How we keep your information safe

We want to be clear about why we collect your information, when we might share it, and for what reasons. Your information is important, so when you share your information with Historic Claims, you can trust us to handle it carefully and respectfully.

Collecting your information

We collect your personal information so we can:

• contact you
• identify you
• provide you with information about your time in care
• offer you appropriate support as you progress through the claim process.

We collect information from you as we work through the claims process with you. We also collect your information from other people and organisations. For example, your state care files are held by Oranga Tamariki. We will collect copies of these from Oranga Tamariki to enable us to assess your claim.

We will talk with you about the best way to get information from you. This could be in person, by phone, in a letter or by e-mail. You may also prefer to ask another person (such as a counsellor or support person) to provide us with your information on your behalf.

You do not have to give us information that you don’t want to share, but if you do not give us all the information we ask for we may not be able to fully assess your claim.

Using your information

We use your information to:

• assess and respond to claims of abuse of people who were in the care, custody, guardianship, or came to the notice of Child Youth and Family, the Department of Social Welfare or Child Welfare before 1 April 2017
• look at how we operate and amend systems and processes if necessary.

We may also use your information for research purposes, and to provide advice to Government. When we use your information like this, you will never be personally identified.

Sharing your information

Sometimes we may need to share your information with people or organisations outside of the Ministry of Social Development. We share your information:

• when you give us permission to share it
• to prevent children from being abused in care today and into the future.

We will make every effort to talk with you about what information we need to share to protect others before we share it, unless we consider we are unable to do so. For example, where there is a safety concern that we think needs to be addressed urgently, or where we feel an investigation may be compromised.

If you have questions about your information being shared or are concerned that sharing information with other organisations may put you at risk, please let us know straight away, so we can answer any questions or consider how your concerns might be addressed.

Accessing and correcting your information 

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can access the information we hold about you at any time. Some information may be withheld to protect the privacy of other people, or for another reason permitted under the Privacy Act 2020.

You can also ask us to correct any information that we hold about you if you believe it is wrong. If it relates to information contained in your state care files, we will forward this correction request to Oranga Tamariki for consideration.

For more information, see the Privacy factsheet and Privacy statement below.

If you have any further questions, please contact us on 0800 631 127.