Update on the delivery of the Royal Commission's final report and when it will be public
Kia ora koutou,
On Tuesday 25 June, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care presented its final report to the Governor-General.
The report and recommendations will be made public when the report is presented to Parliament on Wednesday 24 July at 4pm.
The reason for this is that Parliament is in a recess or a break from 28 June to 22 July inclusive. Presenting the report when Parliament is back from the break gives due respect to the significant contribution of nearly 3,000 survivors who shared their experiences of abuse and neglect with the Royal Commission over the last five years. It allows survivors, whānau, families, advocates and the country to witness this historically significant event, either in person or via Parliament TV: Home - Parliament On Demand(external link)
In the meantime, the Government continues with its work programme in response to the Royal Commission’s 2021 report, He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu. From Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui.
Redress
The main recommendation was to establish a new redress system, independent of State or faith-based institutions to improve redress for survivors of abuse in care.
The Government has agreed that redress options need to be developed for further consideration before final decisions are made on the detailed work required to improve redress to survivors of abuse in care.
This work has the oversight of a Ministerial Group established in early April and made up of Ministers whose work relates to the care and redress systems. Cabinet will be making a number of key decisions over the next six months to progress this complex work.
National apology
A further recommendation from the redress report was for the Prime Minister and Governor-General to apologise to survivors of abuse in care. Planning for the delivery of a national apology is currently underway and more information about the apology event will be shared as details are confirmed.
Other work in response to the 2021 report that is already underway or completed includes:
Establishment of an interim service for survivors to share their experiences of abuse
A Survivor Experiences Service was established following the conclusion of the Royal Commission’s survivor accounts process and will operate until decisions are made about a redress system. The Service is overseen by a ministerially appointed Board comprised of survivors.
Home - Te Pae (survivorexperiences.govt.nz)(external link)
Easier records access for survivors
The Crown Response Unit and Archives New Zealand have been working on initiatives to make it easier for survivors of abuse to access their personal records while they were in care. This includes facilitating the development of a shared approach across agencies and non-State organisations on how to manage records for those in care, for example shared redaction guidance(external link) and the scope and definition of care records(external link). The Crown Response Unit is also working with the Citizens Advice Bureau to establish a website to help care-experienced people access their records.
Implementation of a rapid payment approach for survivors accessing existing claims processes
Rapid payments have been implemented by the Ministry of Social Development and are beginning to be rolled out to some survivors accessing the Ministry of Education’s Sensitive Claims.
MSD has published more information about its claims process and rapid payments:
More information:
You can read the coalition Government press release from Wednesday 26 June here: Government receives final report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care | Beehive.govt.nz(external link)
Last month’s pānui references the Ministerial Group: Records project update and Ministerial Group established | Crown response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry (abuseinquiryresponse.govt.nz)(external link)
Ngā mihi,
Crown Response Unit