The treatment of people in New Zealand’s state and faith-based care institutions has been described as a “national disgrace” after a landmark report revealed the harrowing scale of abuse 200,000 children and adults suffered at the hands of those entrusted with their safety.
New Zealand’s royal commission into the abuse is by far the largest and most complex royal commission the country has held. Out of similar inquiries around the world, it had the widest scope.
The independent investigation was put in motion in 2018 to reveal the extent and ongoing impact of abuse within the institutions designed to protect children. It primarily covered the period from 1950 to 1999, but those who had suffered abuse after 1999 also gave testimony.
The final report, weighing 14kg, was made public on Wednesday, marking the culmination of over 100 days of public hearings, nearly 3,000 testimonies gathered and more than one million documents received in evidence.
Survivors gathered in parliament’s public gallery to witness the report being tabled.
“The final report has taken six years, but for many of us, it has been a lifetime of trying to look for, and seek, redress,” said Frances Tagaloa, who was sexually abused in Catholic-run institutions from the age of five.
State care survivor Keith Wiffin described the report’s release as “monumental”.
“I’ve been advocating for 22 years, and for most of that 22 years it has been a fight,” said Wiffin, who was placed in state care aged 11 and experienced ongoing sexual assault and psychological abuse.
“This report is for us – it’s explaining to the country the impact this subject has had on us all.”
The inquiry estimated that of the 655,000 people who went through care institutions since the 1950s, roughly 200,000 were abused. The true number of survivors could be much higher, it said.
It found sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect was widespread and systematic, resulting in significant trauma to the victims. Those who carried out the abuse included caregivers, religious leaders, social workers, and medical professionals.
The inquiry found children at Lake Alice Psychiatric hospital during the 1970s were subjected to torture through electric shocks and painful injections as punishment.
The report presented testimonies of survivors. It looked at the impact of abuse and neglect on individuals and their families, as well as communities and society.
“The care system in Aotearoa New Zealand was a fully funded failure that enabled pervasive abuse and neglect,” the report said. “Almost every survivor who came forward to share their experience with the inquiry has endured irreparable damage to the quality of their lives.”
In some institutions, children experienced extreme abuse. There was evidence of young people being threatened with death through mock executions, experiencing severe corporal punishment inflicted with weapons to the genitals, and being routinely held in solitary confinement. The report also identified the overuse of institutional care for deaf, disabled and mentally distressed people.
It found many survivors subsequently experienced homelessness, poverty, addiction, devastating effects on health and mental health, and reduced opportunities for education and work. Māori survivors faced disconnection from their culture and identity, while some survivors were put on the pathway of gang membership, imprisonment, and suicide.
The inquiry estimated the total economic cost of this abuse and neglect at about $200bn.
Calls for a total system overhaul
The judge chairing the inquiry, Coral Shaw, described the scale of abuse as a “national disgrace and shame” and urged New Zealand to heed the report to ensure it never happens again.
“The people who were taken into care were babies, they were young children, they were young people, they were adults who needed care. They were taken under the guise of being supported and protected but instead they were abused and harmed,” Shaw said.
The inquiry made 95 redress recommendations and 138 other recommendations, including calling for a formal apology from the prime minister, formal apologies from the pope and other heads of churches, renaming streets and amenities named after a proven perpetrator, and reopening criminal investigations into possible offending.
It recommended a new agency, the Care Safe Agency, be established to prevent and respond to abuse and neglect in care, supported by a new law to give effect to the agency and the inquiry’s recommendations.
It made multiple, detailed recommendations over how state and faith-based care entities should ensure safety within their institutions, and called for better government investment in mental health and disability care.
Survivors detailed their hopes for the future, including a total overhaul of the system to ensure the “national catastrophe” of abuse was ended.
“The name of this report is named Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” Wiffin said.
“The light is doing something meaningful, finally taking responsibility and focusing on transformation of the care system right now, because abuse is still happening at an unacceptable rate.”
Tagaloa called on religious institutions to apologise, and said it was time the care of children was handed over to communities, iwi (tribes) and family networks, “so the government is not the parent of our children”.
The report was a significant milestone, she said, but cautioned against complacency.
“This [report] is not the end, it is really just the beginning of what needs to happen so survivors to get significant redress.”
‘You are heard,’ PM says
The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said the report marked a “dark and sorrowful day” in New Zealand’s history.
“As a society and as a state, we should have done better, and I am determined to do so,” he said, and thanked the survivors for their courageous testimonies.
“I can not take away your pain but I can tell you this: today you are heard and you are believed.”
The state failed survivors in the “worst possible way” by subjecting those in its care to “unimaginable physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse”, Luxon said.
He acknowledged the Lake Alice victims who were tortured.
“These experiences were nothing short of horrific and happened within the New Zealand health system within living memory.”
The prime minister will make a formal public apology to the survivors later this year.
The minister in charge of the government’s response to the inquiry, Erica Stanford, said the government would focus on redress in the first instance and carefully consider the other recommendations in due course, but today was about the survivors.
“Their bravery will not only correct the historical record, it will change our future.”
In New Zealand: Lifeline Aotearoa’s suicide crisis helpline 0508 828 865; the Mental Health Foundation 09 623 4812; Youthline: 0800 376 633
In Australia, crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.
