How we came up with the care records definition
Get the details on how we came up with the draft of the care records definition, including our information sources and who we spoke to.
Developing an initial list of information types using secondary sources
Developing an initial list of information types using secondary sources
We reviewed several secondary sources to build the initial list of information types that could be of value to people who have had experience with State care and non-State care.
Visit our glossary to read our definitions of State and non-State care
We chose these sources because they indicated what types of information are believed to be relevant in understanding care experiences — both internationally and in New Zealand’s care environment.
Terms of reference of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions
A large area of focus in the Royal Commission’s Terms of reference is an individual’s (a child or vulnerable adult in or who has been in State or non-State care) experience in care settings (the different types of places State and non-State care is provided), expressed in the Definitions clauses 16 and 17.
We primarily used these definitions to inform information types ‘1.3 Provision of services to individuals in care settings’ and ‘2. Records of State and non-State care settings’.
Workshop: Rights in Records for Care-Experienced People, 22 November 2019, CLAN NZ with ARANZ and the University of Auckland Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice
CLAN NZ was a subgroup of CLAN (Care Leavers Australasia Network) — a support and advocacy group working for justice and redress for all people who have grown up in:
orphanages
children’s homes
missions
foster care, and
other child welfare institutions in Australia and New Zealand.
CLAN NZ is currently in recess.
Notes provided by CLAN at a workshop hosted by the University of Auckland Centre for Human Rights Law and involving members of CLAN, ARANZ (Archives and Records Association of New Zealand) and international recordkeeping experts were integral to developing information type ‘1. Records of individuals in State and non-State care settings’. They were particularly fundamental to ‘1.1. Core identity of individuals in care settings’ and ‘1.2. Provision of services to individuals in care settings’.
Charter of Lifelong Rights in Childhood Recordkeeping in Out of Home Care Toolkit, Monash University
This Charter aims to address the critical, lifelong and diverse information needs of Australians who have, or are experiencing, out-of-home care, with a focus on driving transformational changes in childhood recordkeeping. It was developed from research carried out by Monash University in response to the advocacy of care leavers, and the organisations that serve and champion them.
The Charter’s Toolkit includes a set of Practice Advice modules which informed the development of all aspects of the scope and definition of care records, particularly in the areas of ‘1.1 Core identity of individuals in care settings’, ‘1.3 Recordkeeping requirements of and for individuals in care settings’ and ‘2. Records of State and non-State care settings’.
Maximising Access to Care Leavers Records, November 2021, CAARA
The purpose of this guideline is to show what success looks like when records holders or archival institutions provide access to out-of-home care records consistent with key principles identified in Access to Records by Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants (Best Practice Guidelines) published in 2015.
This guideline informed the development of all aspects of the scope and definition of care records.
Final Report: Volume 8, Recordkeeping and information sharing, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 2017
Volume 8, ‘Recordkeeping and information sharing’, examines:
records and recordkeeping by institutions that care for or provide services to children
information sharing between institutions with responsibilities for children’s safety and wellbeing
information sharing between those institutions and relevant professionals.
It makes recommendations to improve records and recordkeeping practices within institutions and information sharing between key agencies and institutions.
This volume contributed mostly to the development of ‘2. Records of State and non-State care settings’.
National Care Standards and Child-friendly Statement of Rights (New Zealand), Oranga Tamariki, 2019
The National Care Standards set out the standard of care every child and young person needs to do well and be well — and the support all caregivers can expect to receive. They came into effect on 1 July 2019.
The Standards were produced together with tamariki, whānau and rangatahi. The Standards mostly do not directly refer to records but instead outline the types of information children in care are entitled to. The Standards refer only to children and young people — not to other people in care.
They were integral in developing the information types ‘1.1 Core identity of individuals in care settings’, ‘1.2 Provision of services to individuals in care settings’, ‘1.3 Recordkeeping requirements of and for individuals in care settings’ and ‘2. Records of State and non-State care settings’.
Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard (NZS 8134:2021)
This Standard refers to records as a requirement for fully attaining audit approval of implementation of the processes, systems or structures in place to meet the required outcome of each criterion in the Standard. The Standard also requires key workers to ensure consumer’s records are maintained, regularly reviewed, and reach the right people at the right time so decision makers are properly informed.
The Standard highlighted the importance of retaining records relating to policies, procedures, processes — and the implementation of those policies, procedures and processes — for people receiving health and disability services, covered by ‘2. Records of State and non-State care settings’. It informed the requirements under ‘1.3 Recordkeeping requirements of and for individuals in care settings’ to maintain records relating to how these recordkeeping requirements were met.
Testing and refining the scope and definition of care records
After creating the initial list of information types, we then developed the detailed scope and definition document by consulting with a range of stakeholders.
Key New Zealand care record holding agencies
The Crown Response Unit set up a working group of subject matter experts from key care record holding agencies. We were invited to participate in this working group to gain insights in terms of the agencies’ experiences of the Royal Commission’s 2019 to 2023 Notices to Produce process and what they learned about the value of the types of records and information during that process.
Notices to Produce are issued under section 20 of the Inquiries Act 2013 and require the receiving agency (or individual) to produce documents and provide information necessary for the Abuse in Care Inquiry to identify, examine and report on the matters within scope of the inquiry.
Survivors of abuse in care
In May and June 2023, the Crown Response Unit engaged with 22 survivors representing a range of survivor priority groups and perspectives.
Survivors were provided with the context of the work ahead of their engagement session, as well as the draft categories of information proposed to be defined and protected as care records.
During the sessions, survivors were asked:
which types of information they thought were the most valuable and needed to be protected the most,
whether there are any types of information they thought should be destroyed
how they would like people to be involved in decisions about how long information about them is kept and what should happen to it afterwards.
We used their feedback to ensure the scope and definition of care records was informed by survivor voices and would enable the protection of the information described by survivors as being the most important to them.
Afterwards, the participants were advised how their feedback helped shape changes to the draft.
Non-government organisations
In July and August 2023, Te Rua Mahara and the Crown Response Unit engaged with non-government organisations who create and hold care records. These engagements were attended by representatives of organisations including:
Social Service Providers Aotearoa
New Zealand School Trustees Association
Independent Schools New Zealand
Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools
New Zealand Catholic Education Office
Te Rōpū Tautoko Catholic Church
the Anglican Church.
Attendees were provided with the latest draft of the scope and definition document and asked:
whether the coverage was wide enough
what the practical implications of this definition would be for their organisation.
We used their feedback to ensure the scope and definition of care records was comprehensive, workable, and informed by a wide range of care record holders.
The Crown Response Unit also engaged with partner and advisory organisations to further test and refine the definition, including:
the Iwi Chairs Forum
Disabled People’s Coalition members
Pacific Data Sovereignty Network.
Other organisations
In August 2023 the Crown Response Unit engaged with a range of organisations on guidance principles for care records. These organisations included:
Mana Mokopuna Office of the Children’s Commissioner
Aroturuki Tamariki Independent Children’s Monitor
Office of the Privacy Commissioner
Office of the Ombudsman.
During the sessions, the Crown Response Unit shared the purpose and progress of the scope and definition work and advised of the intention for public consultation. Mana Mokopuna Office of the Children’s Commissioner were also provided with a copy of the draft scope and definition document.
Feedback from these engagements was used to further refine the draft scope and definition document — including expanding the list of examples of information types.