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.

  • Reports Ngā pūrongo
    • Whanaketia
    • Stolen Lives, Marked Souls
    • Beautiful Children: Inquiry into the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit
    • He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu from Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui
    • Tāwharautia: Interim Report
    • Administrative Report
  • Survivors Ngā purapura ora
    • Survivor experiences
    • Survivor videos
    • Getting help and support
  • Research and engagement Rangahau me ngā tūhonhono
    • How people engaged with the Inquiry
    • Public hearings
    • Research
    • Evidence library
  • Background material Ngā raupapa tuara
    • About the Royal Commission
    • Inquiry team
    • Advisory groups and reference groups
    • Quarterly reports
    • Timeline
    • Questions and answers
    • Pānui
    • News
  • Document library Kohinga tuhinga
    • Document library
    • Case studies
    • Recommendations
    • Summaries and guides
Quick Exit
Beautiful Children
  • Home
  • Reports
  • Beautiful Children: Inquiry into the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit
Listen

Beautiful Children: 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.

Full Report - Beautiful Children. Inquiry into the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit (PDF)

Full Report - Beautiful Children. Inquiry into the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit (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
Site Logo Light
Connect with us
  • Find us on Facebook


    • Legal Menu
      • Privacy policy
      • Terms
      • Accessibility
      • Contact us
    • Ngā pūrongo Reports
      • Whanaketia
      • Stolen Lives, Marked Souls
      • Beautiful Children
      • He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu
      • Tāwharautia: Pūrongo o te Wā
      • Administrative report
    • Ngā purapura ora Survivors
      • Getting help and support
      • Questions and answers
      • Survivor stories
    • Rangahau me ngā tūhonhono Research and engagement
      • How people engaged with the Inquiry
      • Public hearings
      • Research
    • Te tuara me tōna raupapa Background and material
      • About the Royal Commission
      • Inquiry team
      • Advisory Groups and Reference Groups
      • Quarterly reports
      • Timeline
      • Pānui
    • Kohinga tuhinga Document library
      • Document Library
      • Case studies
      • Recommendations
      • Summaries and guides

    © 2025 Abuse in Care - Royal Commission of Inquiry