Two years after the release of the landmark Whanaketia – Through Pain and Trauma, From Darkness to Light report, survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care will gather at Parliament tomorrow with a clear message for the Government: the Crown’s apology must now be matched by action.
The gathering marks the second anniversary of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s final report, which described abuse in care as a “national disgrace” after hearing nearly 3,000 survivor accounts and documenting decades of physical, emotional, sexual and cultural abuse suffered by hundreds of thousands of children, young people and vulnerable adults between 1950 and 1999.
While survivors acknowledge the significance of last year’s formal Crown apology, many say progress on implementing the Commission’s recommendations has been too slow, with meaningful reform still out of reach for those who endured abuse.
The Royal Commission made more than 130 recommendations aimed at transforming the care system, strengthening safeguards, improving redress, supporting survivors and ensuring such abuse can never happen again. The Government has since released a response plan outlining work across agencies, including legislation to establish a new redress system and reforms to improve care safety.
However, survivor advocates say many recommendations remain unfulfilled, leaving thousands still waiting for justice, compensation and systemic change.
Labour’s spokesperson for the Crown response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry, Julia Whaipooti, is expected to join survivors at Parliament in support of renewed calls for the recommendations to be fully implemented.
Whaipooti has previously argued that survivors have waited long enough for meaningful change and that governments must move beyond symbolic gestures toward lasting reform that restores trust and dignity to those affected.
The anniversary also comes as faith-based institutions continue to confront their own histories.
This week, the Presbyterian Church formally apologised for abuse that occurred within its care settings, a year after the release of the Royal Commission’s report. The apology acknowledged the suffering experienced by survivors and the institution’s failures over many decades.
For many survivors, however, apologies—while important—cannot erase the lifelong consequences of abuse or replace the need for practical support and accountability.
The Royal Commission found abuse in care had lifelong impacts on education, health, employment, housing, relationships and cultural identity, with Māori disproportionately represented among those placed into state care.
The inquiry concluded that many tamariki Māori experienced not only abuse and neglect but also the systematic loss of language, whakapapa, identity and connection to whānau, amounting to profound cultural harm alongside physical and emotional trauma.
Survivors gathering at Parliament say tomorrow’s event is not simply about reflecting on the past but ensuring future generations never experience similar failures.
They are calling on the Government to accelerate implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, strengthen independent oversight, improve survivor redress and continue reforming both state and faith-based institutions.
As Aotearoa marks two years since the release of Whanaketia, survivors say the true measure of the report’s legacy will not be found in apologies or commemorations, but in whether New Zealand delivers the changes it promised to those whose lives were forever altered while in care.
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