Statement from Redress Design Group Co-chairs
The following is a statement from Redress Design Group Co-chairs Dr Annabel Ahuriri-Driscoll (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kahungunu) and Ruth Jones QSM (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata)
Survivors have been waiting a long time for redress, particularly those who have lobbied for and engaged with the Royal Commission since its inception.
It is a privilege to be appointed to the role of Co-chairs of the redress design group. We are both very mindful of the significance of the job ahead of us and the importance of getting it right.
Our Co-chair model is one of working together to ensure those survivor voices from the Royal Commission are carried through in various ways. This includes the fact the design group and the advisory group will both be heavily survivor-focused, with a range of survivor experiences and advocacy reflected across the groups.
It will be our role to ensure the insights, experiences, aspirations, professional expertise and skills of the design and advisory group members are reflected and realised in the design process.
This means as Co-chairs we will listen, facilitate, guide and direct to ensure the voices of all survivors from all backgrounds are heard and incorporated into the design work and high-level proposals.
We are currently in the process of forming and establishing the foundations for the design process, with support from the Crown Response Unit. The process will involve the design group meeting regularly and intensively, seeking feedback and input from the advisory group, and then delivering high level design recommendations to the Minister. Following that, there will be more detailed design work undertaken before implementation.
We want to get the process right, guided by what is tika from a Māori perspective, including embedding Te Tiriti, and also for all survivors around the table and their peers, communities and networks, to give us confidence that the end results will also be tika.
Note
Ruth is a member of the independent Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board, appointed by the Minister for Children to directly provide independent advice and assurance to him on progress by Oranga Tamariki on its transformation journey. The Board is not involved in Oranga Tamariki operational matters, nor does the Board work for Oranga Tamariki.