Latest news with #AbuseinCareRoyalCommissionofInquiry
Scoop
01-08-2025
- Scoop
The Royal Commission Recommended Abolishing Time Limits On Abuse Cases – A Year On, Nothing Has Changed
Among the 138 recommendations of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry's final report to parliament was a clear call: remove the legal time limits that prevent survivors of historic abuse from seeking justice in civil court. That report – Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light – was published on July 24 last year. One year on, the government has yet to act. Without that reform, survivors of historic abuse remain vulnerable to being turned away by the legal system – not because their experiences aren't credible, but because the law still treats them as being out of time. The royal commission heard from thousands of survivors of childhood abuse in the care of state and faith-based institutions between 1950 and 1999. What stood out was how often that harm was made worse by silence, disbelief and legal systems that failed to respond. Limitation periods in abuse cases Under New Zealand law, people generally have six years from the time a harm occurs to bring a civil claim. That limit is set out in the Limitation Act 2010 for events after 2011, and in the Limitation Act 1950 for events before that. For survivors of historic abuse, particularly childhood abuse, that six-year window rarely reflects how trauma actually works. Survivors often take decades to feel sufficiently safe and supported to come forward and name what happened to them. The 1950 law allowed limitation periods to be paused if a claimant was under a ' disability ' – a legal term meaning they were either a child or, in the language of the time, of 'unsound mind'. In practice, this meant the six-year clock usually didn't start for children until they reached adulthood. The 2010 law clarified this by explicitly saying the limitation period for children begins at 18. It also introduced a new 'incapacitated' exception, allowing the clock to pause for adults who are unable to make decisions or take legal action because of trauma or other conditions. But in practice it's a narrow doorway. Courts require survivors to prove not just trauma, but a high legal incapacity threshold. This means that even when the abuse is acknowledged, and even when survivors have strong evidence, civil cases are often barred. The bar is not that the harm didn't happen, but that it happened 'too long ago'. How civil time limits deny justice In 2019, former Air Force servicewoman Mariya Taylor brought a civil claim against the sergeant who had sexually abused her in the 1980s while both were stationed at the Whenuapai base. The court accepted the abuse had occurred. But because Taylor was not legally considered 'disabled' by trauma, and the six-year window had closed, her case was struck out under the Limitation Act 1950. Adding insult to injury, she was ordered to pay costs to her abuser. At 18, Taylor had entered a rigid military hierarchy where power and discipline made reporting abuse nearly impossible. Her case shows how limitation periods can block even well-evidenced claims, and how institutional dynamics such as silence, shame and obedience often delay disclosure. These same patterns were pivotal to the royal commission's findings. Australia is ahead of NZ Australia has taken a markedly different approach. In line with the final report of its own Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2017, every state and territory removed civil limitation periods for survivors of childhood abuse. Survivors can now bring civil claims regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. In landmark case in 2023, GLJ v. The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore, the High Court of Australia rejected a request to shut down proceedings even though the alleged abuser and other witnesses had died. The court said the case could still go ahead using available evidence. The GLJ decision is important for New Zealand courts. It shows that while removing time bars doesn't guarantee victory for survivors, it does give them the chance to be heard. Delayed but not denied Removing time limits for civil claims involving historic abuse, as the royal commission recommended, is now overdue. A first step would be for the government to clearly commit to amending the Limitation Act 2010 to exclude claims of historic abuse – especially child sexual abuse – from the six-year deadline. This would bring New Zealand into line with Australia and recognise what we now know about the delayed nature of disclosure, trauma and institutional silence. It would also honour the spirit of the royal commission's work. As courts and commissions have recognised, removing limitation periods doesn't guarantee a win for survivors. But it does mean they're at least allowed to try. For years, survivors have been told they've spoken too late. Reforming limitation laws won't undo the harm they suffered. But it will show their testimony matters, and that justice delayed does not have to mean justice denied.
