The Government will invest $774 million in Budget 2025 to improve the redress system for the survivors of abuse in state care, with action on increasing the average payment for new claims and providing top-ups to those who have already settled claims. 

Erica Stanford, the minister leading the Government’s response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s findings, is set to address the media from Auckland about midday. 

A video livestream of the announcement will be broadcast at the top of this article. 

She will detail how ministers have decided to focus on improving the current system, rather than introducing a new entity, in order to assist survivors more quickly, Erica Stanford, the minister in charge, said. These improvements are expected to take place over the course of the year. 

Among them is increasing the average redress payment for new claims from $19,180 to $30,000 and providing top-up payments of 50% to survivors who have already settled claims to ensure consistent with the increased payments for new claims. 

A framework will be introduced so survivors receive the same financial redress for similar experiences of abuse, regardless of where it occurred, while the survivors who experienced the most egregious abuse will receive higher payments. 

Minister Erica Stanford has acknowledged no amount of redress could make up for what people experienced. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

The system’s capacity to process claims will also be increased from 1350 claims per year to 2150 from 2027, cutting down on wait times. Survivors who have claims with multiple agencies will also soon have one point of contact to assist them. 

An independent review will be introduced for people unhappy with their redress offer, while funding is also being put aside for agencies to provide survivors with supports and services. 

The investment announced on Friday follows the Government’s apology late last year to the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. 

One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abuse as well as a Redress Design Group was to establish a new independent redress entity. 

“The Government was faced with a difficult choice: do we spend more time and money on setting up a new scheme, or do we provide more to survivors now through the current redress process?” Stanford said. 

“For Budget 25 we have prioritised improving the current system as quickly as possible for survivors and investing in changes that have a direct impact for them.” 

The minister also highlighted investments in the wider care system over the next four years, including: 

Up to $71.5 million to build a capable and safe care workforce for children and vulnerable adults; 

Over $50 million to make mental health inpatient units safer and improve privacy and dignity for patients; 

$25 million towards funding initiatives with evidence of an ability to prevent the entry of children and vulnerable adults into care; 

$16 million for Oranga Tamariki for improvements to safeguarding to reduce abuse and harm to children and young people in remand homes and in the care of individual caregivers; 

$9.4 million to bolster oversight of compulsory mental health and addiction care by increasing the capacity, expertise, and availability of independent statutory roles including District Inspectors and Review Tribunals; and 

Almost $9 million for Disability Support Services to strengthen processes that recognise and respond to instances of abuse in care, by introducing additional audits on the quality of services delivered by contracted care providers and improving the systems that support the management of critical incidents and complaints. 

“There is also funding for the continuation of the Survivor Experiences Service who provide an important survivor-led service, better record keeping and access to records, and for an independent review of the changes to the redress system in 2027,” a statement said. 

Cabinet has agreed that for new claims from survivors who are also serious sexual and/or violent offenders sentenced to five years or more in prison, a new process will apply. 

“Modelled on similar approaches in Australia and Scotland, this will involve an independent decision maker who will need to assure themselves that a redress payment would not bring the scheme into disrepute. Legislation establishing this will be introduced later this year.” 

A ministerial advisory group of survivors and advocates will be established in the coming months to provide additional advice to ministers on the Government’s response. 

“Redress decisions, at this point, do not include claims that currently sit with school boards, faith-based organisations, or other non-state providers. The Government will be receiving further advice on this later this year.” 

Stanford said there is wider work ongoing on the response to the Royal Commission recommendations and a full response plan is expected to be released in the coming weeks. 

The Government is expected to make an announcement about its response to decades of abuse perpetrated in state and faith-based institutions. 

Earlier this week, Malcolm Richards, a survivor of torture at the notorious Lake Alice psychiatric facility revealed he was taking the Government to court over its redress scheme. 

The scheme for survivors of torture at Lake Alice includes either an expedited payment of $150,000 or a request for an arbiter to complete an individualised assessment. 

The Government has set aside $22.68 million for redress payments, including operating costs. 

Richards, who was tortured with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a 15-year-old, is seeking a judicial review of the redress scheme. 

He has rejected the $150,000 payment out of principle, saying he wants to see through his legal challenge in the hope of changing the current redress system. 

Stanford said $7m had been paid in expedited payments (of $150,000 each) to 47 survivors. There were a further 29 fast-track payments in progress. 

Forty-four survivors had chosen the individualised pathway, she said. 

Stanford has previously said the redress served “as an expression of our regret as to the many ways in which they [survivors] were failed”. 

In February, she said the Government wanted to ensure people had a choice in the redress process. 

“A number of survivors of the Lake Alice unit have made clear to me the importance of choice. For some, certainty and pace are a priority, for others an individualised process is more important.” 

The current approach provided flexibility for survivors and was more responsive to the different experiences of torture, she said. 

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.