The government has agreed on six principles to guide how its agencies and the Crown respond to the Royal Commission into historical abuse in state care and in the care of faith-based institutions.
The Minister for State Services, Chris Hipkins, said setting out the principles was an important step in rebuilding trust between the government and those abused while in state care.
The six principles are:
- Manaakitanga – treating people with humanity, compassion, fairness, respect and responsible caring that upholds the mana of those involved;
- Openness – being honest and sincere, being open to receiving new ideas and willing to consider how we do things currently, and how we have done things in the past;
- Transparency – sharing information, including the reasons behind all actions;
- Learning – active listening and learning from the Royal Commission and survivors, and using that information to change and improve systems;
- Being joined up – agencies work together closely to make sure activities are aligned, engagement with the Royal Commission is coordinated and the resulting actions are collectively owned;
- Meeting our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi – honouring the Treaty, its principles, meeting our obligations and building a stronger Māori-Crown relationship through the way we operate and behave.
Hipkins said that if the Royal Commission made recommendations as it identifies trends and issues over the next four years, he expects government agencies to start responding to those recommendations as they are made.
“It is thought that at least half of children in state care were Māori,” he said.
“It is vital that their experiences are recognised and respected by Crown agencies.”
Hipkins said his expectation was that the principles-based cross-agency approach will help enable this.
He said the concerns of Pacific people and people with disabilities also needed to be addressed.
The Royal Commission will present an interim report in December 2020 and its final report by January 2023.
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