Applying for redress

If you believe you experienced abuse or neglect while in State care, you may be able to apply for State redress. 

The purpose of the State redress process is to recognise a person’s experience of abuse or neglect in State care and offer an alternative to litigation for redress for abuse in care.

Redress includes one or more of the following: 

• a personalised apology 

• financial payment 

• counselling or other wellbeing support 
• assistance with accessing care records  

The type of redress available will depend on your individual circumstances and the outcome of the assessment process. 

Financial redress and criminal conviction history

If you are seeking financial redress, you will be asked to complete a Serious Offender Declaration and agree to a criminal record check.

The redress agency you are working with will explain the process, answer your questions, and provide the information and forms you need.

Find out more about financial redress and criminal record checks.

If you have already received redress 

If you have previously received a redress payment, you may be able to apply for a top-up payment. 

If you would like information about top-up payments, you can find out whether you may be eligible and how to apply below. 

Apply for a top-up payment

www.abuseincaretopups.govt.nz

If you have previously received redress and would like to discuss a new claim, contact the State redress service. Information about your previous claims or redress payments may be considered as part of a future assessment.

If you have already received a redress payment from one State redress agency, you may not be eligible to raise the same allegations with another redress agency.

Who can apply for redress

You may be able to apply for State redress if you experienced abuse or neglect while in a State-run setting. 

Abuse or neglect can be physical, sexual, emotional or psychological, and has the same meaning as in the Common Payment Framework.

Help is available if you are unsure whether you can apply

If you are not sure whether State redress applies to your circumstances, please contact the State redress service. We can talk through your situation and explain the options available to you.

How eligibility is assessed

As part of checking eligibility, the relevant agency may review records and/or ask you for more information to understand whether your claim can be is eligible and the abuse or neglect you are experienced.

Claims cannot be made on behalf of someone who has died. However, if a person makes an eligible claim and dies before it is resolved, their estate may be able to continue the claim on their behalf. 

The sections below explain the eligibility for redress schemes involving Ministry of Social Development, Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand, Te Puni Kōkiri, Department of Corrections and the types of care settings that may be covered. 

State schools

You may be able to apply if you believe you were abused or neglected while you attended: 

• a specialist school before 1989 

• a primary or intermediate State school before 1989 

• a State school that has since closed, including specialist schools and health camp schools

Specialist schools include residential special schools and day schools established under the Education Act 1964 or the Education and Training Act 2020. Specialist schools that have now closed include:  

• Campbell Park School/Otekaieke (Otekaike) Special School for Boys   

• McKenzie Residential School  

• Mt Wellington Residential School/Bucklands Beach Residential School/ Waimokoia Residential School

These claims are usually managed by the Ministry of Education. 

State care

You may be able to register a claim if you believe you were abused or neglected:

• while in the care or custody of Oranga Tamariki and that abuse or neglect occurred on or after 1 April 2017. These claims are usually managed by Oranga Tamariki
• in the care of the Child Welfare Division, the Department of Social Welfare, or Child, Youth and Family before 1 April 2017 (with care defined as meaning being in the care, custody, guardianship, or coming to the notice of the relevant agency). These claims are usually managed by the Ministry of Social Development.

A claim may be declined for eligibility if it is considered the abuse or neglect they allege is not, or could not reasonably be said to be, as a result of acts or omissions of the Child Welfare Division, the Department of Social Welfare, or Child, Youth and Family in the performance of its statutory functions in relation to care, protection or control before 1 April 2017.

Youth penal institutions 

You may be able to apply if you believe you were abused or neglected while you were: 

• placed in a youth penal institution operated by the former Department of Justice, including borstals, corrective training institutions, detention centres and youth prisons (sometimes referred to as youth institutions) 

These claims are usually managed by Department of Corrections. 

Programmes run by the Department of Māori Affairs

You may be able to apply if you believe you were abused or neglected: 

• while attending or participating in the Te Whakapakari Youth Programme between 1 January 1977 and 31 December 1989, while the Department of Māori Affairs had administrative oversight of the programme. 

