Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will deliver the report to Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The final report and recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care have been delivered to the Governor-General.
The inquiry was established in 2018.
More than 1700 survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care from 1950 to 2000 registered with the Royal Commission.
It is estimated between 113,757 to 255,646 people were abused in care from 1950 to 2019.
The 2500-page report is called Whanaketia - through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, a name decided by the inquiry's survivor advisory group.
It includes 16 volumes covering context, what happened, why it happened, specific case studies, survivor experiences and recommendations for the future.
The inquiry made significant findings that abuse and neglect were pervasive across many settings and that abusers acted with impunity, the commissioners said.
"To survivors, and your whānau, communities, advocates and supporters, Whanaketia is your report. It is informed by your experiences, your voices, your journeys. You have been heard," commissioners Judge Coral Shaw (chair), Anaru Erueti and Paul Gibson said, in a joint statement.
"We recognise it has been a long and difficult journey, and the impacts of abuse and neglect continue to harm you. We pay respect, too, to the many people who have died waiting for action.
"Meaningful action must start right now. For too long our nation has swept abuse and neglect in care by state and faith-based institutions under the carpet. That's not good enough. It must stop."
Institutions and senior leaders must be held to account, they said, and "wrongs must be righted".
"Care must be made safe, whānau and communities must be invested in and empowered to provide care.
"Aotearoa New Zealand, now is the time we must stand up for what is right, remain resolute against the wrongdoing, and give survivors of abuse and neglect what they need to heal and thrive. We must ensure abuse and neglect in care does not continue."
They said it was a tough time for many.
"Many diverse communities have formed around the Royal Commission and while this part of the journey closes, we urge you to remain strong and brave. Please continue to support each other, as your individual and collective journeys echo across the motu."
Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will deliver the report to Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden.
The government will then make the final report and recommendations public by presenting it to Parliament.
Parliament sits on Wednesday and Thursday this week, before going into recess for three weeks.
It is expected the report will be tabled the week of 22 July.
