Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care and Faith Based Organisations ….. and Adoption
Adoption was belatedly included in the Royal Commission’s scope in 2021.
In 2021 through to 2023 the Royal Commission heard from people impacted by Adoption - A transcript of the Commission discussing adoption with the General Manager International Case Work and Adoption at Oranga Tamariki on 24 August 2022 can be read here.
As an independent entity the Commission can make recommendations to government on how to improve services to children and adults, and can also recommend government take steps to redress past injustices, such as making a formal apology to people impacted by adoption.
April 2023 UPDATE - Final report now due March 2024
Submissions to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry are now closed and the Final Report has been extended to March 2024.
While this move is understandable given the large amount of evidence the Commission has received, it will not be good news for the people who made submissions. Many have waited decades to be heard, believed and supported to speak out. Revisiting the trauma has had a huge toll on survivors, and until steps are taken to redress injustices and abuse, many will continued to feel betrayed and frustrated. We sincerely hope there will be no further delays to the March 2024 final report date - justice delayed is justice denied.
The Royal Commission and adoption law reform
During the Ministry of Justice adoption law reform consultation exercises (2021-2022) the Ministry stressed that the adoption law reform work was ‘forward focused’ and would not examine the issues and impacts of adoption orders made under the current Adoption Act 1955. People were informed that the Royal Commission was the appropriate forum for that. As a consequence many people impacted by adoption made submissions to the Commission with an understanding from the Ministry of Justice that the Commission’s findings and recommendations relating to adoption would inform the package of adoption law reform proposals delivered to the Minister of Justice.
Given that the Ministry of Justice ‘intends to provide advice to the Minister of Justice, Hon Kiri Allan, on a final package of proposals in the first half of 2023’, the delay in the Commission’s final report will either result in a partially informed set of adoption law reform proposals, or a delay in the adoption reform work by another year, at least.
Over the previous two years (2021-2022) peoples’ hopes and expectations have been raised (again) that Aotearoa New Zealand’s draconian adoption laws will finally change. Some contributors to this most recent review process have engaged in many such reviews of adoption law over numerous decades. Each time there are delays, or the review is stymied or halted, there are children and families still having to navigate through legislation that forces them to rely on the good will of others to keep family and whānau connected, still unable to find the people and family they lost through adoption, and still creating ‘legal fictions’. And, by the lack of priority that successive governments have given to reform adoption law, it is evident that there has been little understanding of the impacts of adoption on the child involved, and of their rights - rights that Aotearoa New Zealand agreed to when it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993.
When we hear of any progress with the current (2023) adoption law reform work, we will post an update on this site.
Feedback from people who have presented the impacts of adoption on their lives to the Royal Commission…
‘The Royal Commission is the only place I have been asked to speak the truth of my personal experience as an adopted person. I felt my adoption narrative was valued and received with respect and compassion. Every eye in the room filled with tears as I spoke. Is there any other truly human response upon hearing of the traumatic impacts of being abandoned by your mother, losing your family (in my case twice), having all your information hidden from you, and then for your lifetime being silenced by the numerous adoption myths that sadly still exist today?’
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care and Faith based organisations have been hearing submissions from people impacted by adoption since 2021. The Commission is due to publish its report in March 2024, which will include recommendations to Government on matters relating to adoption. We hope the Commission makes recommendations around ongoing support for people impacted by adoption, and that government provides resources for such services.
Please share your thoughts with us about what support services are needed, who should fund support services, and what they might look like?
Email us at adoption@xtra.co.nz