Mrs Bremner was named for the first time in the final report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care — a 3000-page, nine-part document which was made public on Wednesday.
The report detailed that in late 2017 or early 2018, Mrs Bremner instructed a staff member to destroy the records — apart from registers of names and dates — of children and young people in the care of Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO).
It said the inquiry’s investigation into abuse and neglect at two PSO children’s homes — Glendining Home in Dunedin and Mārama Home in Lawrence — was "made particularly difficult" due to the destruction of records.
Male Survivors Otago yesterday labelled Mrs Bremner’s decision to destroy the records as "despicable".
Mrs Bremner, who is believed to be living in Botswana, did not respond to numerous attempts to reach her by phone and email yesterday.
The report says PSO had acknowledged that when the decision was made to destroy the records, the organisation was aware of reports of abuse and neglect of people in its care and that there was a plan to hold a royal commission into abuse in care.
The records were destroyed ahead of the commission issuing a preservation of documents order, in March 2019, which prohibited state and faith-based institutions from destroying potentially relevant information.
According to the report, Mrs Bremner made the decision to destroy records after seeking "informal advice" from Dunedin lawyer Frazer Barton, who is also a former PSO board chairman and is currently the president of the New Zealand Law Society.
Mrs Bremner first asked Mr Barton, a partner at Anderson Lloyd, if the organisation was legally obliged to provide records to an abuse survivor’s legal representative.
"Ms Bremner then asked whether Presbyterian Support Otago could destroy the rest of the records for all children and young people who had been in its care and keep only minimal information," the report said.
She suggested she would do so once the staff member responsible for looking after the files retired, which was likely to happen within the next five years.
The report said Mr Barton replied that he thought PSO could destroy the documents "but at an appropriate milestone or anniversary".
A later section of the report said the documents were destroyed because they were considered "too much of a risk".
Mr Barton yesterday told the ODT the records "should not have been destroyed" and he was not aware they had been until the inquiry was under way.
Mr Barton said what he gave "wasn’t really a recommendation" and he was just saying the records could be destroyed at an appropriate time.
"I envisioned there’d be an ongoing dialogue where I’m asked what’s an appropriate time.
"But no-one ever came back to me and I thought that the subject had died."
An appropriate milestone would have been after the death of the person concerned, or after 100 years, he said yesterday.
He did not believe the timing of the destruction of the documents was appropriate.
"If I was asked can they be destroyed now, I would say not under any circumstances ...
"You’ve got to have the records. How can you expect to deal with future claims if you’ve destroyed everything? It just does not stand to reason.
"I’m appalled. They should not have been destroyed."
Mr Barton said he was on the PSO board from 1993 to 2021, and "no-one who was on the board at that time knew anything" about Mrs Bremner’s decision to destroy the records.
Current PSO chief executive Jo O’Neill said the reasons for the destruction of the records were "unclear, though we believe misguided", but did not affect how abuse claims were addressed.
Destroying the records was "not a decision I would have made", she said.
She acknowledged the hurt and pain that had been caused in the past to those in PSO’s care.
"We have and will continue to take responsibility for the harm that has been caused to survivors, which is in complete contradiction to the care provided by PSO.
"We are very sorry for the harm caused to those survivors."
Ms O’Neill said PSO fully supported the report and its recommendations, and believed the services it provided would continue to show it was a "trustworthy organisation".
Male Survivors Otago manager, and a survivor of historical sexual abuse, Michael Chamberlain said it was "unbelievable" that a person of Mrs Bremner’s position could not have any empathy with their parishioners.
"Her actions are despicable," he said.
"I have people struggling to make claims against the Presbyterian Church because of this type of action."
Mr Chamberlain said that such an action was "absolutely very damaging" to any survivor, many of whom were incapable of making claims in their own right.
He knew of about 25 people in Otago and Southland lodging claims against the Presbyterian Church, which he believed could be affected by the destruction of records, he said.
Mrs Bremner was chief executive of PSO for 24 years before retiring in early 2018 and later returned for a short stint in the role in 2019 before being replaced by Ms O’Neill.
