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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.

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Inquiry into the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit Te Uiui o te Manga Tamariki me te Rangatahi ki Lake Alice

More than 40 years on, the recollections of survivors, ngā purapura ora, remain as vivid and raw as ever of their experiences of the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital. This case study examines the torture, tūkino (abuse, harm and trauma) and neglect suffered by children and young people admitted, often for no good reason, to Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital’s child and adolescent unit from 1972 to 1980.

To protect the integrity of a related criminal trial, the Minister of Internal Affairs has directed that a small number of temporary redactions be made to this report. Following the trial, the redacted words will be reinstated and the report will be released in full.

Full Lake Alice Report at 15 Dec 2022 (PDF)

Full Lake Alice Report at 15 Dec 2022 (WORD document)

  • Executive Summary - Electronic Braille (.brf)
  • Easy Read - Lake Alice Inquiry (PDF)
  • Large Print - Executive Summary (PDF)
  • Simplified English - Executive Summary (PDF)
  • Executive Summary and Findings - Te Reo Māori (PDF)
  • Executive Summary - Cook Islands Māori (PDF)
  • Executive Summary - Samoan (PDF)
  • Executive Summary - Niuean (PDF)
  • Executive Summary - Tongan (PDF)
  • Executive Summary - Tokelauan (PDF)
  • Ngati Apa Report (PDF)

 

  • He karakia timatanga
  • Sensitive to a smile
  • He mihi
  • Acknowledgements
  • Content Warning
  • Executive Summary
  • Summary of findings
  • Timeline
  • 1.1.1 Ngā Wairiki me Ngāti Apa
  • 1.1.2 Mental health and disability in Te Ao Māori
  • 1.1.3 Western attitudes toward mental health and disability
  • 1.1.4 Background to the development of psychiatric care in
  • 1.1.5 Role of the Social welfare system
  • 2.1.1 Establishment of the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit
  • 2.1.2 Children and young people at Lake Alice
  • 2.1.3 The claimed approach at the unit lacked
  • 2.1.4 Aversion therapy by electric shock: A form of torture
  • 2.1.5 Beyond electric shocks: Survivor experience of abuse at Lake Alice
  • 2.1.6 Complaints of abuse to responsible agencies
  • 2.1.7 External scrutiny and closure of the unit
  • Bryon Nicol
  • Mr DT
  • Hake Halo
  • 2.2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2.2 Impacts of abuse on every aspect of survivors’ lives
  • 2.2.3 Effects on spiritual wellbeing
  • 2.2.4 Effects on cognitive and mental health
  • 2.2.5 Physical effects
  • 2.2.6 Effects on whānau health
  • 2.2.7 Effects on education and employment
  • 2.2.8 Interaction with the criminal justice system
  • 2.2.9 Stigma of Lake Alice and impact on mana
  • 2.3.1 Lake Alice - Introduction: Understanding systemic abuse at Lake Alice
  • 2.3.2 Wider system – towards institutionalisation
  • 2.3.3 Legal requirements for admission and treatment
  • 2.3.4 Systemic abuse at Lake Alice
  • 2.3.5 Lack of safeguarding
  • 2.4.1 Introduction
  • 2.4.2 Ombudsman investigation and commission of inquiry
  • 2.4.3 District inspector inquiry, 1977
  • 2.4.4 First NZ Police investigation, 1977
  • 2.4.5 Investigations by medical professional bodies, 1977
  • 2.4.6 Court action and settlements
  • 2.4.7 External and disciplinary bodies from the 1990s
  • 2.4.8 Further NZ Police investigations
  • 2.4.9 Aotearoa New Zealand’s obligations under torture convention
  • Sharyn Collis and Amy Bethune
  • Conclusion
  • Endnotes
  • He karakia whakamutunga
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