora
    • Getting help and support
    • Legal assistance
    • Questions and answers
    • Survivor stories
    • Easy Read
    • Complaints Process
Quick Exit
Korimako2
  • Home
  • Our progress
  • Reports
  • (English) He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu.
  • Volume 1
  • 2.3 The Crown redress response
  • Summary of findings
Listen

Summary of findings

We find that in developing a response to allegations of abuse in care, the Crown:
  • adopted a strategy aimed primarily at managing financial and legal risk, rather than ensuring survivors were fairly treated
  • failed to recognise, investigate or respond to signs of systemic abuse and systemic failures
  • failed to consider its obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi, and those under international human rights conventions.
We find that Crown Law:
  • developed an overly adversarial culture in abuse in care cases, and lost sight of the people behind the claims who were abused while in the State’s care.
We find that the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and Oranga Tamariki: 
  • developed out-of-court claims processes in an ad hoc, reactive and siloed way
  • have not provided fair and consistent redress for abuse in care
  • failed to provide an independent means for survivors to have their claims of abuse in care resolved
  • did not involve survivors, particularly Māori survivors, in the design and operation of their claims processes
  • failed to adequately take into account the Crown’s te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations in their claims processes, or incorporate tikanga Māori in them
  • failed to consider international human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in designing their redress processes
  • failed to provide redress that is accessible to Deaf and disabled people, or adequately consider the accessibility of their claims processes
  • have no principled basis for determining the size of financial payments made in their claims processes
  • have been too slow in considering the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 when they consider claims 
  • except for the Ministry of Social Development, have not published sufficient information about their claims processes and how they assess claims
  • do not take into account the impact of abuse on survivors’ whānau and communities, or intergenerational harm in their responses to abuse in care
  • have not adequately investigated systemic causes of abuse to prevent further abuse in care.

 

Next: 2.4 Faith-based institutions' processes

2.3 The Crown redress response
  • Background to the Crown’s approach
  • The mindset of the Crown
  • How the Crown responded
  • Result of the Crown strategy - Crown’s court successes deter prospective claimants
  • State agencies’ out-of-court claims processes
  • Problems with State agencies’ claims processes
  • Summary of findings

So far, more than 2,644 survivors have shared their experience. Join them. Ā mohoa nei, neke atu i te 2,644 purapura ora kua kōrero mai i ō rātou haerenga. Hono mai.

We cannot make any findings, reach conclusions or make recommendations without hearing the voices of those who have the lived experience of state or faith-based care.

Share your experience Kōrerotia mai tō wheako
Phone 0800 222 727 or Text Message on 8185 contact@abuseincare.org.nz
Connect with us
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on LinkedIn

  • Privacy policy
  • Terms
  • Accessibility
  • Jobs
  • Media
  • Contact us

  • Mō te Kōmihana a te Karauna About the Royal Commission
    • What the Royal Commission is about
    • How it works
    • Te Tiriti o Waitangi
    • Te Taumata
    • Survivor Advisory Group
    • Terms of Reference
    • Working with Māori
    • Our people
    • Deaf community
    • Pacific community
  • Ā mātou uiui Our inquiries
    • Māori experiences
    • Pacific People's experiences
    • Disabled peoples experience
    • State and faith-based redress
    • State psychiatric care
    • Children's State residential care
    • Anglican Church
    • Catholic Church
  • Kauneketanga Our progress
    • Latest updates
    • Reports
    • News
    • Timeline
    • Document Library
  • Kia whai wāhi mai Get involved
    • Sharing your experience
    • Sharing your experience from prison
  • Mā ngā purapura ora For survivors
    • Getting help and support
    • Legal assistance
    • Questions and answers
    • Survivor stories

© 2023 Abuse in Care - Royal Commission of Inquiry