Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill
A short form supplementary disclosure statement for proposed government amendments to a Bill seeks to bring together in one place some selected information to support and enhance the Parliamentary and public scrutiny of those proposed amendments.
It highlights certain significant powers or features in the proposed amendments that might be of particular Parliamentary or public interest and warrant an explanation.
It provides a limited supplement to the original disclosure statement for the Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill, dated 1 October 2025, which can be found at this link https://disclosure.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2025/209
This supplementary disclosure statement was prepared by the Crown Response Office.
The Crown Response Office certifies that, to the best of its knowledge and understanding, the information provided is complete and accurate at the date of finalisation below.
1 May 2026
Significant Legislative Features
Offences, penalties and court jurisdictions
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1. Do the proposed amendments create, amend, or remove: |
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(a) offences or penalties (including infringement offences or penalties and civil pecuniary penalties)? |
NO |
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(b) the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal (including rights to judicial review or rights of appeal)? |
NO |
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Privacy issues
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2. Do the proposed amendments create, amend, or remove any provisions relating to the collection storage, access to, correction of, use or disclosure of personal information? |
NO |
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Compulsory acquisition of private property
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3. Do the proposed amendments contain any provisions that could result in the compulsory acquisition of private property? |
NO |
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Charges in the nature of a tax
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4. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a power to impose a fee, levy or charge in the nature of a tax? |
NO |
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Retrospective effect
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5. Do the proposed amendments affect rights, freedoms, or impose obligations, retrospectively? |
NO |
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Strict liability or reversal of the burden of proof for offences
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6. Do the proposed amendments: |
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(a) create or amend a strict or absolute liability offence? |
NO |
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(b) reverse or modify the usual burden of proof for any offence or civil pecuniary penalty proceeding? |
NO |
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Civil or criminal immunity
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7. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a civil or criminal immunity for any person? |
NO |
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Significant decision-making powers
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8. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a decision-making power to make a determination about a person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law, and that could have a significant impact on those rights, obligations, or interests? |
YES |
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The Bill creates the new role of redress officer which is an independent statutory officer who is authorised to make determinations about whether to grant financial redress to certain serious sexual and violent offenders. The powers of the redress officer are set out in the original disclosure statement. The Amendment Paper introduces provisions which enable the redress officer to exempt an applicant from provisions of the Act if they have reasonable grounds to believe that an applicant for financial redress suffers from a terminal illness that is likely to end the person’s life within six months. The redress officer may exempt an applicant from both the criminal history checking requirements (which confirm whether they are a serious offender or not) and, if the applicant is confirmed to be covered by the presumption against financial redress, the subsequent process for assessing whether financial redress should be provided to a serious offender. To exempt an applicant who has been identified as a serious offender, as well as reasonable grounds to believe that an applicant for financial redress suffers from a terminal illness that is likely to end the person’s life within six months, the redress officer must also be satisfied that: · it is unlikely that a determination under section 19 will be made before the person’s death, and · the granting of an exemption to the person would not bring the redress scheme into disrepute or adversely affect public confidence in the redress scheme. Before granting an exemption, the redress officer must give an applicant the opportunity to put forward any information they consider relevant and make submissions. The redress officer must notify the person in writing of the decision to grant an exemption or decline to grant an exemption, including reasons for the decision. |
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Powers to make delegated legislation
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9. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a power to make delegated legislation that could amend an Act, define the meaning of a term in an Act, or grant an exemption from an Act or delegated legislation? |
NO |
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10. Do the proposed amendments create or amend any other powers to make delegated legislation? |
NO |
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Any other unusual provisions or features
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11. Do the proposed amendments contain any provisions (other than those noted above) that are unusual or call for special comment? |
NO |
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