Victim Support has promised to give its staff 'a summary report' of an independent investigation into allegations of bullying, bad training and delivery failure.
The report into Victim Support has been kept within the confines of the board so far. Photo: 123RF
Outgoing Justice Minister Kris Faafoi asked the charity to be more transparent last week after it refused to share a workplace investigation report beyond its board.
Victim Support initially gave the Ministry of Justice a summary of the report but has now handed officials a full copy, with assurances it would be kept confidential.
The charity's board chair Lorraine Scanlon communicated this, and a promise to disseminate 'a summary report' to staff, via an internal email at the end of last week.
The correspondence, seen by RNZ, told staff the board now wanted to share a summary report "to provide [Victim Support workers] confidence in the findings of the report".
"We have commissioned Charlotte Stevens, the independent investigator who completed the investigation and report, to write a summary report that reflects her findings.
"This will be shared with you as soon as practicable," Scanlon wrote.
The update will come as only partial relief to half a dozen former staff members, some who participated in the report, who've told RNZ they want to see the full document.
They've shared personal experiences of bullying, harassment and one instance when the charity refused to replace the bloodied clothes of a woman who'd been stabbed.
In her latest internal letter, Scanlon referenced RNZ's coverage of the report and said the board had "listened to all of the feedback shared through the investigation".
"You may be aware there has been media interest about the report and why we have chosen not to publicly release it.
"I want to assure you that the National Board of Victim Support is taking this extremely seriously and any assertion that we are hiding the contents is entirely untrue."
Scanlon's reasoning for not releasing the report continues to be that it would breach the privacy of those who participated in the investigation despite it being anonymised.
"Although the report does not specify names, there are references to roles performed and our people's stories, all of which can identify individuals," she has said.
