The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has released its final report on the abuse and neglect of an estimated 200,000 people while in state or faith-based care in Aotearoa. It makes 138 recommendations that, if accepted, could have far-reaching consequences.

After six years and many delays, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has released its findings in a 3,000-page, 16-part report into the abuse and neglect of an estimated 113,000 to 253,000 children, young people and adults at state and faith-based care facilities in Aotearoa between 1950 and 1999. 

Described by prime minister Christopher Luxon as “horrific and harrowing”, the report contains 138 wide-reaching recommendations to ensure the prevention of abuse and neglect in Aotearoa’s care facilities, provide ongoing support for survivors and their whānau, and overhaul our legal system to properly address the complexities of abuse experienced in care.

The first recommendation in the final report asks the government and faith-based institutions to implement without delay the 95 recommendations laid out in the commission’s 2021 interim redress report (He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu: From Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui), which cover the establishment of a redress, or puretumu torowhānui, scheme. Recommendation eight states that faith-based and indirect state care providers must join the scheme, and recommendation 10 says the scheme should be backdated to December 2021 and cover all survivors, including those who have already been through redress processes. 

These are the other key recommendations from the inquiry, which, if the government chooses to accept them, could have far-reaching consequences for Aotearoa.  

Apologies 

Recommendations two to four call for public acknowledgements and apologies to be made by the prime minister and key leaders of multiple faith-based, charitable and educational organisations, as well as government departments. The prime minister’s national apology should be made to all survivors of historical abuse and neglect in the care of the state, as well as including specific apologies to a range of groups. Before the report’s release, Luxon announced he would deliver a formal apology in parliament on November 12. He has referred to the contents within the report as “a shameful part of our history.”

The report asks that all apologies be developed and agreed upon by a representative group of survivors, and be consistent with the inquiry’s redress report in terms of following the puretumu torowhānui scheme and holistic redress recommendations. The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus has collated a full list of key figures and organisations who have been asked to apologise.

Streets and public amenities named after proven perpetrators to be reviewed

The fifth recommendation calls for a review of “streets, public amenities, public honours or any memorials named after, depicting, recognising or celebrating a proven perpetrator of abuse and neglect in care and/or an institution where proven abuse and neglect took place”. 

Steps to change names should be considered, as well as other steps to address trauma caused to survivors by the memorialisation of a perpetrator.

NZ Police investigations

Recommendations six and seven suggest NZ Police should open or reopen criminal investigations where allegations have not yet been investigated, or where new information has arisen. State, faith-based and indirect care providers and institutions should provide assistance to police to ensure impartial and independent investigations, and provide appropriate redress to survivors. 

Recommendation 35 says NZ Police should amend investigation guidelines and establish a specialist unit dedicated to investigating and prosecuting those responsible for historical or current abuse and neglect in state and faith‐based care.

Compensation

In the 2021 redress report, the commission recommended the government enact civil litigation reforms that would allow survivors to seek compensation through the courts even if their injury was covered by ACC, as well as amending other limitation provisions on survivors pursuing civil claims. Recommendation 11 in the final report states that if the government chooses not to enact these reforms, it should amend ACC to provide tailored compensation for survivors, who should be “fairly and meaningfully compensated for all direct and indirect losses flowing from the abuse and neglect they experienced in care”.

Recommendation 21 suggests that all whānau members of survivors should receive a $10,000 payment to prevent further intergenerational harm caused by abuse in care. Many stories shared by survivors in the report detail broken relationships between parents who spent time in care and their children.

Investigation into unmarked graves and urupā

Recommendation 19 suggests the government should appoint an independent advisory group to investigate unmarked graves and urupā at the sites of former psychiatric and psychopaedic hospitals, social welfare institutions or other relevant sites. The report references thousands of unmarked graves across Aotearoa that could hold victims of state care abuse, with estimates of 1,000 Sunnyside hospital patients buried at Christchurch’s Sydenham Cemetery, the majority in unmarked graves; 1,840 Porirua Hospital patients buried in unmarked graves at Porirua Cemetery; hundreds at Tokanui Cemetery Hospital south of Te Awamutu; and hundreds of patients from Cherry Farm and Seacliff buried at Waitati Cemetery in Otago.

