The Chief Archivist Anahera Morehu, sincerely apologises on behalf of Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand (previously the National Archives) for failing to effectively monitor Government recordkeeping
20 November 2024
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, nei rā te mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa.
In the National Apology on November 12, the Prime Minister apologised for the many ways you were failed by the Government. I tautoko his words – records and recordkeeping were a very real part of those failures. I sincerely apologise on behalf of Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand (previously the National Archives) for failing to effectively monitor Government recordkeeping. The National Archives did not use its powers fully to improve Government recordkeeping and for that I am truly sorry. The lack of monitoring and oversight contributed to gaps in Care records which make it impossible to ever know the true numbers of those who experienced Care. I apologise for the harm that the loss of records and incomplete records has caused to you, your whānau and communities. I apologise that the National Archives did not exercise better control over the disposal of Care records. A lack of monitoring meant that when any wilful and negligent damage and destruction of records occurred, it was not always identified, addressed or penalised. We did not do enough to ensure that records to support your rights and entitlements were protected and preserved to be accessible for you over time.
Public archives and records exist so that people can hold governments to account now and in the future. As Poumanaaki Chief Archivist at Te Rua Mahara, my duty stretches across time and generations. The records and archives that document your time in Care are taonga and the Royal Commission of Inquiry has shown that these taonga were not met with the care and respect they were due. It is with this understanding that I deliver these words today. Records have power to support people’s identity, wellbeing and rights. The practices through which they are created, maintained, disposed and made accessible also have power. However, as with all powers these can be used in ways that support people or they can cause and contribute immeasurable harm.
It is with this harm in mind that I wish to thank those who have been affected by Aotearoa New Zealand systems of Care for generously sharing your stories and experiences to the Royal Commission. Thank you for speaking to your lived experiences, for explaining what Care looked and felt like. Thank you for describing the harm you suffered when your personal information was misused, and access was denied to you and your whānau. We see the great harm that was done to you when significant events were not recorded, when your voice was ignored, when connections to your whānau and cultures were not recognised or were severed. Thank you for explaining the effects on you then and how the experiences have stayed with you and shaped your lives and those of your whānau.
Thank you for showing us how the records and recordkeeping of Care organisations reflected systems and practices that were inequitable and oftentimes racist. The lasting impacts of these practices are undeniable and reveal power imbalances that stripped you of your rights to know who you were, where you came from and that you belonged. You told us how your unique cultural identities were not recognised. I mihi to the Māori survivors, you shared how recordkeeping practices contributed to your loss of meaningful connections to culture, language, whānau, hapū and iwi, making it hard to establish your whakapapa. I also want to acknowledge the Pacific survivors, many of you shared how you lost vital connections to culture, language and community, when your ethnicities were inaccurately recorded. My thoughts and aroha to the Deaf and disabled survivors, you were often separated from your communities and cultures and deprived of your rights. Offensive and degrading terms were often used within records to describe you. Sometimes it was the silences in the records that caused the most harm; the times when records were not created, when your reports of abuse were not captured, and your suffering was prolonged.
Poor recordkeeping processes have enduring effects. Failures to act on complaints of abuse meant that perpetrators were not stopped. These are just some of the ways that records, recordkeeping and those responsible for creating and maintaining records of your time in Care failed you. I acknowledge the ongoing impact and harm these systemic failings of recordkeeping cause you and those close to you.
Your evidence revealed serious failings in every area of Care recordkeeping practice. Records and recordkeeping practices served the needs of organisations first and foremost, without thought or care for the impact on those at the heart of the record – you.
Your experiences have compelled Te Rua Mahara to look hard in the mirror, to reflect on what our role has been and what it should have been, to consider how we have let you down and how we can do better. You have raised the importance of recordkeeping to the daily consciousness of the nation. The value and power of records is often not considered, it is only when something goes wrong, where the impact on people is so severe and life-changing that we begin to recognise the importance that records have within our lives.
The role that the National Archives played in government recordkeeping over the period of the Inquiry’s scope reflected the limitations of the1957 Archives Act. This legislation was replaced in 2005 with the Public Records Act. One of the purposes of the Act was to establish that the Government can be held accountable for its mahi and decision-making through a legal duty to create and maintain full and accurate records. Importantly, the Act also gave Te Rua Mahara new powers to regulate and set standards for good government recordkeeping.
Even with these powers, progress to improve Care recordkeeping has been slow. We know from the audits we commission that improvements to government recordkeeping are not happening fast enough. This knowledge matches what your experiences of Care recordkeeping failures showed us – that system-level responses are needed to support meaningful recordkeeping improvement. That is why we are seeking amendments to the Public Records Act as part of the Responding to Abuse in Care Legislation Amendment Billintroduced by the Prime Minister on November 12. The amendments are an important step to strengthen the powers of Te Rua Mahara to monitor government recordkeeping and to act when an issue is identified.
I tautoko the Commission’s recommendations which call for improvement to the ways Care recordkeeping is practiced. Te Rua Mahara is answering that call. Our response to the recommendations is focused on building people-centred approaches to records and recordkeeping that reflect what you have said is important to you: better access to your Care records; better rules to prevent loss of valuable records; and better recordkeeping practices that protect your rights and entitlements.
To help us plan further improvements, I commissioned two reports: one looks at how Māori data governance and sovereignty and Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles can be understood and applied to Care recordkeeping; the second looks at recordkeeping failings identified by the Inquiry and recommends how Te Rua Mahara can address them.
This is the beginning. There is much more to be done. We are working to prevent failures in Care recordkeeping from happening in the future, both through the responses we have made to date and through the actions that are to come. Te Rua Mahara is committed to driving improvements in recordkeeping across the public sector. Over the coming months, I will review the recommendations from the two reports I have commissioned and develop an action plan to improve our capability. Recordkeeping is complex, and sustainable improvement requires changes in the information cultures of those creating and maintaining Care records. Te Rua Mahara is here for the long haul.
I said earlier that my role has a duty that stretches across time. The whakataukī “Ka mua, ka muri” carries with it the idea that we will learn from the past, that we will walk in the footsteps of our tupuna and carry that knowledge as constant connections that exist between the past, the present and the future. It is my duty to protect those records which represent those connections. So, I say to you now: we will remember your experiences and how records and recordkeeping practices failed you; we will remember how Te Rua Mahara could have done more, could have done better. These memories will inform the ways that we improve our practices at Te Rua Mahara, how we will improve our regulatory tools and how we will use them to drive meaningful improvements to recordkeeping practices across Government. The legacy of the harm records and recordkeeping have caused you will echo as a constant refrain guiding our actions.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, erangi he toa takimano.