Scoop
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Disability Taskforce Extended As Budget Funding Boosts System
Minister for Disability Issues The Disability Support Services Taskforce will be extended for a year to continue its progress in stabilising the disability support system and shaping it for the future. Minister for Disability Issues Louise Upston says the Taskforce has been extended to 30 June 2026, with its work further enhanced by a billion-dollar funding boost announced in last month's Budget. 'This Government is committed to the ongoing support of the disability community and delivering better outcomes for disabled people, their families and carers,' Louise Upston says. 'We've demonstrated this in Budget 2025, where the DSS Budget received $1 billion in additional funding over four years – that's about $250 million a year of new money. 'This includes $60 million a year in residential care funding increases and about $190 million a year for increases across all DSS services for cost pressures, including care in the community. 'We are making good progress in delivering for disabled people, and the Taskforce will continue to play a key role. 'In August 2024, the Independent Review made recommendations to manage increasing cost pressures faced by DSS. 'The Taskforce was established to lead the implementation of these recommendations. That important work is progressing well, and I am now looking to the Taskforce to lead more work to further strengthen the system. 'The Taskforce has already made significant progress to stabilise DSS, including: reviewing pricing and contracting arrangements for residential care, which are being implemented following Budget 2025 improving systems and processes for assessing performance and forecasting expenditure reviewing needs assessment and allocation, and flexible funding settings so they better meet the needs of disabled people, their whānau and carers. 'My expectation is that DSS will continue to involve the disability community in discussions about how disability support services are delivered. I'll have more to say on the next phase of work in the coming months,' Louise Upston says. Notes: New funding for DSS in Budget 2025 included: $1 billion over four years towards meeting the increasing costs of disability support services (including $240 million for residential care) and to support more people to access those services. $10 million over two years to address the increasing costs for services and support for people with an intellectual disability and complex care needs who live in secure or supervised care under the High and Complex Framework. This will also fund critical workforce training initiatives and essential infrastructure, including repairs and maintenance upgrades. $9.5 million over four years to recognise and respond to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry. This includes work to strengthen how DSS audits the quality of its services, critical incident and complaints management processes and systems, and to contribute to other cross agency work to improve recordkeeping and the capability of the disability workforce.
Otago Daily Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Abuse in care compensation scheme announcement believed imminent
By Tim Brown of RNZ An announcement on the government's long-awaited abuse in care compensation scheme is imminent, it is understood. The government has repeatedly promised to announce its plans for a new single redress system before this year's budget and, with less than a fortnight until Budget Day, time is running out. The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry found at least 200,000 people had been abused, and even more neglected, by the state and faith-based institutions since 1950. Its final report, released last July, outlined 138 recommendations to right the wrongs of the past and to ensure the safety of every child, young person and adult in care today. In 2021, the inquiry made 95 recommendations for establishing an independent, fair and effective redress scheme for all survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care with existing schemes to be phased out. The then-Labour government made little progress on the recommendations before losing the 2023 election. During November's apology to survivors, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced $32 million to support existing schemes while the coalition ironed out details of the new redress system. "I know that financial redress is important to many of you, and no amount of money will ever make up for what you have endured, but today I want to provide you with some details around the next steps," Luxon told survivors in parliament on November 12. "Many of you do not want to engage with it as it currently exists. Some parts of it are 20 years old and it can take up to five years for your claims to be addressed. But there are also over 3500 of you engaging with the current system. So today I am announcing the government will invest an additional $32 million to increase capacity in the current system while we work on the new redress system. "This funding will increase resources and help ensure the system is more responsive to your needs. But I want to assure you it is our intention to have a new single redress system operating next year." He also promised to pressure faith-based organisations to take part. "The government has written to church leaders to let them know our expectation is that they will do the right thing and contribute to the redress process," Luxon said. A mish-mash of compensation schemes had been run by the Ministries of Education, Health, Social Development and Oranga Tamariki, with survivors paid an average of about $18,000 for abuse inflicted while in care. In 2022, the Ministry for Social Development began offering payments of up to $30,000 under a Rapid Payment Framework to survivors who were seriously ill, aged 70 or older, and those with the oldest claims. Survivors of torture at Lake Alice Hospital's child and adolescent unit were an outlier to other claimants with an average payment of $68,000, then last December, the government announced a group of 77 survivors were eligible for a rapid payment of $150,000. Details surrounding faith-based institutions were murkier, however, the Catholic Church paid an average of $30,000 (with the highest $152,000), the Anglican Church also averaged $30,000 (with the highest $100,000) and the Salvation Army averaged $29,000 (with the highest $91,500). The Royal Commission said payments were "too low to provide meaningful puretumu torowhānui (holistic redress)". "Payments by state and faith-based institutions do not, in our view, amount to meaningful redress," the commissioners said. "We have already described the considerable range in payments by state agencies - anywhere from $1000 to $90,000 in the case of the Ministry of Social Development, although the average is a modest $20,000. The Ministry of Health average is $6000, and the Ministry of Education average is $15,300. These figures are very low compared with payments by overseas schemes." The figures fell well short of comparable schemes in Australia where survivors received an average of $84,000; Canada at $104,000; and Ireland at $98,000 (all in New Zealand dollars). Since 2017, Australian survivors who had sought justice through the courts had received hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in compensation. Survivors were anticipating meaningful changes to redress in New Zealand with sufficient compensation to provide for their well-being, while also ensuring faith-based institutions were held to account for the abuse they failed to prevent and often covered up. However, the government had already promised a tight budget with new spending slashed from $2.4 billion to $1.3 billion. "We have debt at levels not seen since the mid-1990s. We're running one of the biggest deficits in the world," Finance Minister Nicola Willis said, last week. "That's the difference between what we're earning and what we're spending. That can't go on forever." Whatever shape redress took it was bound to come as a disappointment for some survivors.
