A website for people who wish to know how and where to access records from their time spent in care is now live: Home | Kōnae announces Crown Response Office Chief Executive Rajesh Chhana.

“The government has been working with Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand (CABNZ) to design, develop, manage and host a care records website for people who have been in state or non-state institutions.

“The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry found many survivors had difficulty accessing their personal records. The issues included lengthy delays or getting incomplete or heavily redacted information.

“Over the last couple of years, the government has worked with survivors and other organisations to improve survivors’ access to care records.

“One initiative was to develop a central website to provide information for survivors, care-experienced people, their whānau and support people to find out about how to make requests for personal records and what to expect.

“The government chose to partner with CABNZ to develop this website as it is a trusted, independent source of information supporting communities across the country,” says Mr Chhana.

Citizens Advice Bureau’s Chief Executive Kerry Dalton says this has been a very important project and the CAB drew on its long-standing experience of providing information in communities to empower people with information about how to access their records.

“We are indebted to survivors and people with lived experience who have worked alongsideus to develop Kōnae. He mihi nui kia koutou katoa.”

“We are honoured to be part of this important mahi.”

About Kōnae

Kōnae has information about the different state and faith-based institutions, how to contact them, what to expect from them and what types of information they may have about records.

Personal records are not on the new site, they are held by individual institutions (state and faith-based).

About Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand

Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand | Ngā Pou Whakawhirinaki o Aotearoa is a nationwide, locally based, community organisation that provides free, confidential information and advice on a range of issues. The service is designed to help people understand their rights and obligations, while also empowering them to take the next steps. CABNZ also works at a systems-level to seek positive social change.

The CABNZ service is provided by more than 2,000 trained volunteers in more than 80 locations around the motu and has been operating in Aotearoa New Zealand for over 50 years.

CABNZ is independent from government. It is a trusted and experienced provider of plain language information, both in-person through its workforce of trained volunteers, and online via its web-based information.

For more information about Citizens Advice Bureau go to https://www.cab.org.nz/what-we-do/about-us/

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