Confidential Listening & Assistance Service website

(Decommissioned December 2024)

Background

The Confidential Listening and Assistance Service was established by the Government to listen to the experiences of, and to provide assistance to, anyone who had concerns or alleged abuse or neglect whilst in State care. Those who lived in psychiatric hospitals and wards, health camps, child welfare care and special education homes before 1992 were invited to participate in the Service.

The Service was based on the Confidential Forum for Former In-Patients of Psychiatric Hospitals, established in 2004 to provide an opportunity for former in-patients to speak about their experiences. Given the success of Confidential Forum, the Government decided to extend the listening and assistance services to all forms of residential State care; psychiatric hospitals and wards, health camps, child welfare care and special education homes before 1992.

The Service pre-dated the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions which reported in July 2024, and its successor, the Survivor Experiences Service that continues this work.

The Confidential Listening and Assistance Service ended in 2015 but the website remained live for historical reference until 2024.

For an archived version of this website:

https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20150113075010/http://www.listening.govt.nz/web/RCCMS_cla.nsf/weblive/ITSO-7KUSQ6?OpenDocument

A video that appeared on the website is available for viewing here: Some Memories Never Fade