What the service is
The Survivor Experiences Service provides a safe, supportive, confidential place for survivors of abuse in care, and their whānau, to share their experiences.
The Service exists to support survivors and whānau in their healing. It is available for people who were abused in state, faith-based, or other forms of care. It is also available for a survivor’s whānau.
How to use the service
The Survivor Experiences Service is available for people who were abused in state, faith-based, or other forms of care. The Service is primarily available to survivors of abuse in care and is also open to hearing the experiences of whānau, to recognise the wider impacts of trauma.
You can contact the Service to share your experiences of abuse in care and support your journey of healing, weekdays 8:30am – 4.30pm.
- Phone - 0800 456 090
- Email - contact@survivorexperiences.govt.nz
- Text – 8328
For assistance, you can access these numbers using the NZ Relay Service www.nzrelay.co.nz
Once you have contacted the Survivor Experiences Service, someone will work with you to organise a time and place where you can share your experiences.
You will be able to share your experiences with someone who understands abuse in care and its impact for survivors and whānau.
How you share your experiences is up to you. You can choose to share your experience in a number of ways, including kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face), virtually, or in writing.
How people are supported when using the service
The Service acknowledges the impact abuse may already have had on you and your whānau. By sharing these experiences, you and your whānau may experience some distress or resurfacing of memories of these experiences.
Your mana and oranga (wellbeing) are at the centre of our interactions with you and your whānau.
You can request support at any stage. The earlier you can talk with the Service about your needs, the more time someone in the Service will have to ensure the most suitable support is put in place for you.
While the Survivor Experiences Service cannot provide long-term support, it can refer you to other providers, such as ACC or community providers.
You can find out more about the Service, including how you can share your experiences, on the Survivor Experiences Service website.