Survivor Support and Recognition Fund

In June 2024 the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry delivered its final report Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light.

One of the report’s recommendations was for the New Zealand Government to set up a fund for:

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and community groups to deliver support and services to survivors of abuse and neglect in care; and
Local Authorities to care for unmarked graves.

The fund is administered and supported by Community Operations Hāpai Hapori, in partnership with the Crown Response Office.

Applications to this fund need to show they will support one or more of the following outcomes:

Local Authorities memorialise, remember and honour those who died in care and are buried in unmarked graves in ways that are appropriate for local communities.
Communities gain awareness and understanding of abuse and neglect in care through bolstering and promoting existing survivor-focussed organisations and the work being done to honour survivors buried in unmarked graves.
Initiatives led by Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and community groups are funded to continue or expand the important work they do to support survivors.
Survivors are empowered within their own communities to identify the supports and solutions that are meaningful to them.
Additional options for services and support for survivors and their whānau are created that are easily accessible.

On this page:

Key dates

A second round of the Survivor Support and Recognition Fund (SSRF) opens for grant applications on 13 November 2025 and closes on Friday 27 February 2026.

This second round is contestable, and priority will be given to organisations who have not previously been awarded SSRF funding.

Who can apply?

This fund is open to applications from:

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and community groups providing support and services to survivors of abuse and neglect in care; and
Local Authorities that have unmarked graves relating to former psychiatric and/or psychopaedic sites/or other relevant sites within their region.

For NGOs and community groups, each grant application is limited to NZD$50,000.

For Local Authorities, there is a total of NZD$700,000 available in grant funding which will be distributed equitably between applicants.

Eligibility requirements for NGOs and community groups

To be eligible to apply, NGOs and community groups must:

have their own legal entity status,
form a non-independent branch of a national organisation that has legal status, or
be a fund-holder with legal status acting on behalf of an informal group. A fund-holder must be a legal entity and show it has been an active operating entity for at least 24 months at the date of submitting a request.

An applicant must also be:

based in New Zealand,
supporting New Zealand-based survivors,
not be an organisation named in the key findings (Part 7, Ch 12) and within the recommendations in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s final report, Whanaketia - Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ; and
have a clear governance structure.

Types of NGOs and community groups that may apply to the fund could include:

survivor-led advocacy groups, and
peer support networks.

Priority will be given to NGOs and community groups who did not receive funding from the SSRF first round.

What is legal entity status?

Examples of legal entities include (but are not limited) to the following:

incorporated societies
trusts registered under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957
companies with charitable purposes
local authorities
school boards of trustees, and
Māori trust boards registered under the Māori Trust Boards Act 1955.

Being registered with Charities Services does not automatically make an organisation a legal entity.

Application criteria

The applicant organisation needs to show it has appropriate governance structures and processes in place to support the size and complexity of the project for which the grant is requested.

This includes:

2 signatories on all your organisation’s bank accounts,
a current cashbook (or electronic equivalent) that is regularly updated,
a person responsible for keeping the organisation’s financial records,
regular financial reporting to every full meeting of the governing body,
a record for tracking grants from different funding sources,
having submitted any reports due for previously approved grants,
an up-to-date organisation profile in Hāpai Hapori’s online Grants Management System, and
an official bank document showing your organisation’s bank account details (this could be a bank statement, printed deposit slip or bank letter confirming the account name and number).

Additional criteria for fund-holders

In addition, a fund-holder must have:

an authorisation to act on their behalf from the informal group receiving the funding, and
a documented process on how they will disburse funding to the informal group.

This must be uploaded in the application as a supporting document. The fund-holder making a request on behalf of an informal group can also make a request on behalf of their own organisation (if they are eligible).

Eligibility criteria for Local Authorities

Funding is also available to Local Government Authorities that have unmarked graves relating to:

former psychiatric and psychopaedic sites, or
any other former care institutions in their area.

Priority will be given to Local Authorities who did not receive funding from the SSRF first round.

