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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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How people engaged with the Inquiry Te āhua taki a te iwi i mua o te kōwhiringa

The Inquiry engaged with:

  • survivors
  • witnesses
  • whānau
  • hapū
  • iwi
  • hapori Māori
  • rōpū Māori
  • Pacific Peoples
  • Deaf people
  • disabled people and those with mental distress
  • advocates
  • social service providers
  • people in prison
  • gang whānau
  • academic and legal experts
  • former and current government officials
  • current and former staff of care facilities, and
  • individuals and representatives from faith-based institutions.

Survivors, witness, whānau and others engaged with the Inquiry in multiple ways, on their terms. These included:

  • by providing sworn witness statements or written accounts
  • by meeting privately with a commissioner or kaitakawaenga (a representative of the Inquiry)
  • at community meetings, fono, talanoa or wānanga.

Witness statements

The Inquiry received 1,545 witness statements, including:

  • 1,176 witness statements from survivors, or on behalf of survivors
  • 171 witness statements on behalf of the State, faith-based institutions or other organisations
  • 80 witness statements from experts
  • 46 witness statements from current or former staff or caregivers
  • 65 witness statements from people who witnessed abuse and neglect
  • 7 witness statements from former members of Parliament.

Private meetings

The Inquiry held 1,630 face to face private sessions with survivors between 2019 and 2023.

Community meetings, fono, talanoa and wānanga

These included:

  • May 2023 – Wānanga with Takatāpui and Rainbow survivors and community organisations to discuss their experiences and recommendations for change
  • April-May 2023 – Meetings with survivors in prison
  • March 2023 – Wananga with rangatahi Māori survivors on their experiences, and identifying what good care looks like
  • February 2023 – Wānanga with Gang whānau held in Manukau, to discuss their experiences and recommendations for change
  • November and December 2022 – Hui with gang whānau to discuss how gang whānau could engage with the Inquiry
  • November 2022 – Wānanga with Māori survivors and experts on collective redress and recommendations for enabling iwi, hapū, whānau and hāpori to care for their own
  • October 2022 – Hui (online) with Rainbow survivors and community organisations on Rainbow experiences and recommendations for change
  • September 2022 – Talanoa with Rainbow and MVPFAFF+ Pacific survivors and experts on their experiences and intersectional identities
  • July and October 2022 – Community conversations with Deaf survivors
  • July 2022 – Regional haerenga in Tairāwhiti and Tūranganui-ā-Kiwa Gisborne to learn about wider community impacts of abuse and neglect in care, including wānanga, hui and talanoa with manawhenua and local Pacific, Deaf, disabled and mental distress communities, kaupapa Māori workers and NGOs.
  • June-July 2022 – Regional haerenga in Motupōhue Bluff and Ōtepoti Dunedin to learn about wider community impacts of abuse and neglect in care, including wānanga, hui and talanoa with manawhenua and local Pacific, Deaf, disabled and mental distress communities, kaupapa Māori workers and NGOs.
  • May 2022 – Regional haerenga in Kaikohe and Kaitāia to learn about wider community impacts of abuse and neglect in care, including wānanga, hui and talanoa with manawhenua and local Pacific, Deaf, disabled and mental distress communities, kaupapa Māori workers and NGOs.
  • April 2022 – Fono with Pacific disabled young people to discuss their experiences, intersectional identities, and recommendations for change
  • March 2022 – Fono with Pacific workers in disability and mental health care settings to discuss their experiences and recommendations for change
  • February 2022 – Fono with workers providing support to Pacific children, young people and adults in care, or recently out of care to discuss their experiences and recommendations for change
  • January 2022 – Fono with Pacific youth with recent lived experience of being in care
  • November 2021 – Fono with Pacific youth, to identify barriers to reporting for Pacific survivors, improve ethnicity recording and understand Pacific survivors’ needs
  • September and October 2021 – Wānanga on monitoring and oversight of a new redress system for survivors of abuse and neglect in care.

Notes from engagement meetings

Fono

Pacific disability youth fono April 2022

Pacific disabilities workers fono March 2022

Workers fono February 2022

Pacific youth lived experiences fono January 2022

Youth fono November 2021

Monitoring and oversight wānanga

Summary notes from monitoring and oversight wānanga 21 September 2021

Summary notes from monitoring and oversight wānanga 11 October 2021

Collective statements from wānanga to discuss the experiences of Whānau Haua and Tāngata Turi

Collective Statement of Tāmaki Makaurau Whānau Hauā [PDF, 253 KB]

Collective Statement of Tāmaki Makaurau Whānau Turi [PDF, 184 KB]

Collective Statement of Ōtautahi Tāngata Turi [PDF, 221 KB]

How people engaged with the Inquiry
  • Pacific disability youth fono April 2022
  • Pacific disabilities workers fono March 2022
  • Workers fono February 2022
  • Pacific youth lived experiences fono January 2022
  • Youth fono November 2021
  • Summary notes from monitoring and oversight wānanga 21 September 2021
  • Summary notes from monitoring and oversight wānanga 11 October 2021
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