In 2017, Dame Susan Devoy, Race Relations Commissioner for Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, delivered a petition to New Zealand’s Parliament alongside survivors and community leaders, calling for an inquiry into state care abuses and a public apology. The name of the campaign was E Kore Anō... Never Again, and the petition contained 15,000 signatures. In 2018 the New Zealand government established the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions (the Royal Commission). (See detailed information at https://abuseinquiryresponse.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Cabinet-papers/2019-05-08-Cabinet-paper-Strategic-approach-to-Crown-engagement-with-Royal-Commission.pdf) Since 2019 a cross-agency Crown Secretariat has been funded to support research and survivors impacted as discovered by the Royal Commission. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care provided an interim report in December 2021: He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu: From Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui. (See the report at https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/reports/from-redress-to-puretumu/.) The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, coordinated by the Crown Response Unit, were two of the government agencies contributing to the Crown response to the Royal Commission. (See the details on this interim response and current updates at https://abuseinquiryresponse.govt.nz/about-us/crown-response/.) Isaac Carlson (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne) is the Director of the Crown Response Unit.
In December 2022, the Royal Commission produced a report on the abuse and neglect of children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Unit in Manawatū from 1972 to 1980. (The report Beautiful Children can be found at https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/reports/inquiry-into-the-lake-alice-child-and-adolescent-unit/.) An additional interim report, Stolen Lives, Marked Souls, focused on the abuse and neglect of children and young people of the Catholic Order of the Brothers of St John of God at Marylands School and Hebron Trust in Ōtautahi Christchurch was released in July 2023. (Download the report at https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/reports/stolen-lives-marked-souls/.) In March 2024 a Ministerial Group was established so that all the Ministers whose work relates to the care system can work together.
In June 2024 the Royal Commission reported its findings to the Governor-General. On 24 July its final report, Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, was presented to Parliament. Of the estimated 655,000 children, young people and adults in care from 1950 to 2019, it is estimated that up to 256,000 were abused and neglected. During the Inquiry period, 1950 to 1999, it is estimated around 510,000 people were in care and up to 200,000 were abused and neglected. Commissioners Coral Shaw (Chair), Dr Anaru Erueti and Paul Gibson QSO stated in the Executive Summary that State and faith-based leaders “failed in their duty” and “failed to hold abusers to account.”
The report is available at https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/reports/whanaketia. In particular, NCWNZ members should review the following summaries:
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The Women and Girls summary: https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/assets/Whanaketia/Summaries/Summary-Women-and-Girls.pdf
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The Māori survivors summary: https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/assets/Whanaketia/Summaries/Summary-Maori.pdf
When the report was tabled in Parliament, Rt Hon Christopher Luxon acknowledged the use of torture in the 1970s at the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit, and he praised Paul Zentveld and Malcolm Richards who took cases against New Zealand to the United Nations Committee Against Torture. (See his full speech here: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/pm-speech-parliament-%E2%80%93-royal-commission-inquiry%E2%80%99s-report-abuse-care.) The Prime Minister announced that Hon Erica Stanford would lead the Ministerial Group to respond to the report’s findings and the 138 recommendations. The Prime Minister also stated that he will deliver a public apology on 12 November 2024.
Nearly 3,000 people who have shared their experiences of abuse and neglect with the Royal Commission since it was established in 2018. The report includes 16 volumes of material that cover context, what happened, why it happened, specific case studies, survivor experiences and recommendations for the future. University of Auckland political science faculty member Stephen Winter wrote in a public letter: "The volumes also detail the avoidance, obfuscation and delays by those responsible for enabling, concealing and minimising that abuse. ... [The report] put it beyond doubt that New Zealand’s laws, public policies and state institutions enabled that abuse."
As part of its continuing efforts to support those impacted by the abuse in in State, faith-based, or other forms of care, the Crown Response Unit created a Survivor Experiences Service. Individuals and their families can contact the Survivor Experiences Service to organise a time and place to share their experiences: https://survivorexperiences.govt.nz/. In addition, the New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care Charitable Trust (NZCAST) offers free programmes such as educational workshops and support services for survivors and their families - see more at https://www.familyservices.govt.nz/directory/viewprovider.htm?id=26175.
To read more articles from The Circular (July-August 2024) issue 648, click on the tag below.