NEW ZEALAND COLLECTIVE OF
ABUSED IN STATE CARE CHARITABLE TRUST
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In an innovative push to address the long-lasting impacts of state care, the New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care (NZCAST) introduces the "Healing Pathways Wananga," a pioneering series of workshops crafted specifically for survivors of state care.
In an innovative push to address the long-lasting impacts of state care, the New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care (NZCAST) introduces the “Healing Pathways Wananga,” a pioneering series of workshops crafted specifically for survivors of state care.
Abuse in care survivor Karl Tauri told Ryan Bridge the most important part is an acknowledgement of the crimes committed.
“A lot of that has not actually just been acknowledged and perpetrators haven’t been named or brought to account to the public eye really.”
Our Chairman Karl Tauri explains his journey from state care, to imprisonment, to his work with at risk youth, and his now current work with NZCAST. Karl has a passion for helping survivors move forward, and changing the future for his tamariki and moko.
The organiser of a Whanganui hui for survivors of abuse in care wants to establish a support network for people from all backgrounds and “reintroduce the element of trust”.
A new grassroots initiative aims to give survivors of abuse in state care therapeutic support, cultural education and life skills training to allow them recover and take their lives in their own hands.
Karl Tauri from the New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care or NZCAST says the Healing Pathways Wananga have been crafted specifically for survivors of state care.
Survivors of state abuse from across the country gathered at Kokiri Marae in Wellington at the weekend for the first wananga of its kind.
Although the wānanga focused on the future aspirations of survivors, the pain and anguish for some is still unbearable.
New Zealanders who were abused as children while in state care presented an open letter and petition to Parliament today calling for a public inquiry and apology.
The petition follows an open letter in February this year where several prominent New Zealanders called for a wide-ranging and public inquiry into state care abuse."
A survivor of abuse in state care says the way the Government is handling the apology is despicable.
Our Chairman Karl Tauri shares his thoughts on the children's commissioner reports and how survivors need to be more centred in their own healing.
The report cites that improvements are being made in Oranga Tamariki residences, but Karl Tauri says the same changes that they want to make today are the same ones they've been talking about for decades.
Royal Commission Report Aftermath
After the apology, many survivors were still trying to absorb what had been said and what it meant, with some saying it was a "PR stunt," some calling the speeches "hollow" and others not willing to believe the words until they saw action.
A survivor and expert of abuse in care are urging the government to announce details of a redress system by the time a national apology is given in Parliament.
For many survivors it will be hugely important to hear a Prime Minister acknowledge what they went through was wrong and apologise.
But those words will be rendered hollow if the Crown’s response does not follow through on the words.
Opinion - In a significant development, the long-awaited Royal Commission report on state care survivors was tabled in Parliament in July. It shed light on the harrowing experiences of mōrehu who endured abuse and neglect while in state care.
Survivors of abuse say it is vital that real change and accountability stem from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
Abuse in care survivor Karl Tauri told Ryan Bridge the most important part is an acknowledgement of the crimes committed.
First Person - Abuse in care is a colonial story. When I walked into the prison yard for the first time as a teenager, having never been there before - I already knew 80 percent of the men in there. We'd spent the last 11 years growing up together in state care.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will make a formal public apology at Parliament on 12 November to those who experienced abuse in state and faith-based care.
Survivors and advocates have criticised the decision to hold the government's abuse in care apology in Parliament, as it's meant hundreds have missed out on seeing it in person.
Crown cover-up? When the state turned on its victims - Newsroom
A five-part Newsroom series looks at the political and legal strategy the Crown used for decades to marginalise and defeat claims from victims of state abuse and torture.
Part 1 – When the state turned on its victims
Part 2 – Legal trickery
Part 3 – Full disclosure
Part 4 – ‘Embarrassing, not traumatic’
Part 5 – Limiting liability
Two young women who say they were abused in the care of Oranga Tamariki have called for the agency to be stripped of its responsibilities, saying resources should be managed by groups that better understand childhood trauma.
It comes as the agency told the Herald it has a “bold plan” to relinquish “at least” half of its funding to community and iwi partners.
Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry: Redress scheme’s compensation plans remain unclear
While the Government is yet to reveal its plans around financial compensation for survivors of abuse and neglect in care, an independent inquiry has given clear direction, including that payouts are comparable with Australia’s where some survivors have received millions.