Order of the Brothers of St John of God, Lake Alice and Gloriavale

Recommendations 11 and 12 ask the bishop of the Catholic diocese of Christchurch to ask for regular notifications of new reports of abuse and neglect relating to the Order of the Brothers of St John of God, a Catholic order that was the focus of an individual inquiry report over several institutions it ran where abuse was particularly prevalent, and to make survivors of abuse at those institutions aware of the redress scheme.

Recommendation 18 asks the government to appoint an independent person to review the fairness of previous Lake Alice settlements (the government paid out $6.5m to 97 survivors in 2001).

Recommendation 88 asks the government to take all practicable steps to ensure the ongoing safety of those in care at Gloriavale.

Legislative changes

Amendments are suggested to various laws, including the Sentencing Act 2002, Crimes Act 1961 and Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, to take into account the vulnerability of groups overrepresented among survivors when considering aggravating factors in offending, to make survivors aware of the right to seek redress, and to minimise barriers to survivors pursuing civil claims.

Care safety guidelines, vetting and registration

Recommendation 39 sets 12 care safety principles that care providers should follow, while 40-47 outline a National Care Safety Strategy to protect future generations and provide support to survivors and whānau. The establishment of a Care Safety Agency and a Care Safety Act is recommended, which would set and enforce a national care safety regulatory framework for all state and faith-based care entities, with penalties for failure to comply. The agency would accredit care entities, provide training, vet and register staff (with further details set out in recommendations 57-64) and investigate complaints received from those using support services, collating a centralised database of these.

Project for community healing

Recommendation 20 asks the government and faith-based institutions to jointly create, fund and provide contestable funding (handled by an independent entity) for projects that promote community healing similar to those in Canada and Australia, born from the collective impacts of abuse and neglect in care.

Institutions and practices to be slowly eliminated

Recommendations 70-75 detail steps the government should take to minimise and ultimately eliminate care entities and practices that have historically harmed those in care. These include swift closure of all residences connected to historic abuse and neglect, a ban on pain compliance techniques, immediate minimising and elimination of solitary confinement, and a review of the design of care institutions to ensure these spaces don’t leave people at risk.

Overhaul of practices in faith-based entities

Recommendations 89-110 contain advice for faith-based entities, including the standing down of any members of church involved in a credible complaint of abuse and neglect in care, preventative and responsive abuse and neglect training for religious leaders and candidates in care, making religious leaders accountable to an outside authority for their decisions on handling abuse in care, professional supervision independent of the church of all in religious and pastoral community, and more.

Give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi

Recommendations 117-120 ask the government to partner with Māori to give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples when developing and delivering care functions, while also upholding the rights of Māori as indigenous peoples of Aotearoa and allowing whānau, hapū and iwi to keep shared responsibility for the wellbeing of tamariki and rangatahi Māori. The recommendations also ask to uphold the rights of Deaf and disabled people, girls and women in care, Pasifika and people from other diverse backgrounds.

Transparency and accountability

Recommendations 130-138 ask the government and faith-based institutions to publish their responses to this report and the interim report within two months of the report being tabled in the House of Representatives, outlining their acceptance or disagreement with the findings. Formal public responses should be issued on whether each recommendation is rejected, accepted or subject to further consideration, and the government should seek cross-party support to implement these recommendations.

Annual reports for the next nine years should be published by government, faith-based entities and other relevant agencies implementing these recommendations, and these reports should be considered by a parliamentary select committee. An independent review should also be established to measure the extent to which the inquiry’s recommendations have been effective in improving the quality of care in Aotearoa, and advise on further steps.