What health camp records might exist?

Records are larger from after 2000

Stand Tū Māia should have complete records about children who stayed in a health camp/children’s village after 2000 (when they took over responsibility for health camps). 

Under the Health (Retention of Health Information) Regulations 1996, they have to keep their records for at least ten years. They also keep all records that are in digital form.  

Records from before 2000 might be held by Stand Tū Māia, the Ministry of Health and / or the Ministry of Education.

Health camps kept very limited records until the 1990’s

They mainly kept registers of children enrolled at the camp, including the child’s:  

• name 
• address
• parent contact details
• reason for referral
• any relevant health condition/diagnosis
• age
• height
• weight and
• at the end of their stay, their new height and weight, and a final comment.

Some health camp registers no longer exist

For example:

• some of the Ōtaki Children's Health Camp Registers were destroyed in a fire  
• all Christchurch pre-2000 records were destroyed in the 2011 earthquakes
• Rotorua and Auckland registers were disposed of in line with disposal authorities of the time
• when the Auckland and Rotorua villages were refurbished, paper records outside the ten-year requirement were disposed of. The Auckland village was refurbished in 2001 and the Rotorua one in 2007
• some registers are missing, and they do not know why.

Learning that your records may not have been looked after properly can bring up a range of emotions. Learn where you can find support to help you before, during, and after your records request journey.

Read Tū Maia Whanau’s submission to the Redress Hearing of The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Careopen_in_new.