Government’s work for survivors of abuse in care continues
The Government continues progress on the survivor-led independent redress system for historic abuse in care, with the announcement of the design and advisory group members today.
Survivors have largely or completely covered the cost of travelling to Parliament to see the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care tabled on Wednesday.
Ryder (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Tuwharetoa Ki Kawerau) is among Māori survivors who will greet today's national apology to them and others abused in state and faith-based care with ambivalence, a little hostility, and with both eyes fixed on what the government does next.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has addressed the survivors of abuse gathered at Parliament and watching from around the country, acknowledging horrific heartbreak.
Here is the full text of the prime minister's address on Tuesday:
The Government will make a “rapid payment” of $20,000 to terminally ill Lake Alice abuse survivors.
The payments would be available to persons who were 17 years old or under and placed in the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit between 1972 and 1977.
Ahead of next month’s national apology for abuse in care victims, some advocates say survivors have been “ghosted” or drawn to unrealistic payout expectations.
The state cannot replace or replicate the home. I absolutely believe this; I believe it because I've lived in state care 'homes', and I've also heard the same lived-experience of state care echoed throughout my survivor network.
Everyone knows that abuse in care didn't just stop in 1999 - there wasn't just a magical line drawn that meant no one was ever being abused again.
Maori survivors of abuse in state care hope for action | RNZ
Maori survivors of abuse in state care, hope the Royal Commission of Inquiry's report doesn't just end up gathering dust. Maori news reporter, Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira, filed this story.
Opinion - In a significant development, the long-awaited Royal Commission report on state care survivors was tabled in Parliament in July. It shed light on the harrowing experiences of mōrehu who endured abuse and neglect while in state care.
Royal Commission Report
Aotearoa New Zealand's biggest and costliest inquiry to date, with nearly $170 million in funding so far, its recommendations were delivered to Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden at the end of May.
The “astronomical” financial ramifications of abuse in state care is estimated to have cost New Zealand more than $200 billion since the 1950s, with the current system labelled a “monumental taxpayer-funded investment in failure”.
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry's 3000-page final report has been made public on Wednesday afternoon, laying bare the scale of failure of the state and churches to protect New Zealand's most vulnerable.
The long-awaited report of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission, six years in the making, has been released this afternoon.
Abuse in care: 'Devastating' cost to survivors, 'stain' on society
Almost a third of people in state and faith-based institutions between 1950 and 2019 were abused, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has found, describing it as a “disgrace” and a “stain” on the national character.
Triggering a public inquiry into historic abuse in state care — the New Zealand story
For the last twenty years, care leavers, Maori and disability groups in New Zealand have been calling for an independent investigation into the root causes of systemic failings in the country’s care system.
Up to 253,000 people are estimated to have been abused in care in New Zealand between 1950 and 2019, with the number of people passing through care judged to be six times higher than previously thought.
The inquiry detailed the scale of the abuse and neglect that occurred in the care of New Zealand state and faith-based institutions from 1950 to 2019.And through its 138 recommendations, it has provided a clear pathway to help put right the deep harm done to survivors.
About Survivors
Survivors of abuse in New Zealand's psychiatric system say they were tortured by state employees at state-owned and -operated institutions, and they want the government to recognise it.
A survivor of Lake Alice's notorious child and adolescent unit has been stuck in life-threatening limbo, waiting for a heart operation for the past 17 days.
The hold-up was proving stressful, he said, bringing back memories of Lake Alice, and prompting frustration about the continued wait for compensation.
Police have identified more than 130 former patients of the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital's child and adolescent unit who received electric shocks to their genitals or as punishment, rather than treatment.
A man abused repeatedly over a two-week period in a state-run boys’ home when he was 13 years old says the $26,500 he has been offered as settlement is “insulting”.
Survivors of abuse in state care are heading to court to challenge the plan the Ministry of Social Development has set up to compensate abuse cases.
Survivors of abuse in New Zealand's psychiatric system say they were tortured by state employees at state-owned and -operated institutions, and they want the government to recognise it.
A survivor of Lake Alice who is set to have an inequitable redress payment fixed says he is disappointed the reimbursements are not being adjusted for inflation.
