Our work to date has only begun to uncover the extent of abuse in care, its impact and the severe cost to society. We know that much investigative, research and analysis work remains to be done so we can produce meaningful and balanced recommendations to prevent harm and find better ways to repair the damage done. Below we set out the work ahead of us to address fully the terms of reference of our inquiry.

The work ahead

A partnership with Māori

Partnering with Māori is critical  to our work. We have talked about our efforts to date to engage with Māori survivors and communities, and to establish Te Taumata. This work must continue, and we expect that Te Taumata will play a significant role in future.

A key question will be to what extent current redress and rehabilitation arrangements are consistent with Te Tiriti, ngā tikanga Māori, te reo Māori and New Zealand’s international human rights obligations, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This includes the matter of apologies to Māori whānau and communities and consideration of ngā whakaaro nui, such as whakapapa, mana, utu, mauri and tapu.

Next year, we will hold public hui or wānanga and a public hearing on Māori and their experiences of abuse in care. Almost all of our investigations, both State and faith-based, will have a Māori dimension, given the status of Māori as tangata whenua and the impact of abuse in different settings on their whānau, hapū and iwi.

Connecting with survivor communities

We will continue to support survivors of abuse and their families as they work with the inquiry, particularly Māori, Pacific people and those with a disability, including those with a mental illness. We are expanding our efforts to reach out to those in marginalised and hard-to-reach communities.

In addition to the groups above, our focus for 2021 will be on connecting with those with mental health issues, the LGBTQIA+ community, young people, seniors and women. We will be attentive to overlaps among these groups. Beyond 2021, we will continue to build relationships and look for new ways to reach out to and involve various communities.

We will:

• build on what we have learned about our approaches to engagement to date and ensure our processes reflect a Te Tiriti-based approach
• continue to use formal and informal ways of communicating and
• collaborating with community organisations, support groups and networks that work with our priority groups
• use engagement approaches that are culturally appropriate
• draw on the expertise of the members of the survivor advisory group
• hold regular Māori focus groups and kaupapa-based hui to discuss, and ensure a Te Tiriti perspective on,
• specific topics relevant to our investigations
• strengthen relationships with Māori and promote Māori involvement in our work
• implement communication strategies and approaches, incorporating feedback from survivor groups (including Māori), aimed at more effectively communicating the progress we are making.

Survivor accounts

Based on current modelling, we expect to receive about 3,200 survivor accounts, either in person or in writing. We also expect between about 8,000 and 12,000 survivors to register with us by the time we finish our work. These estimates are based on our experience to date and the experiences of similar inquiries overseas.

We aim to ensure all survivors, including those in care and protection or youth justice facilities, in prison or outside New Zealand, can share their experience with us if they wish. We will continue developing our processes to meet survivors’ needs and where possible allow survivors to choose where they feel most comfortable meeting and talking to us.

With Māori survivors, we will respect their rangatiratanga and give whānau, hapū and iwi the option of deciding where we meet, including, where appropriate, on marae. We will continue to apply what we learn through private sessions (including written accounts and group sessions) to our investigations, public hearings and research and policy work.

Survivors have never had an opportunity to talk about their experiences to a body with the powers and scope of this inquiry. We will protect the information given to us by survivors who wish to keep their experiences confidential, while making sure the matters they raise receive public attention and feed into our investigation and research work. In keeping with our obligation to do no harm, we will continue to provide wellbeing services to these survivors that are tailored to their individual needs.

Investigations and public hearings

Our first nine investigations will continue through the next year, and in some cases beyond. We intend holding regular public hearings, hui, wānanga, fono, roundtables and other public engagement processes for the rest of the inquiry, subject to any COVID-19-related disruptions.

From our nine investigations, we have identified topics for seven public hearings in 2021. We have already mentioned the case studies into abuse at Lake Alice Hospital’s child and adolescent unit (as part of the psychiatric care investigation) and abuse at Marylands School in Christchurch (as part of the investigation into abuse involving the Catholic Church). The other five case studies or topics hearings are: Māori experiences of abuse, redress for survivors of abuses in faith-based care, abuse in State- run children’s residential care, Pacific people’s experience of abuse, and abuse of people with disabilities. We will use the criteria outlined earlier in this report to determine the precise scope of these and future hearings.

Most hearings will be at our public hearing space in Auckland, although some may be held elsewhere, such as on marae, if appropriate to the subject matter. We also expect to hold roundtables, kaupapa-based hui, fono, wānanga and other information-gathering and consultative forums.

Kaupapa-based hui will allow investigation teams to gather information from Māori communities in a way that is consistent with their tino rangatiratanga and ngā tikanga Māori.

