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.
This topic may bring up a range of emotions. We have some suggestions of help and support that is available to you.
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry’s interim redress report, published in December 2021, says that redress for survivors of abuse or neglect in care should include:
Some state (government), faith-based and other organisations offer out-of-court redress for survivors of abuse in care. This might be in the form of payments, apologies, and other support and rehabilitation services.
You can make a claim for redress to the organisation that was responsible for your guardianship or care (or has taken responsibility for redress).
Find out about when your whānau can progress your claim if you die before receiving redress for abuse in State care.
Learn more about the redress process and organisations that offer redress.
You also have the option of going to court and you may be eligible for support and / or compensation from ACC.
For people who choose to make a claim for redress, this can be a challenging process. Learn where you can find support to help you make a claim.
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This document talks about:
This information is not meant to scare anyone.
If you are upset after reading this document you can talk to your:
If you do not feel safe you can phone the Police on:
This is also a long webpage.
Some things you can do to make it easier to read long webpages like this are:
This Easy Read is about 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.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care made a list of what redress for survivors should be.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care looked into abuse that happened to peoplein care.
In this Easy Read we will call Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care the Royal Commission.
Redress can include:
Here rehabilitation means support to heal from abuse in care.
This can be support for:
Redress can also include:
Here responsibility means:
Some organisations can give redress to survivors.
This means survivors do not have to go to court.
This redress can be:
You can make a claim for redress to the organisation that:
There are different ways to go about claiming redress.
Information about the way redress is done can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/claims
Information about how your whānau / family can carry on with your claim if you die can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/progress-claim
Information about possible redress from the Accident Compensation Corporation / ACC can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/acc
These webpages are not in Easy Read.
Sometimes making a claim for redress can be a hard thing to do.
Information on how you can get support to make a claim for redress can be found at this webpage:
www.konae.org.nz/legal-support
This website has some information in Easy Read.
The Royal Commission put out their last report on redress for survivors in 2024.
The Royal Commission made recommendations on what should be done about redress for survivors.
Recommendations are ideas that would be good to do.
You can find out about the recommendations on redress from the Royal Commission at this website:
www.tinyurl.com/4djudp87
This website is not in Easy Read.
Lake Alice
The Government gave redress to survivors who were tortured at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit.
Torture is when someone hurts someone else very badly on purpose.
Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit was set up to treat children and young people who had:
This redress happened from:
to
Top up payments for survivors
The Government said in May 2025 the payments to survivors of abuse in State / government care were going up.
This includes a top-up / extra payment to survivors who had already gotten payment for abuse in State / government care from:
You can find out more about top-up payments at this website:
www.abuseincaretopups.govt.nz
Criminal history checks
Survivors who want to claim redress from a government agency must give consent to have their criminal history checked.
Government agency means a part of the government like:
Consent means you:
Criminal history means a list of:
The Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill has been passed by the Government.
A bill is something that parliament decides if it should become a law.
Because of this law, survivors who have made a claim for redress after 9 May 2025 could have their claim rejected / turned down.
This will be if they have been sent to jail for more than 5 years for:
Talking about 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
This webpage is not in Easy Read.