In recent weeks, Sir Owen Glenn's inquiry into family violence has been rocked by the departure of its executive director Ruth Herbert and several panel members over safety concerns for family violence survivors giving evidence to the inquiry.
Otago University senior social work lecturer Dr Nicola Atwool - a member of what was initially a 38-strong ''advisory think-tank'' - has decided to stay on and believed the inquiry still represented a ''unique opportunity'' to address what was a huge problem in New Zealand society.
''My hope is that by hearing the stories of the people who are most deeply affected by this, we will have a clearer understanding of what is and what isn't working.''
Asked if she ever considered leaving she said: ''Initially, I was in a position of 'I need to know more before I can decide'... but I think the issues are bigger than personalities [involved].
''I am a bit of an eternal optimist and I still hold out hope that this can be a valuable way of gathering very pertinent information,'' she said.
She had also received assurances that information from the inquiry would be handled securely and believed some of the concerns held by people who had left had been addressed.
It was her understanding that the initial departures were due to concerns that the location and time of where people were to give evidence to the inquiry would become public information, putting people's safety at risk.
''There are risks associated with people disclosing in these kinds of situations, because some people are still at risk from people,'' she said.
However, she was confident in the process. Only a general time frame had been given for the panel's visit to other parts of the country. Those interested in giving evidence would be asked to call a contact person for more information.
Some members of the inquiry had since left, after a ''corporate structure'' was put in place following the initial departures, but Dr Atwool was confident the new structure would not affect the way the inquiry worked.
The most important thing now was for the inquiry to ''restore people's confidence'' over the handling of information, because that was the ''key'' to getting people affected by violence coming forward.
She hoped the independent review commissioned to look at how the inquiry handled sensitive information would go some way to reassuring people.
