A law firm representing survivors of abuse in State care is concerned that the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) continues to deny survivors access to parts of their personal files, in breach of High Court ruling released two weeks ago.

Cooper Legal Principal Partner says that in August, Justice Palmer ruled that government agencies cannot use the Privacy Act or lower court rules to stop survivors from accessing their files.

“We are very concerned that during the hearing, Crown counsel confirmed the Crown would abide by the decision of the court. However, we took this statement with a grain of salt because we are highly suspicious of the Crown”, Ms Cooper says.

“Unfortunately, our suspicion has yet again proved to be well founded.

“On Cooper Legal’s request, Justice Palmer made a formal declaration because survivors could be reasonably expected to have no confidence in the Crown’s word.

“Survivors and the High Court were right not to trust the Crown because now, even with a formal High Court declaration in place, MSD has told us that it will continue to withhold the documents because it needs time to ‘consider’ the decision.

“We think that is ridiculous. This decision is clear, the Crown cannot keep hiding information from survivors.

“We have been telling MSD for years that it is not applying the law correctly in relation to documents, but this has fallen on deaf ears. The hearing was in April this year, so MSD has had plenty of time to consider what it should do if the Crown was unsuccessful in the High Court.

“We are very concerned that this yet again shows that the Crown has contempt for survivors and contempt for their rights. I would go so far as to say MSD has contempt for the High Court too.

“We are used to MSD ignoring survivors, and have been fighting against this for years. I am shocked that it appears MSD is now also ignoring a High Court judgment.

“While the Crown is entitled to file an appeal, it is not entitled to disregard the High Court’s ruling. If MSD is considering an appeal, that in itself is concerning.

“We had hoped that the Royal Commission would lead to meaningful change in the Crown’s approach. The Royal Commission in its final report released in July specifically said that the State had to stop using significant resources to deny survivors their voice.

“Part of having a voice is having access to documentation created about you.

“Instead of using resources to provide survivors with meaningful redress for the abuse they were subjected to as children, the Crown is using it to try to fight survivors in Court.

“We are so concerned about MSD’s approach that Cooper Legal has notified the Office of the Privacy Commissioner”, Ms Cooper concluded.

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