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Panel member summaries 

Dr Ian Hyslop, Facilitator  

At the time of the hearing Dr Hyslop was a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland. His professional interests are tied to a concern with the relationship between social work and social justice, locally and globally. Dr Hyslop has worked as a social worker, supervisor, and practice manager in statutory child protection practice in Auckland.  His recent book looks at the critical history of the relationship between child protection and liberal capitalism with an emphasis on the tensions with indigenous models of family life. 

Neta Kerepeti  

Ms Kerepeti is of Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, and Ngāti Mutunga descent. She had previously provided evidence at the Abuse in children’s State residential care public hearing. Ms Kerepeti was one of the panel members discussing the changes that are needed to support children in State care.  

Liua Vatuvei  

Mr Vatuvei is of Tongan and Māori descent. He is a survivor aged in his 20’s who brought a contemporary experience of being in the care system. Mr Vatuvei’s placements as a child were arranged through an organisation that provided support for disabled people. Mr Vatuvei experienced multiple placements and forms of abuse, including physical abuse and neglect. Once in foster care, he was separated from whānau and as a result feels disconnected from his culture. 

Denis Smith 

Denis Smith is a former social worker for the Department of Social Welfare. He began his career with the Department in 1969 at 23 and left in 1993, having also spent time working at IHC, Barnados and the New Zealand Foster Care Federation in-between. He took on various roles in the Department, including working as a senior social worker in the Adoption and Fostering Team. Mr Smith has also worked with victims and/or offenders of abuse by providing them counselling services in the Family Court, Community Corrections and the Ministry of Social Development. Since 1989, he has written and presented papers on male adolescent sexual abuse to men. 

Dr Alayne Mikahere-Hall  

Dr Mikahere-Hall is of Ngāti Whātua, Te Rarawa, Tainui and Pākehā decent.  At the time of the hearing Dr Mikahere-Hall was a registered psychotherapist, a member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapist (NZAP) and a founding member of Waka Oranga – National Collective of Māori Psychotherapy Practitioners (NCMPP). Dr Mikahere-Hall has worked across a wide range of community services over the past 20 years including Māori Mental Health Child and Adolescent Services and private practice. She also undertakes research and works with whānau, adults, children and adolescents with a number of issues including whānau violence, complex trauma and intergenerational trauma.  

Dr Teuila Percival 

At the time of the hearing Dr Percival was a director for Moana Research. Previously, she was the Head of Pacific Health Section at the School of Population Health, University of Auckland. Dr Percival has extensive research expertise in Pacific health research, in addition to her child health expertise which is often used in New Zealand and in regions in the Pacific and Australasia. Her portfolio includes being the principal investigator on the Pacific Child Health Indicators project in the Pacific and OPIC 2, the family-based intervention for Pacific children project.  

Dr Tania Cargo 

At the time of the hearing Dr Cargo was a senior Māori clinical psychologist and senior lecturer in psychological medicine. She was also a national trainer for Parent-Child Interaction therapy (PCIT) in Aotearoa New Zealand and is a member of the International Board of PCIT. Dr Cargo has been working in child and adolescent mental health for 18 years and has been specialising in infant mental health for 12 years. 

Transcript from hearing