Presented to the Governor-General by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, June 2024
Released, 24 July 2024, along with Whanaketia, the final report

Hokio Beach School (Hokio School) and Kohitere Boys’ Training Centre (Kohitere Centre) were long-stay social welfare institutions in the Taitoko Levin area from the early 1900s up until the late 1980s. Boys came from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and were often far from family and whānau. These children and young people were seen by the State as “too difficult … to remain in the community.”[1] Yet it was the care system that was punitive and abusive.

Hokio School and Kohitere Centre were not places of care. The State removed children and young people from their families and sent them to institutions where abuse of power, violence and racism were normalised. Survivors were brutally punished and blamed for behaviours often caused by trauma, learning difficulties, disabilities and by the very abuse they endured.

The ‘no-narking’ culture and use of the kingpin system by staff to maintain control contributed to a culture of extreme violence. A lack of supervision, staff with military backgrounds, and inadequate vetting and recruitment processes all played a part in the abuse. Survivors were often seen as manipulative or lying and both survivors and staff were silenced and complaints of abuse covered up. (From the website).

This is one of the case studies published by the Royal Commission throughout the course of the Inquiry, which investigate abuse and neglect in a number of State and faith-based institutions across Aotearoa New Zealand. There are seven case studies in all. (From the website).

Record #8817