News & Events

More children in care are reporting they’ve been physically, emotionally or sexually harmed, while government agencies play hot potato with vulnerable kids. Just months after the Prime Minister apologised to those who were abused in state and faith-based care, independent monitoring shows the same problems persist in today’s care system. A new report from the Independent…

Almost one in 10 tamariki and rangatahi are being abused or neglected in state care, a report by the Independent Children’s Monitor has found. Between July 2023 and June last year, 507 of 5722 children were abused or neglected while in the custody of Oranga Tamariki. The number of those in state care had decreased…

A group of abuse survivors, accompanied by two horses, have marched into Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) offices in Christchurch. Among the protesters’ demands is that ACC reforms eligibility for coverage for abuse survivors, immediate redress and an end to government’s boot camps. The about two dozen survivors of abuse in care and their supporters marched…

Abuse in care survivors are outraged after senior ministers suggested lowering expectations on government commitments. Abuse survivors Ken Clearwater and Tu Chapman spoke to Corin Dann. Listen to report

Solitary confinement destroys people, but New Zealand continues to inflict it on our most vulnerable and damaged people, including children, as a matter of course. Aaron Smale reports on the practice that won’t go away and the people that are psychologically annihilated and physically disappeared in state institutions. Shane was locked in a concrete box…

The publication, Coming In From The Cold, includes the experiences of 26 male survivors, generously shared by Tautoko Tāne staff and clients with editor Bex De Prospo Carr and ably crafted by her pen. The history is summarised in four seasonal essays contributed by Tautoko Tāne Lead Educator, Fiona Clapham Howard, who is also a…

For me the most powerful words were virtually unintelligible. Gary Williams is severely disabled and in a wheelchair, but that did not limit the power of his words, which were flashed up on a screen behind him. He was the first survivor to speak at the event. He spoke directly to the Government and you…

Survivors of abuse in care arrived at Parliament today to hear the formal apology from the state which oversaw and inflicted harm on children. Public sector leaders from Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Police, and Ministry of Education also apologised, as did the public service commissioner and the solicitor-general, at an event preceding Prime Minister…

It “is a significant, sorrowful but important day” for the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said in his formal apology to abuse victims at Parliament. Survivors around the country gathered and tuned in to proceedings at Parliament, where a ballot-selected group of abuse survivors are also in the public gallery. Here is the full text of…

As we drew closer to the date of the public apology, the response minister Erica Stanford began preparing abuse victims for disappointment. It’s clear that redress will not accompany the national apology tomorrow. There are a number of “extraordinarily complex decisions” yet to be made “which are still going through the Cabinet process”, she said last week. For those…