NEW ZEALAND
Stuff
AIMEE GULLIVER
Advocates for child abuse victims say the Government’s plan to “fast-track” payouts for people alleging historic abuse in state care is deeply flawed and underfunded.
The historic abuse claims relate to sexual, physical, and psychological abuse or neglect of children while they were in a wide range of social welfare, health, education and church-run homes, as well as foster care and family homes.
The claims involved a wide range of allegations from people who had been in state care, covering a 70-year period, with most between the 1960s and 1980s.
The Ministry of Social Development has received 1572 claims since 2004, with payouts totalling $8.4 million awarded in the 583 cases resolved so far – an average of just under $14,500 per case.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said the average time taken to resolve a claim was more than two years, and people with unresolved claims would be given the option of a “fast-track settlement”.
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