Defending state abuse: Follow the money
The cost to the Crown of fighting claims by victims of abuse in state care is finally revealed before a Royal Commission. Aaron Smale calculates where most of the money went
Published in Newsroom
In their words: Survivors share their experiences with the Abuse in Care Royal Commission
Last week, the Abuse in Care Royal Commission held its 500th private session with a survivor of abuse and/or neglect in the care of the State or a faith-based institution.
Many of those who shared their story chose to write a few words about the experience, some with a handwritten scrawl on a piece of paper, others through poems or mini-essays.
Published in Stuff
Royal Commission launches separate probe into Marylands abuse
Abuse of children at Marylands School in Christchurch from the 1950s to the 1980s will be the subject of a special Royal Commission investigation.
The Royal Commission looking into the abuse of children in state and religious institutions has announced it will inquire separately into events at Marylands.
Marylands was a residential school for boys, many with learning disabilities, run by Catholic brothers of the St John of God order.
The commission is asking for victims, families, staff, witnesses or anyone else with knowledge of abuse at the school to call them confidentially on 0800 222 727.
Published in Stuff
Royal Commission Seeks Information From Faith-based Abuse Survivors On Their Claims For Redress
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry is appealing for information from survivors who reported the abuse they suffered while in faith-based care and sought redress either directly from the Church or other Faith-based Institution or by filing civil proceedings in Court or the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
Published in Scoop
Sexual harm: Confronting the issue
By Prof. Tess Patterson
26 August 2019
Two survivors quit Royal Commission advisory group
Two abuse survivors have quit a Royal Commission advisory group in fallout from being unknowingly exposed to a paedophile.
The two men accuse the new chair Judge Coral Shaw of spreading misinformation about the matter, and the commission as a whole of sidelining the survivor group.
Phil Pennington reports (Morning Report).
‘You ruined me’: New Zealand’s abuse survivors speak at landmark inquiry
Survivors are given a voice at first public hearings of investigation into historical abuse of thousands of children in state and faith-based care.
On the morning Annasophia Calman is due to testify in public about a childhood destroyed at the hands of her father and the state, she eats scrambled eggs on toast and paces back and forth in the hallway outside her hotel room.
Published in The Guardian
Royal Commission hearings: Children’s Commissioner says state care has failed
The Children’s Commissioner has told the Abuse in Care Royal Commission that his office has failed to properly monitor the state care system.
Since 1989, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner has had the role of independent monitor of the practices and policies of Child, Youth and Family, which became Oranga Tamariki.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Royal Commission hearing: Psychologist says some children better off in state care
A clinical child psychologist has told the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care that children were often better off in state care than staying in families where they were abused.
The commission is currently holding hearings in Auckland.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Survivor raped multiple times in care despite concerns raised
A woman has told the Royal Commission investigating abuse in care she was moved between at least a dozen care homes and raped multiple times – all before she turned 16.
The inquiry investigating abuse in state and faith-based care heard yesterday from Dallas Pickering, who detailed publicly for the first time the violent abuse she experienced as a child.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Abuse survivors not compensated enough, Commission hears
Two lawyers who have represented more than 1000 abuse survivors have told the Royal Commission no victim has ever received adequate compensation for what they suffered.
The inquiry into abuse in state and faith-based care has entered its second week of hearings in Auckland.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Abuse in Care inquiry: Number of claimants increasing – law firm
Two lawyers who represent claimants who were abused while in state or faith-based care say the number of people who have come forward is growing.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has entered into its second week of hearings being held in Auckland.
Published in Radio New Zealand
What to expect from the long-awaited Abuse in Care Royal Commission
Analysis: A long time coming. Finally, after months of haggling over terms of reference, years of steadily growing political discussion and decades of pressure from those who experienced this vast subject first-hand, the Abuse in Care Royal Commission is ready to roll.
An avalanche of new material is in store for those whose job it will be to sift the evidence that will for the first time be publicly given at a preliminary contextual hearing in Auckland starting this Tuesday.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Abuse Inquiry: Claims of historical child rape at state-owned care institutions heard
Survivors of historical cases of child rape, violence and neglect at state-owned care institutions are being officially heard for the first time.
Witnesses on Tuesday began giving evidence at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, the biggest inquiry ever to have looked into what happened to children, young people and vulnerable adults in care between 1950 and 1999.
Keith Wiffin told the commission he was first abused aged 10 by a house master while he was at Epuni Boys Home. He’d been sent there after his father’s death left Wiffin’s mother unable to care for her four children.
Published in Stuff
Witnesses give evidence at Royal Commission inquiry into abuse in state care
Witnesses have this morning begun giving evidence at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care.
One of the first to appear will be high-profile former prisoner Arthur Taylor, who will describe the abuse he suffered in a boy’s home.
Twenty-eight people will share their experiences of being in the system between 1950 and 1999 over the coming weeks.
A final report from the inquiry is not expected until 2023.
Published in TVNZ
30 October 2019
Resignation ahead of Royal Commission public hearings
Warning: This story discusses issues related to rape and sexual violence.
As the Royal Commission of Inquiry into State Abuse begins public hearings, its survivor advisory group is in disarray. Laura Walters talks to these survivors about the ongoing issues, and why they still think others should come forward to share their stories.
On Tuesday, a group of abuse survivors will stand outside the Rydges Hotel in Auckland in a show of solidarity with others coming to share their experiences with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
They are all members of the seminal Survivor Advisory Group – a group that has been plagued with ongoing issues.
Published in Newsroom