With less than a week to go before a national wānanga for survivors of state abuse in Christchurch, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has still not confirmed consistent travel support for those trying to attend. Many have been left waiting, others have been declined outright, and some have received offers so low they feel like an insult.

“It’s heartbreaking,” says Karl Tauri, spokesperson for NZCAST – the New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care. “We’ve had survivors calling us in tears, unsure if they’ll be able to attend. Some have said they don’t want to live anymore. And what’s MSD’s response? Silence, deferral, or ten dollars for a 5-hour round trip.”

This isn’t an isolated failure. NZCAST says it’s part of a larger pattern: a redress system that isn’t working, and an agency that claims to care about survivors but won’t even show up.

Travel support that harms more than it helps

Survivors attending the upcoming Whare Tapu Wānanga in Christchurch (23–25 May) have reported:

Receiving no confirmation of travel support

Being told they’re ineligible because their “claim is closed”

Being offered as little as $10–$20 for multi-hour journeys

Hearing different rules depending on the person who answers the phone.

“This is redress?” Tauri asks. “Survivors are retraumatised just trying to attend an event that could help them heal.”

Deaf survivors excluded

The situation is no better for Deaf survivors. MSD has refused to fund New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) interpreters for wānanga, redirecting organisers to Deaf Aotearoa who have no mandate or funding to cover redress-related events.

“This has left Deaf survivors completely shut out,” says Tauri. “Or, again, the burden falls on us, a grassroots, unpaid organisation to try and find the money.”

Disability support that doesn’t support

Survivors living with chronic pain, PTSD, or long-term illness are facing yet another barrier: the broken Disability Allowance system.

NZCAST reports survivors being forced to repeatedly prove their trauma by obtaining letters from GPs and specialists, a system over-stretched on its own, even when their conditions are permanent and well documented.

One mother cannot access basic allergy-safe food and unsubsidized medication for her and her children. They live with serious gluten and dairy allergies yet are denied support. “She skips rent once a month just to feed her kids and buy her medication” says Tauri. “What kind of system makes a woman choose between food and housing?”

Case management by postcode

In some parts of the country, Work and Income allows survivors to request dedicated case managers, a much needed and wanted advancement, so survivors don’t have to relive their trauma with a new person every time.

In some regions, this request is refused. “It’s postcode-based discrimination,” says Tauri. “The system you get depends entirely on where you live. That’s not justice.”

No dignity in death

In one recent case, MSD refused to fund the headstone for a survivor’s father, who was buried in an unmarked grave. He was a veteran of World War Two, and the only adult who supported and loved his daughter, before he passed away. Despite clear grounds for compassion and support, she has been left scrambling to piece together funding on a benefit.

“This was a man who stood by his daughter through everything,” says Tauri. “And MSD told the whānau no. No help, no honour, no acknowledgment. That tells you exactly how broken this system is, when even the dead, a veteran at that don’t get dignity.”

MSD: Present in some places, absent in others

Perhaps the most galling failure, NZCAST says, is MSD’s refusal to attend the Christchurch wānanga, despite attending similar events in Wellington and Palmerston North.

“Christchurch has hundreds of MSD staff and multiple offices,” Tauri says. “They claim it’s due to ‘conflicting commitments,’ but the message survivors hear is: you’re not important enough for us to show up.”

This matters, he says, because when MSD WINZ and Historic Claims does attend, it works. Survivors are able to connect with case managers, claims, ask questions, get real-time support, and rebuild trust with the public service.

NZCAST: Doing the work the Crown won’t

NZCAST is running the entire three-day Christchurch gathering including food, accommodation, transport, wellness sessions, peer support, and facilitation entirely unfunded. The trust receives no Crown funding, and relies on community aroha, fundraising, and lived experience.

“We’re holding people who are in crisis while MSD sends emails telling us to refer survivors to the website,” says Tauri. “We are doing their job. Unpaid. And still doing it better.”

What NZCAST is calling for:

A consistent national travel support policy for all survivors, open claim or not

NZSL interpreter funding for all Crown-linked survivor events

A trauma-informed Disability Allowance process that stops punishing people

Equal access to case managers, no matter the postcode

A survivor-led inter-agency wellbeing and redress taskforce

Proper funding for survivor-led groups who are carrying the system’s failures

Implentation of the recommendations provided by the Royal Commission.

“We’re not asking for favours. We’re asking for justice.”

At the heart of it, Tauri says, is a simple truth: redress is not money. Redress is showing up. It’s access. It’s care.

“MSD says it supports survivors, but survivors are not feeling supported. They’re exhausted. They’re retraumatized. And they’re being left behind.”

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