Australian and New Zealand Conventions 2024/2025 - Update

Support Guide

For victims & survivors

New Zealand

This guide is developed to support individuals, both children and adults, who have experienced recent or historic sexual abuse.

Whether you're a child or an adult survivor, or seeking support for a loved one, the following resources are available:

Access to 24/7 hotlines and crisis centres staffed with professionals trained in trauma-informed care, sensitive to the unique needs of survivors reporting recent or historic abuse. 

Crisis Counselling:

If you think a child is in immediate danger:

Victim Support - Victim Support provides 24-hour emotional support, personal advocacy and information to all people affected by crime and trauma throughout Aotearoa. Call free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Safe to Talk – Helpline for confidential support 24/7 regarding sexual harm.

  • Contact NZ Police – call 111.

  • To report non urgent situation - call 105

MEDICAL CARE

Ensuring survivors receive medical care with sensitivity and privacy, addressing both immediate and long-term health needs.

Pohutukawa – Auckland Adult Sexual Assault Service:

  • Healthpoint Auckland based service offering specialist medical service for adults (age 18 years & over) of all genders who have been sexually assaulted or abused. Further local resources mentioned.

  • Long-term Health Needs. Access to ongoing medical support addressing immediate and long-term health needs, for survivors of both recent and historic abuse.

Physical Health:

EMOTIONAL &

PSYCHOLOGICAL

SUPPORT

TOAH-NNEST (National Network Ending Sexual Violence) is the national network of those providing specialist services for sexual violence prevention and intervention.

It represents about 40 specialist not for profit organisations (NGOs)and many individual specialists working throughout Aotearoa New Zealand in whanau/ families, hapu, iwi and communities. It also has associate members from a wide range of allied NGOs.

Toah-Nnest

The Road Forward Trust:

Peer to peer support for survivors in Wellington, Porirua, Hutt Valley, Kapiti and Wairarapa

Better Blokes:

Free peer support for male survivors of sexual assault. Auckland based. Four contacts available to connect with in North, South, East and West Auckland along with general contact point.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

Website - Project Restore

Phone - +64 9308 9712

Email - info@projectrestore.nz

Project Restore NZ is New Zealand's national provider of restorative justice for harmful sexual behaviour and sexual violence.

Restorative justice is a cost-free process that facilitates two parties coming together (this can be face-to-face or through other forms of communication) to address the harm that has been done. Restorative justice may include conversations about topics such as:

  • Answering questions such as what happened, how come and why me?

  • The harmful impact of the abuse

  • Allow the opportunity for the person causing the harm to take responsibility for their actions and apologise, and make commitments to address the harm they have caused.

Through the ISSC (Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims), support is provided for anyone in New Zealand, including visitors to the country, who has experienced sexual violence. may also be able to help if you're a New Zealand resident and have experienced sexual violence while travelling overseas. It doesn't matter if the event happened recently or a long time ago. 

To get help if you have experienced child sexual abuse, please visit:  www.findsupport.co.nz

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC):
If you've experienced sexual violence :

Access to 24/7 hotlines and crisis centres staffed with professionals trained in trauma-informed care, sensitive to the unique needs of survivors reporting recent or historic abuse. 

  • You will have the option to find an ACC registered therapist in your region.  

  • You have the option of choosing a male or female therapist.

  • Initially you will get 2 hours of face-to-face sessions with a therapist.

  • If you find the first person isn’t the right therapist for you, you can try someone else. 

  • The Therapist will put in the paperwork through to ACC for you. 

  • Then are a further 4 hours of face-to-face sessions that are funded.

  • If you are not eligible for further ACC cover, then you still have another 2 hours of sessions following this.

There are 10-12 hours of initial services accessible for anyone to use under ACC before a decision is made if the sessions will be funded or not.

The above initial help is open to anyone in New Zealand, whether the abuse happened in New Zealand or not.

If you want to discuss this process with ACC, you can phone 0800 101 996 and ask to speak with someone who is trained in the area of ‘sensitive claims’.

In summary:

The Survivor Experiences Service

Website - Survivor Experiences

Phone NZ - 0800 456 090 or Text 8328 (8:30am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday)

Phone AUS - 1-800 456 032 (8:30am - 4:30pm NZT Monday - Friday)

Email - contact@survivorexperiences.govt.nz

The Survivor Experiences Service aims to provide a safe, supportive, confidential place where survivors of abuse in care, and their whānau, can share their experiences.

The Service is survivor-led, by survivors for survivors. It is guided by an independent Board, which includes survivors of abuse from diverse backgrounds.

Their staff have experience with survivors who have been abused in care. They are committed to working with survivors from all backgrounds to ensure the Service is fit-for-purpose and reflects the needs of survivors.