Sign Up To Stay In Touch
We send out newsletters only occasionally and we fully respect that your information always remains private.
-
New Plymouth, Taranaki
News & Events
"Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another."
Henri Nouwen
Peer Support Specialists Drive Value as Behavioral Health Providers Embrace New Workforce
Peer support services are rapidly gaining mainstream acceptance thanks to recent federal initiatives, new reimbursement opportunities and the fallout from the opioid crisis. Peers have a unique ability to drive sustained patient engagement, industry insiders said at Behavioral Health Business’…
How To Better Support People Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence: Normalising Living With Experiences of Sexual Violence
This is not the report I expected to submit when I was applying for a Churchill Fellowship. I thought I would be writing a relatively technical, academic document aimed primarily at commissioners and funders of support services for people who…
Survivors of abuse in care celebrate ‘validating’ name change
For the men who survived “evil” sexual and physical abuse in a Catholic boys’ home in Christchurch, last week was the first time authority figures gave them a reason to smile. The reserve and street named after Marylands School is being renamed…
Mark Staufer and Neil Harding: The Lost Boys of Dilworth
Auckland’s Dilworth boarding school was set up to to provide education to boys from disadvantaged backgrounds for free. Last year an independent inquiry into sexual and physical abuse at the school uncovered a “catalogue of damage and injustice” spanning more…
‘Nobody believes you if you’re a bloke’: Barriers to disclosure and help-seeking for male forced-to-penetrate victims/ survivors
Research on barriers that exist for male victims/survivors of sexual abuse in relation to disclosing their experiences is limited. This article shares qualitative data in relation to disclosure and helpseeking barriers encountered by male victims/survivors of female-perpetrated sexual abuse. Findings…
Lived experience allyship in mental health services: Recommendations for improved uptake of allyship roles in support of peer workforces
Inclusion of service users in the design and delivery of mental health services is clearly articulated throughout Australian mental health action plans and stated as an expectation within contemporary mental health policy. International and local Australian research demonstrates benefits for…
Putting the boot in
OPINION: As the ink dries on the Royal Commission’s report in abuse in state care, what must it be like for survivors to witness the Government’s direction on boot camps for young offenders? ‘Boot camps’ serve only one real purpose…
‘Not justice’: Survivor’s advocate slams ‘pathetic’ settlement offer
Late last year, former Marist Brother Charles Afeaki changed his plea, mid-trial, and admitted to 13 charges of sexual abuse of two 11-year-old boys in the 1970s. Former Marist Brother Charles Afeaki will be sentenced in May for his abuse of…
Towards peer-led and person-centred care
When I first plunged back into postgraduate studies, I had no idea it would lead me here – to new perspectives that have unravelled not only my previous academic understandings, but also, understandings of myself, my identity, my intentions, and…
Peer support work: an international scoping review
A recent comprehensive review of the international literature regarding the use of peer support services in the mental health sector affirms the principles and practices embodied in the Purposeful Peer Support Aotearoa. The scoping review of the international literature was…
Marlborough sports coach faces 35 sex abuse charges as more added
A Marlborough sports coach facing a raft of charges relating to sexual offences against children has had four more charges laid against him. The new charges relate to alleged events that happened between July 2014 and August 2022. The new…
Major Gloriavale investigation finds 138 potential abuse victims, dozens of suspected offenders
A major police investigation into abuse at Gloriavale has identified more than 100 potential victims of crimes spanning about four decades, Stuff can reveal. The previously undisclosed and ongoing investigation, dubbed Operation Mathius, began in 2021, and followed another investigation that brought to light…