Your information matters

When you make a Historic Claim, you are trusting us with very personal information. We take this seriously and treat your information with respect and care.

It is important to us that you know why we collect information from you, when we may need to share it and for what purpose.

Collecting your information

We collect information from you as we work through the claims process with you. We collect your personal information so we can:

• contact you
• identify you
• give you information about your time in care
• support you through the claim process.

We understand the information you share is personal and sensitive.

If you choose not to share information

You don’t have to give us anything you’re not comfortable sharing. But if we don’t have enough information, we might not be able to fully assess your claim.

You can choose how to give us information (in person, phone, email, letter), or you can ask a support person or counsellor to speak for you.

If we can’t contact you

If we cannot get in touch with you using the contact details you have provided us, we may look for updated details from:

• Work and Income (MSD)
• Department of Corrections (if you are in prison)

We only share the minimum information needed to find you. We will not share any information about your claim.

Records of your time in state care

Records from your time with Child, Youth and Family; the Department of Social Welfare; and Child Welfare are now held by Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children.

To assess your claim, we request only the records we need from Oranga Tamariki.

We do not access other records about you, such as those relating to you as a parent.

Using your information

We use your information to assess and respond to claims of abuse involving people who were in the care, custody, guardianship, or involvement of:

• Child, Youth and Family
• The Department of Social Welfare
• Child Welfare

We may also use your information, without identifying you, to:

• look improve how we work and design new services or tools
• provide advice to Government
• provide statistics to the Crown Response Office (CRO).

Sharing your information to assess your claim

Sharing includes both collecting information from others and giving information to others. To assess your claim, we may need to share information with other agencies involved in your care, including:

• Ministry of Education
• Ministry of Health
• Te Puni Kōkiri
• Department of Corrections
• Non-government organisations (NGOs).

They usually send information back to us, and you normally won’t be contacted by them directly. You can ask to access this information. We may incidentally receive information about others, e.g. family members, victims, perpetrators and employees of agencies. We do not use or act upon this information.

In some cases, all or part of your claim may need to be transferred to another organisation so that they can respond to you directly. We will try to contact you before this happens.

When information may be shared with a person you named

We may need to share information with a person you have raised concerns about if:

• they currently work for MSD, or
• your claim is going to court and they may need to give evidence.

Let us know if you have concerns about sharing information

If you are worried that sharing information could put you at risk, or if you have questions, please tell us. We will work with you to keep your information as safe as possible.

Protecting others from harm

If your concerns suggest other children may be at risk, we may share information with:

• Ministry of Education
• Oranga Tamariki
• NGOs
• New Zealand Police

We will try to talk to you first unless a delay would put a child at risk or could affect an investigation.

What we share with Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki and NGOs

At first, we only share the minimum information needed to identify the person you are concerned about. Your name is usually shared only if necessary. If they still work for the organisation, we may need to share more details so the agency can investigate.

We will talk with you about whether the organisation might contact you directly.

What we share with New Zealand Police

We may share information with Police if:

• there is concern about possible criminal offending, or
• there is a serious risk to someone’s safety, or
• Police request information for an investigation.

We will try to get your consent first, but the Privacy Act allows us to share information without consent in some law‑enforcement situations.

Your rights to access and correct your information

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:

• ask to see the information we hold about you, including any records we received from Oranga Tamariki or any other agency
• ask us to correct it
• add a statement if we cannot change the information.

If the issue relates to your state care records, we will pass your correction to Oranga Tamariki, as they hold these files.

For a printable version of this information, see the link below: