Key Points
- A New Zealand inquiry found approximately 200,000 vulnerable people were abused in state and religious care.
- Nearly one-third of individuals in care from 1950 to 2019 experienced some form of abuse.
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised on behalf of the government and pledged to compensate survivors.
This article contains references to child abuse.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised and promised reforms after a public inquiry found some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults were abused in state and religious care over the last 70 years.
Nearly one in three children and vulnerable adults in care from 1950 to 2019 experienced some form of abuse, the report said, a finding that could leave the government facing billions of dollars in fresh compensation claims.
“This is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand’s history as a society and as a state, we should have done better, and I am determined that we will do so,” Luxon told a press conference.
An official apology would follow on 12 November, he added.
The report by a Royal Commission of Inquiry spoke to more than 2,300 survivors of abuse in New Zealand, which has a population of 5.3 million.
The inquiry detailed a litany of abuses in state and faith-based care, including rape, sterilisation and electric shocks, which peaked in the 1970s.
Those from the Indigenous Maori community were especially vulnerable to abuse, the report found, as well as those with mental or physical disabilities.
Civil and faith leaders fought to cover up abuse by moving abusers to other locations and denying culpability, with many victims dying before seeing justice, the report added.
“It is a national disgrace that hundreds of thousands of children, young people and adults were abused and neglected in the care of the state and faith-based institutions,” the report said.
It made 138 recommendations, including calling for public apologies from New Zealand’s government, as well as the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury, heads of the Catholic and Anglican churches respectively, who have previously condemned child abuse.
In a statement, the Catholic Church in New Zealand said it was carefully reviewing the report.
The Anglican Church in New Zealand said in a statement: “We acknowledge and take full responsibility for our failures to provide the safe, caring and nurturing environment those who have been in our care had a right to expect and to receive.”
The report said the average lifetime cost to an abuse survivor was estimated in 2020 to be approximately $NZ857,000 ($771,700) per person, though it did not make clear the amount of compensation available for survivors.
Luxon said he believed the total compensation to survivors could run into billions of dollars.
“We’re opening up the redress conversations and we’re going through that work with survivor groups,” he said.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at and .
Anyone seeking information or support relating to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831 or Blue Knot on 1300 657 380.
