Children's Minister defends handling of Gloriavale child safety concerns

Action to address child safety concerns at Gloriavale Christian community was already underway when the Education Review Office formally raised them in writing, the Minister for Children says.

Documents released to RNZ under the Official Information Act show the then-acting Education Review Office (ERO) chief executive Ruth Shinoda wrote to Oranga Tamariki's chief executive Andrew Bridgman on 17 December after a special review of homeschooling by 28 families at the West Coast Christian commune.

Shinoda detailed key safety and wellbeing concerns in her letter, including that Gloriavale's school "knowingly employed staff with prior convictions unsuitable for work with children" and "in at least one instance, the school failed to act when behaviours placing students at risk were identified".

The Ministry for Children did not reply until 8 June because the letter was sent to a former staff member whose inbox was no longer monitored, three months after Shinoda requested an update in an email to chief executive Amanda Malu on 9 March.

Minister Karen Chhour said she had sought clarity from Oranga Tamariki.

"While a single email sent to a former staff member does not appear to have been responded to in writing, I have been assured that Oranga Tamariki engagement with the Education Review Office on these particular issues had already begun prior to the letter from ERO being sent," she said.

"Actions to address those concerns were underway at that time and have continued, confirmation of this was communicated directly to the ERO on a number of occasions both before, during and after this email was sent."

The ERO has been contacted for comment.

Chhour said key agencies - Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Education and police - visited Gloriavale often to provide support.

"I can assure the public that multiple agencies visit the community regularly, sometimes several times a week. Agencies involved in this integrated response also meet fortnightly to ensure that all government interactions with the community are connected and any concerns are shared are quickly acted on," she said.

In her 8 June reply to ERO's new acting chief executive Tim Fowler, Malu acknowledged the delay but said she did not believe an additional investigation was required.

"I have carefully considered Ruth's letter and sought the advice of Nicolette Dickson, our chief social worker. Nicolette met with members of your team last year to discuss specific safety and wellbeing concerns," Malu wrote.

"The concerns in your letter generally speak to known issues which are already the subject of the current cross government response to Gloriavale. For these reasons, I am in agreement with Nicolette that additional investigation by Oranga Tamariki into these concerns is not currently necessary or desirable under the Oranga Tamariki Act."

Senior minister Louise Upston visited Gloriavale in January to meet the Overseeing Shepherd, leaders and the wider community, having taken on responsibility for the response to recommendation 88 of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

The recommendation explicitly called for the government to take all practical steps to ensure the ongoing safety of children, young people and adults in care at Gloriavale Christian community.

"I've consistently made it clear the welfare of children in the Gloriavale community is our number one priority," Upston said.

Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust manager Liz Gregory told Morning Report there was a lack of communication between government departments and no coherent multi-agency response to the problems at the community.

"There's a risk when staff who have a lot of expertise disappear, valuable knowledge disappears with them, communications break down and you get long delays and waits," she said.

Gregory said there was scant detail about the outcome of Upston's Gloriavale visit.

"They apparently wrote up some promises for Glorivale to keep and Glorivale participated in previewing and adjusting these and rewriting them and now apparently Glorivale gets to assess them and no one that I've ever spoken to knows what these promises are," she said.

"There's all this sort of secrecy, internal reporting mechanisms."

Gregory said there was uncertainty around who was involved in the multi-agency response to Gloriavale.

"Things just feel a little chaotic, a little bit confusing and I think it would feel like that for people in Gloriavale as well," she said.