Building a safer workforce, strengthening redress

This week, we share progress across two key areas of the Government's response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry: making the care system safer and improving redress for survivors.

This includes the approval of the first package of workforce capability initiatives to strengthen safeguarding across the care sector, the appointment of New Zealand's first independent Redress Officer, and the passage of the Redress System for Abuse in Care Act 2026.

Building a safer and more capable care workforce

The first package of workforce capability initiatives in response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry has been approved for funding, marking an important step towards making the care system safer.

The $16.8 million package, funded over three years through the Governments’ Budget 2025 workforce contingency, will strengthen safeguarding capability across the care workforce, helping workers, carers and organisations prevent, identify and respond to abuse and neglect. It responds directly to Royal Commission findings about workforce capability and safeguarding.

The package combines system-wide safeguarding initiatives with targeted initiatives for disability care and support settings. It represents the first drawdown from funding established to build a diverse, capable and safe care workforce.

Work on the initiatives will begin this year. These include:

· developing a safeguarding capability framework for the care workforce

· establishing a care workforce capability survey to provide a baseline measure and track progress over time

· creating safeguarding resources for family and whānau carers of disabled people, and the disabled people they care for

· delivering targeted safeguarding training for disability care and support workers.

Together, these initiatives will help build stronger foundations for safer care, support more consistent practice across the sector, and strengthen the workforce's ability to recognise and respond to abuse and neglect.

Read more about the Crown response objective to make the care system safer:

Our work | Ā mātou mahi | Crown response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry(external link)

Redress System for Abuse in Care Act becomes law

The Redress System for Abuse in Care Act 2026 has now passed Parliament and become law.

The Act enables a number of Government decisions aimed at improving the State redress system for survivors of abuse in care. Key changes include:

· establishing the new independent Redress Officer role

· introducing legal protections to support more meaningful State apologies

· extending access to State redress for abuse claims relating to mental health facilities between 1 July 1993 and 30 June 2022

· introducing a serious offender process for survivors convicted of specified serious violent and sexual offences.

The Act is an important part of a broader programme of redress improvements and helps support a more consistent, comprehensive and survivor-focused State redress system.

Read more about recent redress changes in previous pānui:

7 May pānui: Update on social investment fund, Redress Bill and progress July 2025 - Dec 2025 | Crown response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry(external link)

18 March pānui: State redress system to include mental health redress claims | Crown response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry(external link)

Independent Redress Officer appointed

Hon Paul Davison KC KSO has been appointed as New Zealand's first independent Redress Officer under the Redress System for Abuse in Care Act 2026.

The Redress Officer is an independent statutory decision-maker who will determine applications under the Act's serious offender process. This new role provides an important independent safeguard within the State redress system.

The Redress Officer will consider applications from survivors who are subject to the serious offender provisions in the Act and decide, based on individual circumstances, whether they are eligible for financial redress. The Officer will also consider applications for exemption from the process where a survivor has an advanced terminal illness.

Hon Davison is a former High Court Judge and served as the independent arbiter for the Lake Alice torture redress scheme. His five-year term began on 1 August 2026.

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