Warning: distressing content
A Dunedin survivor of historical sexual abuse says she has "little faith" recommendations by a government watchdog will improve abuse-in-care payments.
The chief ombudsman published his final opinion yesterday on a complaint made against the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) in 2020 by Cooper Legal — a Wellington-based firm specialising in abuse claims — about its processes for considering claims of abuse in care and the amounts payable under it.
In his opinion, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier labelled the ministry’s rates of compensation for survivors "arbitrary and unreasonable".
"The underlying benchmarks for payments are low and the degree of harm to an individual claimant is not fully considered when these are assessed.
"To my mind, there is no clear justification for the rates of payment made under this scheme when compared to payments made by the state for other forms of abuse or the compensation paid overseas."
Dunedin historical sexual abuse survivor Sarah* said while the ombudsman’s opinion was "pretty humane and positive" she had "little faith" it would make a difference.
Earlier this year, the Otago Daily Times reported on Sarah’s nearly five-year battle to resolve a historical abuse claim with the MSD.
Sarah was sexually abused by her foster father, whose care she was placed under by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), in 1977.
The man would masturbate in front of her at the breakfast table before he left for work, the abuse leaving her with little self-worth, difficulty trusting people and strained mental health — for which she wanted compensation.
In 2022, the MSD offered Sarah $6000 for her abuse, which it categorised as "low level".
Sarah ultimately received a "rapid payment" offer — a government scheme in response to claimants whose abuse had not been resolved for several years — which she accepted.
Sarah said yesterday there had been no clear justification why the MSD characterised her case as "low level" and she was yet to wrap her head around it.
She agreed with Mr Boshier’s recommendation that the ministry needed to more clearly explain to claimants how their claim had been assessed, what information was taken into account and how the ministry justified the payment categories.
"It sounds good in theory. I just hope it comes into practice."
She disagreed with Mr Boshier’s opinion there was no evidence to conclude the ministry diminished the severity of abuse to streamline decision-making processes.
Sarah said abuse was still going on and she was concerned about what future survivors had in store.
"For those children in 10 years’ or 20 years’ time when they go through this, what are they going to be faced with?"
"If this comes to fruition, I suppose, it’d give me a bit more faith."
Mr Boshier said participating in the scheme had caused profound emotional and financial consequences for claimants, and he had found "shortcomings" in some of the ministry’s reasons for its decisions.
The ministry’s criteria for accepting claims was too narrow and failed to undertake a broad and holistic assessment of some claims.
It was "unreasonable" for the ministry to refuse a claim simply because it could not find information to substantiate it within its own records, Mr Boshier said.
MSD historic claims general manager Linda Hrstich-Meyer said the ministry received the ombudsman’s final opinion on Tuesday and was considering the recommendations.
A number of things had changed since Cooper Legal’s complaint was lodged in 2020, including the tabling of the final report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care and the introduction of the rapid payment process in late 2022.
Its payments were intended as an acknowledgement of the abuse and neglect that occurred while in state care, not as compensation for the harm and damage suffered, she said.
"We know we have not always got things right and, following the findings of the royal commission, we have apologised to survivors for shortcomings in our redress process.
"We will continue to make the redress process better and to make it more responsive to claimants."
*Names have been changed to protect anonymity.
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