Let’s honour the survivors of abuse in care by making real change

Mana Mokopuna – Children and Young People’s Commission is today acknowledging the harm, trauma and intergenerational impacts of abuse experienced by children and young people in state and faith-based care in our recent history.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions has publicly released its landmark report, Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light.

Chief Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad says the decades of abuse and pain experienced by children and young people while in the care of the State and faith-based institutions is a national shame. She says the report must galvanise real action that makes change, and welcomes the Government’s announcement that it will make a formal apology in November.

“Today I’m acknowledging the deep courage of those survivors who have shared their experiences through the Inquiry, and all those who could not, including those who have died while in care. Any abuse experienced by a child or young person creates lifelong and often intergenerational trauma. It’s now up to us all to listen deeply to your life experiences and mamae, to support healing, act on your voices and solutions, and work together to build a safer future for all children and young people.

“I will continue listening to the voices and experiences of children and young people who have been abused in care, and amplifying their collective calls to action. Children and young people who come into the State care and protection system have already experienced harm. The State has a duty to ensure that they are safe while in its care. Its continued failures over decades to fulfil this duty of care must be addressed.

“While the Inquiry’s report spans experiences from 1950 – 1999, we know that widespread abuse in State and faith-based care did not end then. The Inquiry has heard from rangatahi who have experienced abuse in care much more recently.

“In fact, we know that abuse in the State care and protection and youth justice system is continuing to harm children and young people. Just this month, Mana Mokopuna – Children and Young People’s Commission published two new OPCAT monitoring reports outlining the significant concerns we had about the treatment of mokopuna in two State-run youth justice residences that we visited in February 2024, including findings of ill-treatment of mokopuna in one of these residences,” says Dr Achmad.

Official data from Oranga Tamariki shows an increasing number of children and young people are experiencing harm in care. The percentage of children in care with findings of harm – including physical, sexual and emotional harm, and neglect – increased from 5.65% in 2019, to 9% of children in 2023. That’s a total of 519 children who were harmed in care over the past year, with 894 recorded findings of harm, despite the number of children in care declining over this period.

“Whanaketia, together with the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s earlier report, He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu: From Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui, is the outcome of the most significant inquiry undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand. We must learn from the findings and transform the way we care for children and young people now and into the future. This means listening to and acting on the voices of survivors of abuse in care, honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and making ours a nation where every single child and young person grows up loved, safe and well with their whānau and connected to their whakapapa, flourishing to their full potential.”

The report highlights the over-representation and harsher treatment of certain groups, particularly tamariki and rangatahi Māori, resulting in intergenerational impacts on survivors’ children and grandchildren, and collectively by hapū and iwi.

“Every case of child abuse, neglect and maltreatment is one too many. We must focus on strengthening families and whānau so they can keep their mokopuna safe, we must see increased Government investment in iwi, kaupapa Māori and community organisations, and our care system must be safe for all mokopuna, upholding the rights of mokopuna Māori as Māori, Pacific children, children with disabilities and Rainbow mokopuna.

“This is not a one-off call to action, but something we need to work continuously on as a nation. It’s all of our responsibility to end the horrific abuse that is undeniably part of our recent history and our present, so we make Aotearoa New Zealand a safe, caring and inclusive place to be a child.”

Editor’s notes

• The Royal Commission’s final report be found in full here.
• The data above is drawn from the Safety of Children in Care Annual Report July 2022 – June 2023, published by Oranga Tamariki.
• As the independent advocate for mokopuna, including those in and who have experienced the care system, we wish to amplify the submission and calls to action from Te Rōpū Kaitiaki mō Ngā Teina E Haere Ake Nei, rangatahi who have been abused in care since 1999, outlined in Korowai Aroha.

Mana Mokopuna – Children and Young People’s Commission is an Independent Crown Entity, and is the independent advocate for all children and young people in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Chief Children’s Commissioner is the full-time, visible advocate for all children and young people, and is the Chair of the Mana Mokopuna Board. Mana Mokopuna is one of the three organisations making up the oversight of oranga tamariki system, alongside Aroturuki Tamariki – Independent Children’s Monitor, and the Ombudsman.

Chief Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad is available for interviews. For media enquiries, please contact:

Melissa Wastney (she/her)
Senior Advisor Communications
Mana Mokopuna | Children and Young People's Commission
029 909 2715