Protesters queue to enter Parliament with a rope of ribbons bearing the names of survivors on July 24.
Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel

A survivor and a shelter abuse expert are urging the government to announce details of a redress scheme before a national apology is tabled in Parliament.

Minister Erica Stanford, Senior Minister for Government Response Coordination, announced this week that payments would be made to Lake Alice survivors who would have their legal fees deducted..

But for others, questions about the extent of compensation that could be awarded remain unanswered.

Toni Jarvis was nine years old when he was taken from the home and placed in an adult psychiatric institution near Dunedin, Cherry Farm.

“Welcome to a horror show. I was there alone, wondering what I was doing there.”

Other patients terrorized and physically and sexually abused him.

This continued for several years when he was sent to Hokio Beach School, the family home on Awatea Street and Holdsworth School, where he was constantly raped and abused.

He estimates he was raped 200 times at the Hokio Beach school alone.

Jarvis said he has received $38,000 from the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Health through separate claims processes.

He described that figure as an insult.

“Do you understand the psychological ramifications and the mental health trauma that I have had to live with my entire life? That I have had to receive treatment and that I still receive it today?

“Do you understand being sodomized continuously and repetitively?”

Jarvis said he is still fighting for fair compensation. He has fought his adoption records, saying he did not receive the care his birth mother requested, and that a family court ruling in 2003 upheld this.

She wants to reapply if a new redress system is created, for that compensation and to reflect the effects of the abuse she suffered.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry concluded that state and religious reparations plans for survivors in New Zealand had been ineffective and re-traumatised.

The commissioners recommended that new independently managed repair planopen to all state and religious survivors. They also recommended that this be open to survivors who have previously settled claims.

Stephen Winter, a professor at the University of Auckland, said that on average, victims who apply for help through the Ministry of Social Development receive an average payment of about $21,000.

“Overall, the Royal Commission makes it very clear that the processes have been protracted, very difficult and have not provided adequate payments.

“If we look at similar programs abroad, we see that they are paying significantly: maybe four to five times more per survivor.

“So I think we can certainly expect to think that the resulting reparations program that will emerge from the Royal Commission’s work here will provide a lot more money for survivors.”

Dr Winter said redress schemes in Australia, Canada and Scotland have paid out about $99,000, $110,000 and $108,000 (in New Zealand dollars) on average, per payment respectively.

This week, the minister in charge of the response, Erica Stanford, said the government would increase compensation for a group of Lake Alice survivors who had their legal fees deducted from a 2001 settlement.

They would end up with a total of about $70,000 each.

Stanford also confirmed he would introduce an omnibus bill aimed at improving state care on Apology Day.

Stanford said more details about torture victims would be known later this year, but did not confirm whether a new reparation system for other survivors would be announced on the day of the apology.

“We are still working on hugely complex decisions, all of which have to go through Cabinet. We are working as quickly as we can, and some of those decisions have not yet been made before the announcement.

“So, as I said, the Prime Minister will be able to give an update on the day of the apology.”

Jarvis will be in Parliament, listening and waiting for the government to give a fair response.

“Let’s listen to what their words are, do they have meaning, are they hollow, is there action behind them, is there no politics?” he asked.

The Prime Minister will present the national apology in Parliament on November 12.

Where to get help:

For male survivors:

Road Forward Trust, Wellington, contact Richard 0211181043

Best Guys Auckland, 099902553

Canterbury Men’s Centre, 03 3776747

The Male Room, Nelson 035480403

Male survivors, Waikato 07 8584112

Male survivors, Otago 0211064598

For the surviving women –

Help Wellington, 048016655

Help, Auckland 09 623 1296.

For urgent help: Safe To Talk 0800044334.

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