Survivors of abuse in state care say redress changes introduced at last year's budget have failed to address fundamental problems with the system, as average payments remain at $30,000.
The government lifted payments from $20,000 in May 2025 and made available up to $5,000 in targeted supports. But internal briefings show ministers were presented with options to increase average payments to $50,000 or $100,000, with higher support levels of $5,000 to $15,000. Setting payments at $100,000 would have cost between $600 million and $1.2 billion over four years.
Advocate Keith Wiffin, himself a survivor, described the system as unfit for purpose. "It's not just about money, this," he said. "It's about a holistic redress programme that needs to be put in place - health-related supports, counselling always available, your dental care would get looked after you don't have to pay that out of any monetary amount you may well have got."
The government reformed existing systems rather than creating the single survivor-led redress body the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had recommended, and excluded faith-based organisations from the framework. Advocate Ken Clearwater said the system continues to fail survivors, many of whom lost the ability to work or build careers. "They've been on benefits and stuck in that system that abused them in the first place and now you've got that same system - the abusers, the perpetrators - are trying to work out a way to fix it and they are failing badly," he said.
Sonja Cooper, principal partner at Cooper Legal, which has represented hundreds of survivors, called the payment increase insulting. She said her firm now acts for clients born in the 2000s, some only recently out of care. "It's really important for people to be conscious and aware that abuse of children and vulnerable people in New Zealand hasn't stopped. It continues almost unabated," she said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised to survivors in November 2024, saying "no amount of money will ever make up for what you have endured". Erica Stanford, the minister responsible for the government's response to the inquiry, did not respond to questions about whether she had supported higher payments.
Ministry of Social Development historic claims general manager Linda Hrstich-Meyer said settlement amounts reflect available information and the assessment framework in place at the time. The system now permits top-ups and allows claims to be reassessed under current frameworks.