Abuse in Care: 52 Lake Alice survivors opt for rapid payment

• A Royal Commission of Inquiry report, released in July last year, says “unimaginable” and widespread abuse in care between 1950 and 2019 amounted to a “national disgrace”.
• The Government says that as of April 24, 120 former Lake Alice patients have so far been deemed eligible for recompense.
• Redress options include a rapid $150,000 payment or an individualised assessment.

The Government has paid out just over $6 million under its fast-track payments scheme to survivors who were tortured in their youth at Lake Alice. The rapid payment is $150,000.

And 22 people, as of April 24, have instead opted for an individual assessment of their experience by an independent arbiter who will determine their payment amount.

In the 1970s and 80s, hundreds of children and young people were sent to the psychiatric institution, in the Manawatū, where many were tortured with electric shocks and painful injections of paraldehyde.

Lead Co-ordination Minister Erica Stanford said these weren’t administered for any medical reason – “instead were used for punishment and emotional control through terror.”

“It is beyond heartbreaking.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister Erica Stanford held a press conference before the July tabling of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Royal Commission of Inquiry found most of the young people at the facility were there for behavioural reasons, including abuse, harm or trauma, rather than mental distress.

In July last year, the Government for the first time formally acknowledged that this amounted to torture.

And on November 12, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a historic official apology to the hundreds of thousands of people who were abused in state and faith-based care institutions over decades, including at Lake Alice.

In December, the Government outlined its redress scheme specifically for Lake Alice survivors.

This included a $150,000 rapid payment or the option of having their claim individually assessed.

Claim numbers so far

The Government confirmed 120 people were eligible for redress under the scheme, as of April 24.

Of these, 22 people have opted for the personalised assessment. This will be reviewed by an independent arbiter, Paul Davison, KC.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made an official apology in November 2024 for abuse in state care. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Fifty-two people have indicated they want the rapid payment and 42 have received their $150,000 payment, totalling $6.3 million.

The Government has set aside $22.68m for Lake Alice redress and expects to have paid out all payments by the end of the year. They would be made on an ex gratia basis.

Stanford previously announced the redress would consist of three components.

They were a one-off payment which recognises an individual’s experience of torture as a child, a new written apology which explicitly acknowledges torture, and facilitating access to support and rehabilitative services.

Stanford’s office said eight people were accessing “wellbeing support” through the Government as of April 24.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.