Māori disproportionately affected by state and faith-based care abuse
Māori were disproportionately impacted and over-represented in cases of abuse and neglect within state and faith-based institutions, one of Aotearoa's most extensive inquiries has found.
A survivor of Lake Alice who is set to have an inequitable redress payment fixed says he is disappointed the reimbursements are not being adjusted for inflation.
Survivors of abuse at New Zealand's former deaf schools say next week's government apology will mean nothing without prosecutions against staff and fellow students who carried out physical and sexual attacks
Two men have told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care's Māori hearings how their lives spiralled out of control after they were put into state care in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Government is causing more harm with its plan to limit the number of people who can attend the national apology for abuse in state care, survivors say.
Faith Based Care
Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple delivered an apology to the community on behalf of the church on Sunday. He said the organisation acknowledged that abuse happened within its community between 1950 and 1999.
The government and a vast majority of faith-based institutions have missed a key deadline recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
The Catholic Church has apologised again to survivors of abuse in its care, accepting most of the Royal Commission's findings but not fully accepting several others.
Former members of the community have questioned the legitimacy of the apology, labelling it as “pathetic”, saying: “actions speak louder than words.”
An abuse survivors’ network says the state is still protecting religious institutions where abuse was covered up.
Jehovah's Witnesses have failed in an eleventh hour attempt to block part of a lengthy report about abuse in care that is about them.
The government and a vast majority of faith-based institutions have missed a key deadline recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
Redress, tangible compensation critical for those abused in state, faith-based care
This week the commission resumes its historical examination of faith-based institutions managed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and, in particular over the coming few days, the Salvation Army.
The former lead psychiatrist at the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital's child and adolescent unit died in January without facing justice or action from a professional body despite allegations against him emerging decades ago.
Other Care Providers
A former staff member of St Bede’s College in Christchurch, a state-integrated Catholic school for boys, faces charges of sexually abusing four boys in the past and is before the courts.
A trial is underway in Auckland over alleged historical abuse at a home for vulnerable boys in state care, once housed within a rundown part of the former Kingseat psychiatric hospital.
A 74-year-old former Dilworth teacher and housemaster has been sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment for historic sexual abuse of students in the early 1980s, as well as abuse of children after his tenure at the Auckland boarding school.
Dilworth independent inquiry releases report into historical abuse at school
An independent inquiry into historical abuse at Auckland's Dilworth boys school has described a "catalogue of damage and injustice".
Browne was Dilworth School's chaplain from 1980 to 2006, and was was also the Vicar of the Anglican Parish of Manurewa until he was charged. He was one of 11 men linked to Dilworth School initially charged with historical sexual abuse, and will be sentenced on 2 December.
A trial is underway in Auckland over alleged historical abuse at a home for vulnerable boys in state care, once housed within a rundown part of the former Kingseat psychiatric hospital.
A couple were paid to care for four vulnerable children in the care of Oranga Tamariki but instead used repeated violence. The Luxtons, both aged 54, worked for The Dingwall Trust, which is employed by Oranga Tamariki to provide caregivers.
Dilworth School, reeling from the fallout of staff convicted of child sex offences and a societal reckoning over historical abuse, has set aside $43.7 million for redress to people believed to have suffered serious physical and sexual harm during their time as students.
Eleven men linked to Dilworth School have been charged over historical assault, totalling over 50 separate charges.
The Auckland boarding school said any survivor of abuse committed by a Dilworth representative or student, as well as families of deceased survivors, could apply for compensation.
A convicted sex offender who abused multiple young boys at Dilworth School has died shortly after being granted compassionate release from prison.
Former staff members describe 'toxic' culture at Dingwall Trust, which cares for vulnerable children
A trust that provides caregivers to some of the country’s most vulnerable children has been described by former staff members as a toxic workplace where a complaint of child abuse was “swept under the carpet”.
Today a damning report released following an independent inquiry found successive boards failed over many years to prevent serious physical and sexual abuse of its students.
Survivors of abuse at Auckland's Dilworth School have presented a petition calling for mandatory reporting of abuse at the royal commission inquiry today.
"The petition is asking the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry to recommend to the New Zealand Government the implementation of the Dilworth Law,"