• by a Departmental Employee responsible for delivering services related to the care, protection, or control of the person when they were a child or young person; or 

• while in a care programme administered by the Department where a Department Employee ought to have reasonably known about the abuse and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the abuse 

For the purposes of the above criteria: 

• “Department Employee” includes Mātua Whangai social workers
• “care programme administered by the Department” includes the Mātua Whāngai programme itself

These claims are usually managed by Te Puni Kōkiri.

Mental health and psychopaedic facilities

You may be able to apply if you believe you were abused or neglected before 1 July 2022 in:

• a State-run psychiatric facility
• a State-run mental health facility
• a State-run psychopaedic care setting, including Kimberley Hospital / Centre

These claims are usually managed by the Ministry of Health if the events happened before 1 July 1993, and/or Health New Zealand if the events happened between 1 July 1993 and 30 June 2022.

Some claims may be different

Claims involving more than one care setting or agency

Some people's experiences involve more than one care setting, organisation, or government agency. 

You only need to start the claim process once. 

Where appropriate, agencies may work together to respond to your experiences through a single claim process. This can help reduce the need to repeat information and provide a more joined-up response. 

Find out more about what happens after you make a claim.

Previous claims and payments

If you have received redress before, you can still contact the State redress service to discuss your circumstances. 

Any financial redress offer may take into account your overall care experience, including any current or previous claims and payments.   

If you think State redress may apply to your circumstances, you can make a claim or contact us to discuss your options. 

If you are not ready to complete a form, you can still contact us for information, support, or to talk through your options. 

Make a claim online

Before you continue: 

Online claim form: forms.redress.govt.nz

Call us

Phone: 0800 110 886

Phone from overseas: +64 4 910 9886

If you would like to talk to someone first, a member of the team can answer your questions, explain the process, and talk through your options. 

Email or write to us

You can download a claim form and return it by email or post. 

Download a claim form:

Redress Registration Form - Email(PDF, 265 KB)

Redress Registration Form - Print(PDF, 300 KB)

Email: contact@info.redress.govt.nz

Post:
State redress service
State Redress NZ
PO Box 1556
Wellington 6140

Information you will need 

You do not need to have everything ready before contacting us. 

Many people do not remember exact dates, names, locations or other details. That is okay. We can work with you to understand what information is available and what may be needed. 

It may be helpful to have: 

• your full name and any other names you have used 

• your date of birth 

• your current contact details
• information about where you were in care, attended school, or received services (if known)
• approximate dates or time periods (if you remember them)
• information about where your experiences occurred and how those experiences affected you 
• information about any support, accessibility or communication needs you may have 

• details of a lawyer, advocate, whānau member, caregiver, support person or other representative who may be helping you 
• any documents or records you would like to share 

Identification 

You will be asked to provide identification so we can confirm your identity, make sure we are communicating with the right person, and support any required criminal conviction history checks. 

Examples of identification include: 

• a passport 

• a New Zealand driver licence 

• a firearms licence 

• other approved forms of identification 

If you do not have identification, or are unsure what documents you can provide, please contact us. We will work with you to find another way to confirm your identity.  

Not having identification will not prevent you from applying for redress or accessing support. 

Support and guidance

You do not have to go through the process alone. 

Support may be available before, during, or after you engage with the State redress process. 

You can find information about: 

• wellbeing and support services 

• care records 

• privacy and information sharing 
• Authority to Act 
• frequently asked questions 

Go to Support and guidance

Let us know about your circumstances

When you contact us, please tell us if there are any circumstances, support needs, accessibility requirements, health conditions, cultural needs, communication preferences, or other matters that may affect how we support you or communicate with you. 

Sharing this information can help us support you in the way that works best for you. 

You have choices about how you engage with the redress process. Some people choose to work directly with the State redress service or participating agencies, while others choose to have support from a lawyer, advocate, whānau member, support person or other representative. Assistance may be available to help meet the cost of legal advice or representation.

Contact the State redress service