Pōwhiri for redress design and advisory group members
Kia ora koutou,
This pānui newsletter provides an update on the independent redress system, the Survivor Experiences Service and improvements to survivors’ access to records.
An update on the independent redress system
On Monday 19 June, a pōwhiri was held at Waiwhetū marae to welcome the design and advisory group members tasked with developing high-level proposals for the independent redress system. This was an historic day and as noted by the Minister for the Public Service Andrew Little, it has been a long time coming.
The Co-chairs, Annabel Ahuriri Driscoll and Ruth Jones would like to acknowledge the work of survivors who helped get to this point. “This was an important milestone, for the members and for everyone else in Aotearoa who has been waiting for a redress system. The design and advisory group members know the role they must play for those they represent,” said Ruth.
Annabel said there is a clear enthusiasm among the groups to get started. “We had a productive meeting the next day, where we talked through some of the scope of the work, the timeframes and how we want to work together.”
The design group has its first high-level design wānanga planned for Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June.
Below is a photo of the Design and Advisory Group members with Public Service Minister Andrew Little and Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds.
Survivor Experiences Service (formerly the interim listening service)
The Survivor Experiences Service will provide a safe, supportive, confidential place for survivors of abuse in care, and their whānau, to share their experiences.
On Monday 3 July the Survivor Experiences Service will be available for people who were abused in State, faith-based, or other forms of care, as well as for a survivor’s whānau.
We will send out another pānui on Monday with details about how you can contact the service.
The Survivor Experiences Service is the Government’s response to the Royal Commission’s recommendation to provide an avenue for survivors to share their experiences of abuse in care.
Records engagement
Over a five-week period from 2 May to 9 June, the Crown Response team engaged with more than 20 survivors and/or advocates to discuss improvements to survivors’ access to records. The insights from these engagements will inform our advice to the Minister and shape the collaborative design of the following work:
- new records guidance to improve the way organisations create, look after and provide access to records for survivors
- a new website to provide advice and guidance to survivors people on their rights to access and control records, how to do this and what to expect
- design for a possible records support service to help survivors with accessing records
- improved rules and advice on how long to keep records to support the information needs of survivors, care experienced people and their whānau
- cataloguing and indexing of records to make it easier to find relevant records when people request their information.
Proactive release of Cabinet papers
As a reminder, we proactively release Cabinet papers and get them translated into alternate formats.
You can find all Cabinet papers from April 2019 onwards here:
Alternate formats are available here:
If you have any questions about this pānui please email:contact@abuseinquiryresponse.govt.nz
Ngā mihi nui, Crown Response Unit