There comes a point when acknowledgment must give way to accountability.
For survivors of abuse in state care, that point has long passed.
The establishment of the Crown Response Office (CRO) signalled a commitment by the Crown to respond to the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. Survivors welcomed that commitment cautiously, with hope that the pain of the past would be met not with further bureaucracy, but with integrity, courage, and meaningful change.
As Chair of the New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care Charitable Trust (NZCAST), I speak on behalf of many who have carried the weight of silence for decades. Survivors do not seek revenge. We seek accountability, cultural integrity, and the shared expectation that meaningful collaboration between survivors and agencies must contribute to lasting change for present and future generations.
Engagement must be more than consultation. It must be partnership in practice.
Too often, survivors have been invited to share their stories, their trauma, and their expertise — only to find that decision-making remains distant and opaque. If agencies are serious about transformation, survivors must be positioned not as stakeholders to be managed, but as leaders in shaping the response.
For Māori survivors in particular, this kaupapa carries an additional layer of responsibility. The abuse that occurred in state care was not culturally neutral. It was experienced within systems that too often dismissed tikanga, identity, language, and whakapapa. Cultural integrity cannot be an afterthought. It must be foundational.
NZCAST remains grateful for the engagement and support provided by CRO to date. There have been constructive conversations, moments of goodwill, and signs of progress. We acknowledge those efforts. But gratitude does not remove the need for clarity.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Crown Response Office at the earliest convenience to clarify expectations regarding agency coordination, engagement arrangements, and the nature of our ongoing working relationship. Survivors deserve transparency. They deserve to understand how decisions are made, how priorities are set, and how their voices influence outcomes.
Accountability must be shared. It must be measurable. And it must be visible.
Kotahitanga — unity of purpose — is not achieved through press releases or strategic frameworks alone. It is built through consistent action, open communication, and the courage to admit when systems are falling short. Tikanga demands that relationships be grounded in respect, reciprocity, and mana-enhancing practice. Shared accountability means that agencies and survivor groups alike commit to outcomes that extend beyond political cycles.
The true test of this work will not be found in reports or policy documents. It will be found in whether children in care today are safer, more valued, and more culturally affirmed than those who came before them.
As parents and grandparents, we hold a simple lens through which to measure success: would we accept these systems for our own mokopuna? If the answer is no, then reform remains unfinished.
All children deserve to be treated with dignity, opportunity, protection, and genuine care. That is not an aspirational goal — it is a moral baseline.
Survivors have done their part. They have spoken their truth at immense personal cost. The responsibility now rests with the Crown and its agencies to ensure that collaboration is not symbolic, but transformative.
The time for careful words has passed.
The time for courageous action is now.
Ngā mihi,
Karl Tauri
Chair | Founder
New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care Charitable Trust (NZCAST
