Ō Mātou Tāngata

Hon. Dame Silvia Cartwright

Kua eke panuku a Dame Silvia Cartwright hei mātanga rōia, kaiwawao anō hoki i ngā tau 50 nei ka taha. I 1967, i puta tōna ihu i Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou me te Tohu Ture, ā, ka pau ētahi tau ki ngā mahi tūmataiti i mua i tana takahi i te ara kaiwhakawā. I 1989, ka kopoua ia hei Kaiwhakawā wahine tuatahi i te Kōti ā-Rohe o Aotearoa, nāwai, ko ia hoki te Kaiwhakawā wahine tuatahi i te Kōti Teitei. Mai i 2001 ki 2006, ko ia te Kāwana Tianara 18 o Aotearoa; te wahine tuarua kua kopoua ki taua tūranga.

He tokānuku a Dame Silvia i ngā Whakatewhatewhatanga hirahira o te motu. Hei tauira, nāna i ārahi te Whakatewhatewhatanga o Cartwright o 1988 mō ngā take e pā ana ki te mate pukupuku waha kōpū ki Te Whatu Ora ki Tāmaki Makaurau. Waihoki, nō nā tata nei ko ia te Heamana o te Whakatewhatewhatanga Tūmatanui o tā Toka Tū Ake whakahaere i ngā kerēme rū whenua ki Waitaha. He kaitaunaki anō hoki ia i te mana taurite, me te aha, i whai wāhi ia ki te Komiti o Te Kotahitanga o Ngā Iwi o te Ao mō Te Whakakoretanga o Ngā Whakahāweatanga Katoa ki te Wahine (CEDAW). He nui hoki te wāhi ki a ia i roto i te tuhinga hukihuki o te Tukanga Kōwhiri ki te Kaweneti CEDAW.

I runga i āna mahi mā Aotearoa, ka whakawhiwhia a Dame Silvia ki Te Tohu Kairangi i 1989, ki Te Takahoa Matua o te Tohu Whakanui Ratonga a te Kuīni i 2001, ā, ki Te Tohu Hapori (mahi i te motu) anō hoki i 2006. I tāna noho hei Kāwana Tianara o Aotearoa, i whai wāhi atu ia ki Te Kotahitanga o Ngā Iwi o te Ao mō ngā tau maha i te Taraipiunara o Ngā Hara Pakanga o Kamapōtia. Ko ia tētahi o ngā kaiwhakawā āao e rua.

Frances Joychild

He kaiwawao wheako nui a Frances Joychild KC. Neke atu i te 25 tau ia i mahi ki roto i ngā kōti me ngā taraipiunara, e mātanga nei ki ngā take e pā ana ki ngā tika o te tangata, te tūpato-koretanga ā-ngaio, te whakatīwheta hemahema me te whakaweti, te tūkinotanga, ā, te whakaeketanga anō hoki.

Kua tū a Joychild hei rōia matua i ngā take ture whīwhiwhi, tae ana ki te tū hei māngai mō ngā painga o ngā tūora 300 neke atu o Lake Alice i mua i tana noho ki te Kōmihana a te Karauna i te tau 2021. Kua tū ia mō te Rōpū Pakanga i te Tuakokatanga o Ngā Tamariki, ā, mō ngā taurewa i ngā kēhi whakamātau e hāngai ana ki ngā arotaketanga ā-ture, ngā whakapono ā-hāhi me te takahitanga o ngā tika tōkeke.

Mai i 2003 ki 2006, ko Joychild te Kaikōmihana ā-Ture. Nōna te haepapa ki ngā take pēnei i te tuku manatika, ngā hinonga āture Māori, ngā tika o Ngā Uri o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, te whakahou i ngā tukanga whakawā tōmua me ngā mana ārai. I mua i tēnei, ko ia te Rōia mō Te Kāhui Tika Tangata me te Kaikōmihana Tukanga mai i 1993 ki 1997.

E taunga ana a Joychild ki te whakahaere arotaketanga, ketuketutanga anō hoki i te rāngai tūmataiti me te rāngai tūmatanui, me te aha, nāna i ārahi te Whakatewhatewhatanga o Te Taua-a-Rangi o Aotearoa i te tau 2015. I roto i te Whakatewhatewhatanga, i tirotiro ia i ngā take e hāngai ana ki te taitōkaitanga o tētahi haihana i te RNZAF i ngā tau o 1980. Nāna i arotake ngā pūnaha o taua wā hei tiaki tika, hei kaupare hoki i te toaitanga o aua āhuatanga. Nāna hoki i ārahi te arotaketanga o tā Te Hiranga Tangata whakatinana i te whakatau mō Ruka a Te Kōti Pīra o te tau 1997, i raro i ngā tohutohu a Te Minita Take Pāpori.

Mike Wesley-Smith

Ko Mike te Kaihautū o Te Kāhui Whakarite o te Whakatewhatewhatanga.

Ko ia te Kaiketuketu Matua mō te Kōmihana a Te Karauna e whakatewhatewha ana i te takakinotanga o ngā tamariki me ngā taiohi rau i te Hōhipera o Lake Alice.

