241. Despite the Government adopting a policy of community living for people in institutional care in 1985, it took another two decades for the Kimberley Centre to close in 2006.

242. Researcher Paul Milner from the Donald Beasley Institute said that in many respects the dismantling of institutions began from the inside, as the intrinsically dehumanising and depersonalising potential of institutions began to be articulated.[284] However, what followed the Government’s 1985 policy announcement was a lengthy period of uncertainty, planning and delays.[285]

243. Anne Bell told the Inquiry about her involvement as president of the Kimberley Parents and Friends Association in meetings between families and government officials about what should happen to the Kimberley Centre and planning for a move towards community living. Anne was later appointed the project manager for the Kimberley Deinstitutionalisation Project for the Ministry of Health and spoke of the challenges she encountered in that role including some parental hesitance toward their adult children leaving the Kimberley Centre, but over time their fears were allayed. Anne said that even after agreements were reached, there were various practical challenges faced in implementing the changes, including sourcing suitable housing in the community.[286]

244. Although the Kimberley Centre is now closed, the lifelong impacts of abuse and neglect inflicted on the children, young people and adults and the pain their families suffered continue. For the future, what survivors experienced at the Kimberley Centre at the hands of the State is a lesson Aotearoa New Zealand must learn from and never forget.