Redress means making things right. Nothing can completely make right the harm that was done to survivors of abuse in care. Redress is about taking meaningful steps towards this goal.
These steps can include:
Find out how to make a claim for redress and when it is possible for whānau to continue your claim if you die before it is settled.
This topic may bring up a range of emotions. We have some suggestions of help and support that is available to you.
If the abuser is still living, you might want action to be taken to bring them to justice and to protect other people from them.
If the abuser still works for or is responsible to an organisation, you could ask the organisation to:
The Police will generally only bring a case to court if they have enough evidence. It might be difficult to provide enough evidence if the abuse happened a long time ago.
For people who choose to make a claim, this can be a challenging process. Learn where you can find support to help with making a claim.
Some organisations have their own redress schemes. For example, some faith-based organisations and government agencies.
Find out about the redress schemes
You can make a claim with ACC if you have a physical or mental injury resulting from abuse while in the care or guardianship of a government, faith-based or other organisation.
You may be able to get support and/or compensation from ACC even if you are using a redress scheme.
You may be able to sue the organisation for damages, even if you have used a redress scheme.
You may also have reasons not to make a claim. For example, some survivors found the claims process difficult and / or re-traumatising.Alternatives to making a claim for redress include sharing your experiences with the Survivor Experiences Service.Alternatives to making a claim for redress include sharing your experiences with Survivor Experiences Service.
Whether you decide to make a claim or not, your reason for your decision is a valid one.
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This document talks about abuse.
This information may upset some people when they are reading it.
This information is not meant to scare anyone.
If you are upset after reading this document you can talk to your:
You can also contact Need to Talk by:
It does not cost any money to call / text 1737.
If you do not feel safe call the police on 111.
This is also a long webpage.
It can be hard for some people to read a webpage this long.
Some things you can do to make reading this document easier are:
This Easy Read is about how you can make a claim for redress as a survivor of abuse in care.
Redress means someone:
People who have been through abuse in care are sometimes called survivors.
Abuse can be:
On this webpage being in care means the people in charge of your care were:
or
Faith-based institutions are run by religious groups like churches.
Redress is about doing important things as a way of making things right for survivors of abuse in care.
Redress can be things like:
Information on how to make a claim for redress can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/claims
This webpage is not in Easy Read.
Sometimes a person might die before a claim is finished.
Information on how whānau / family can carry on with a claim can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/progress-claim
You might want to see your abuser brought to justice if they are still living.
Brought to justice means a person is held responsible for the crime they have done.
This could be:
Here punished means things like:
Bringing an abuser to justice might keep other people safe from them.
If the abuser is still part of an organisation you could ask the organisation to take disciplinary action.
Disciplinary action means to:
You can also report the abuse to the Police.
The Police will take a crime to court if they have enough evidence.
Here evidence means information about a crime including:
It might be hard to have enough evidence if the abuse happened a long time ago.
Information on how to report a crime to the Police can be found at this website:
www.tinyurl.com/4rtxzjfn
This website is not in Easy Read.
Making a claim can be a hard thing to do.
Information on how to get support when making a claim can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/legal-support
This webpage has some information in Easy Read.
Some organisations have their own redress scheme.
A redress scheme is a way of doing redress that includes:
You can find more information about redress at this webpage:
Making a claim with the Accident Compensation Corporation / ACC
You can make a claim with the Accident Compensation Corporation / ACC if you have an injury from abuse in care that is:
Even if you are using another redress scheme you may get:
You can find information about making a claim with ACC at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/acc
Going to court
You might be able to sue the organisation for damages.
Here sue means taking someone to court to ask them for money because they hurt you.
Here damages is the money paid to someone when they win in court from suing another person.
You can sue in court even if you have used the redress system.
More information about suing someone in court can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/sue-info
You may have reasons to not make a claim for redress.
Some survivors find doing a claim:
Whatever choice you make is the right one for you.
Something else you could do is share your experience with the Survivor Experiences Service.
The Survivor Experiences Service is for people who have experienced abuse while in care.
It lets them:
You can find information about the Survivor Experiences Service at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/SES
Making a claim for redress can make you feel all sorts of things.
It can be good to have someone to talk to about it.
You can talk to your:
Find out what support you can get at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/support