Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care.

“The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faithbased institutions were never created, were lost or, in some cases, destroyed,” Ms Collins says

“Those records contain within them parts of the stories and histories of people in care and are deserving of the greatest respect and protection.

“The report says information was often intentionally not gathered by those in positions of responsibility and leadership. It says documents were also purposefully destroyed, and data was not written down and formalised, as a means of selfprotection for the organisation.

“Anyone destroying documents because they believe they could be used as evidence of a crime may be committing an offence and could be prosecuted.”

“These laws are in place to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and I’d like to acknowledge the many organisations that treat this information with the respect it deserves.

“Those who do not, or have not, should be aware of their obligations and the potential consequences.”

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