In all of the anticipated 20 investigations, our teams will gather information and evidence through information requests, witness interviews, analysis of information from survivor accounts, research and policy projects, and hui, fono, wānanga and roundtables. To complete these investigations, our work will include:

Analysis of information and evidence: We have already received more than 255,000 documents, and from what we know so far, we estimate we may receive more than 2 million documents and several thousand witness statements during the course of the inquiry. We will comprehensively analyse these through specialist information and evidence management systems we have set up.

Processes to ensure fairness: We will give affected people, groups and organisations the opportunity to comment on the information we have gathered, and on intended findings and recommendations. We will tell the public when we begin further investigations and select more case studies, and we will consult on scope documents.

Reporting on our findings as we go: Each investigation will produce a report with findings and recommendations. Where appropriate, we may make findings that individuals or institutions were at fault, or were in breach of relevant standards.

We may also produce reports on case studies of particular institutions, themes, systemic problems or groups of people, and reports on topics that span two or more investigations. We will not wait for the final report to make recommendations or look to the future.

Communicating with the public: Through roundtables, wānanga, kaupapa-based hui, fono and workshops, we will exchange ideas with the public and interested parties. We will also issue public statements about our work and release issues papers.

Research and policy

High-quality research and policy work are crucial. Our researchers will commission or carry out research in line with the needs of investigation teams and the inquiry as a whole. The research team will continue to gather and synthesise information, provide analysis and conduct primary research where necessary. We will seek the help of Māori experts to ensure we give sufficient weight to Māori research. Similarly, we will draw on the expertise of other subject matter experts on particular areas.

An immediate research priority is to get a clearer picture of the various groups of survivors, particularly Māori, Pacific people and disabled people. For example, we have commissioned work from the Donald Beasley Institute on the experiences of disabled people in care who are unable or unlikely to communicate with us via the channels outlined above. We are also developing research projects on Māori experiences of abuse.

Other priorities include:

• literature reviews and further analyses of survivor accounts to support subject matters under investigations
• using our newly established policy team to provide analysis and advice and help shape recommendations.

Final report

Our final report will synthesise all the work of the inquiry, including survivor accounts, investigations, research and policy. It will identify the systemic problems and focus on recommendations for the future. Where necessary, we will review any changes made in response to earlier recommendations. The duration of the inquiry will allow us to monitor and respond to such changes in a way that most inquiries cannot.

Our long-term goals

We are determined to produce an accurate and fair account of abuse in care in this country. We will identify the systemic factors that caused or contributed to that abuse. Our recommendations will aim to ensure there is no repetition of what survivors have experienced. In this way, we hope to bring lasting change to the lives of survivors, their families, whānau, hapū and iwi.

We are keenly aware this is important and urgent work, especially as each new survivor comes forward with a story of life- shattering abuse. As one survivor noted after a private session: “Realise that our voices are valid, real and raw.” Or as another put it: “Our kids are our future, let’s stop hurting them.” Can the task before us be put more succinctly?

We realise we cannot do this on our own. We need the help of survivors, advocates, experts and the institutions themselves that are at the centre of this inquiry.

We plan to give effect to our aspirations in the following ways:

We will produce a credible public record of abuse in care

We will give New Zealand a fair, accurate and comprehensive account of abuse in care. This will show what happened, how and why, and we will do so in a way that includes individual experiences but also places those experiences within the wider context of New Zealand society, both past and contemporary. We hope the results will encourage further scholarship and reflection about what took place in care institutions, and prompt changes for the better.

The public will better understand the nature and scale of the abuse

Our goal is to ensure members of the public see, hear and understand the evidence of abuse. Our public hearings will be the most visible of our activities, but we will also invite the public to read, and the media to report on, our investigation reports, case studies, issues papers and research reports. We will also ask them to take part where possible in our community engagement initiatives, roundtables, wānanga, kaupapa-based hui, fono and workshops.

Those responsible will be held to account

Accountability is a critical demand of survivors – and justifiably so. We have heard the strong calls for individual, organisational and systematic accountability for wrongdoing. Where appropriate, we will make findings that individuals and organisations breached relevant standards.

We will also consider whether the State and faith-based institutions should do more themselves to provide accountability for what happened. Where appropriate, we will make referrals to police and other complaints or investigative bodies. Referrals may result in investigations and in some cases we expect prosecutions to follow.

We will actively work with Māori

Through active partnership and engagement with Māori, we will make recommendations that aim to deliver meaningful change for Māori in accordance with Te Tiriti and the human rights set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Care providers will protect the vulnerable better and treat them well

We will make recommendations that seek to improve care laws, policies, procedures and practices, as well as the way care providers provide redress to survivors and the other mechanisms in place for independent oversight of care.

Our recommendations will be based on evidence about what happened in the past and what happens to the present day. In this way, we will give effect to the terms of reference and help create a safer future for all New Zealanders.

Next: Volume Two - Survivor Stories