Chapter 1: Introduction Ūpoko 1: He whakataki
1. This part of the report, consistent with clauses 32(b), 32(c) and clause 32A of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference,[1] sets out the Inquiry’s recommendations for changes. These changes relate to redress processes, steps to address the harm of abuse in care and changes to be made in the future to ensure that the factors that allowed abuse to occur during the Inquiry period in State care and in faith-based institutions do not persist.
2. Chapter 3 sets the scene for the Inquiry’s recommendations. It describes survivors’ moemoeā (dreams) for the next generation, where every child, young person and adult in Aotearoa New Zealand is loved, safe and cared for in a manner that supports their growth and development into a thriving contributor to society. Survivors’ moemoeā are the foundation for the Inquiry’s vision for the future – he Māra Tipu (a growing garden), and are at the heart of the Inquiry’s recommendations. Chapter 3 describes he Māra Tipu – Vision for the future. Survivors see Aotearoa New Zealand’s care system as broken. They want a total overhaul and fundamental change to ensure that this national catastrophe does not continue.
3. Chapter 4 sets out recommendations for the State and faith-based institutions to right the wrongs of the past. The State and faith leaders must publicly apologise and take accountability for the harm caused to survivors of abuse and neglect in their care. The puretumu torowhānui system and scheme, which the Inquiry first recommended in its December 2021 report He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu: From Redress to Puretumu Torowhānui, must be implemented without any further delay.
4. Chapter 5 describes the Inquiry’s recommendations to make care safe for all children, young people and adults in State and faith-based care. The Inquiry recommends establishing a new care safety regulatory system, with an independent Care Safe Agency, and underpinned by a Care Safety Act. All care providers will be accredited, and staff and care workers will be fully vetted and registered. The care safety regulatory system will have consistent and comprehensive rules and standards to keep people safe, and meaningful sanctions and penalties to hold people and organisations to account. Faith-based entities and their leaders will have to abide by the same laws, rules and accountabilities as everyone else who provides care.
5. Chapter 6 sets out recommendations specific to faith-based entities, in addition to them being subject to the care safety regulatory system described in Chapter 6.
6. Recommendations for empowering communities and entrusting them with care functions are described in Chapter 7. These recommendations will give everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand the knowledge and tools to play their part in contributing to identifying and preventing abuse and neglect. The Inquiry also wants to see a shift from State care to communities caring for each other. The Inquiry’s recommendations in this chapter also require the State to uphold the rights of New Zealanders, which will contribute to preventing abuse and neglect in care.
7. Chapter 8 focuses on how the recommendations should be implemented. The Inquiry’s recommendations comprise mutually reinforcing strands woven together into a kākahu (cloak) to right the wrongs of the past and protect against abuse and neglect in care in the future. They cannot be selectively implemented.
8. Chapter 9 sets out the Inquiry’s recommended implementation timetable, including the entity or entities that the Inquiry expects will lead or co-ordinate implementation.
Footnotes
[1] Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions, Terms of Reference, clauses 32(b), 32(c) and 32A.