Kua mahi hoki ia hei rōia, hei kairīpoata ketuketu anō hoki, me te aha, kua nui ana wheako mahi tahi ki ngā tūora tūkinotanga i roto i ngā horopaki torowhare.

I tāna noho hei Kaihautū o Te Kāhui Whakarite, mā Mike e whakahaere ngā mahi o ia rā a te Whakatewhatewhatanga.

Phillipa Mitchell

Ko Phillipa Mitchell te Rōia Āwhina o te Whakatewhatewhatanga.

Kua 30 tau a Phillipa e whai wheako ana i te ahumahi o te ture i roto i ngā momo ture whānui. Ko te wāhi matua ko te ture taurewa me te manene, heoi anō kua whai wāhi hoki ia ki ngā tika tāngata, te whiwhi mahi, te mana whakairo hinengaro, te ture porihanga, ā, nō nā tata nei whai wāhi ai ki ngā ture āwhānau. E hīkaka ana ia ki te whakauru i ōna wheako hei āwhina i te Whakatewhatewhatanga.

Chris Merrick

He rōia a Chris Merrick (Te Whakapiko o Ngāti Manaia, Ma'ufanga, Niua, Tonga) e noho ana ki Tāmaki Makaurau.

He wheako ō Chris hei Kaiwhiu mā te Karauna, hei Rōia Wawao, ā, hei Māngai Taiohi. Kua nui ōna tūranga hei rōia e āwhina ana i te Kōmihana a te Karauna, hei Heamana Tuarua hoki o te Taraipiunara Kaiako. Kua kaha hoki a Chris ki te uru atu ki ngā whakahoutanga o teture pēnei i ngā take ture e whai pānga ana ki ngā tamariki me te hunga rangatahi. Kua nui āna tāpaetanga mā Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa me Ngā Rōia o Ngā Uri o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa.

Rachel Wybourne-Curtin

Senior Wellness Navigator

Rachel is a Senior Registered Comprehensive Nurse with nursing role experiences nationally and internationally in clinical, managerial, advisory, community and education.

Rachel for over 2 years was in the Wellbeing team at the Royal Commission into Abuse in State and Faith Based Care.

Emma Finlayson-Davis

Emma Finlayson-Davis is a Barrister based in Auckland and shares the role of lead Inquiry lawyer with Chris Merrick.

Emma was a Crown Prosecutor for almost a decade before taking an extended break at home with her children before they started school. She returned to work as a defence lawyer working for the Public Defence Service in their Waitakere and Auckland offices. After some time at the independent bar, Emma was appointed as counsel assisting the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, a role she held for over two years.

Shelley Nisbet - Investigator 

Shelley was a police detective for more than 15 years, largely working in the field of child protection and adult sexual assault.  After leaving the police to work in the private sector she returned to the police to work with the families of the deceased, survivors, and witnesses of the Christchurch Mosque terror attacks in March 2019. 

For the last two years, she has been an investigator with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions. Her role involved interviewing survivors and investigating the abuse of children and young people in various institutions between 1950 and 2000.

Karen Jones - Inquiry Lawyer

Karen is an experienced litigator who practises across New Zealand and Australia in a broad range of civil and regulatory litigation and investigations. She is currently a member of Kate Sheppard Chambers.

Her areas of practice include employment, discrimination, human rights and privacy. She has undertaken investigations for private institutes in response to complaints of discrimination, bullying, privacy breaches and whistle blower provisions, and provided policy advice to state government agencies, large corporations and tertiary education institutes. Prior to being called to the independent bar in 2014, Karen practised at a number of litigation firms specialising in employment, civil, and medico-legal litigation in Australia and New Zealand.

Jamie Leighton - Wellness Navigator

Jamie is a Registered Comprehensive Nurse with Post Graduate Studies in Mental Health. Jamie has worked in several intensive mental health settings including addiction, child and adolescents, and forensics over the past 11 years. He has managerial experience also within the mental health and addiction sector.

Rizpah Evans - Wellness Navigator

Ko Kapunipuni te maunga
Ko Waikanae te awa
Ko Te Uruhi toku whenua
Ko Puketapu Te hapu
Ko Rawiri Paroke Jenkins toku whaea Tupuna
Ko Ngati Awa ki Kapiti Te iwi
Ko Rizpah Evans ahau

Rizpah is a Comprehensive Registered Nurse in New Zealand and Australia, who has specialised in mental health nursing.  Nursing experience includes nursing on an acute psychiatric inpatient ward, GP liaison and community mental health roles.  More recently spent 3 years with the wellbeing team for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith based Care.  I am currently based in Western Australia and work remotely for the Independent Dilworth Inquiry.

James Watson - Investigator

James was a Detective Sergeant in NZ Police for 28 years largely working in the field of child protection and adult sexual assault.

Since leaving the Police in 2019 James has been a senior investigator with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions. His role involved interviewing survivors and investigating the abuse of children and young people in various institutions between 1950 and 2000.