Examples of eligible projects

Direct organisational running costs contributing to a survivor-focused initiative

To receive SSRF funds for these activities, you must provide evidence that they contribute directly towards work done with survivors and no other elements of your organisation’s work.

Costs of materials or equipment directly contributing to a survivor-focused initiative

You must provide evidence that these materials or equipment will contribute directly towards work done with survivors.

Community development project costs

This could include hui, training, planning, travel, evaluation and facilitator fees.

Community projects and events

This could include projects and events that:

encourage participation of survivor communities including their whānau
promote survivor community leadership, and/or
social, economic and cultural equity.

Unmarked graves

Research into unmarked graves.
Memorials – including plaques, reflective spaces and memorials.
Short-term projects to recognise unmarked graves in cemeteries.
Historical projects to mark the history of an institution and those who died while in its care.
Whakawātea or land healing ceremonies.
Other ceremonies or events appropriate for a specific region.

What we do not fund

The Survivor Support and Recognition Fund cannot consider applications from:

individual survivors,
organisations named in the key findings (Part 7, Ch 12) and within the recommendations in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s final report, Whanaketia - Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light , or
fundraisers whose purpose is to distribute money to others.

The fund is also unable to consider funding applications for:

projects that duplicate existing services (unless the request demonstrates there is a good reason for both services to exist),
services or activities that promote commercial, political or religious activities, (including political advocacy projects, employment or business initiatives and commercial enterprises),
debt repayment or debt servicing,
international travel,
reimbursement of past transactions or for completed work,
capital items such as land, buildings or renovations (with the exception of unmarked graves projects),
exhuming and bringing tūpāpaku home from unmarked graves, or
services, activities or programmes to be delivered overseas.

Where can individual survivors get support?

While the SSRF is not open to applications from individual survivors, a list of support services for survivors is available at Support available | Crown response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry.

How to apply if you are an NGO or community group

All applications from NGOs or community groups must be made through the online Grants Management System (GCMS):

What supporting documents you need to provide

Grant applications will only be accepted for consideration if they are complete, and all the required supporting documents have been provided.

If incomplete applications are submitted, you will be provided with an opportunity to provide the missing information.

All funding requests must include a budget. The type of budget you need to provide depends on what your request is for.

Operational costs - costs of running an SSRF activity or initiative.
Project costs - costs related to a specific, one-off project.

The budget must cover your organisation’s financial year.

You also need to have up-to-date governance and recent financial information uploaded to your organisation’s profile in GCMS. This includes financial statements no older than 18 months at the time of application.

Further information about budgets and financial reporting requirements can be found at the links below:

Updating your organisation profile in GCMS

Updates to your organisation profile can only be made by a GCMS profile secretary.

If your organisation wants to change its listed profile secretary, you will need to:

email community.matters@dia.govt.nz with the names of the people your organisation wants to add or remove, and
attach evidence.

This evidence could include:

a signed letter from your organisation’s chairperson confirming the name of the person and authorising them to act as profile secretary, or
a signed letter from 2 trustees or Board members of your organisation confirming the name of the person and authorising them to act as profile secretary, or
a motion in your organisation’s meeting minutes (this is an action that is proposed and then agreed or affirmed) confirming the name of the person and authorising them to act as profile secretary.

How to apply if you are a Local Authority

Funding requests for projects relating to unmarked graves can only be created by Hāpai Hapori administrators.

This means eligible Local Authorities need to:

email SSRF@dia.govt.nz, then
wait for confirmation that a request has been created before logging into GCMS.

Once the funding request has been created by an administrator it will be added to your organisation’s list of saved drafts in the online grants management system.

If you need help submitting your grant application

If you need:

help with logging in to the Grants Management System,
help creating your organisation profile, or
advisory support,

please contact us directly.

You can either:

email SSRF@dia.govt.nz, or
call us on 0800 824 824 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm).

Timeframe

Once your application has been successfully submitted through the online Grants Management System you will receive an email to confirm this.

If any questions have not been completed, or if any supporting documentation has not been provided, an advisor will follow up with you once we have reviewed the application.

Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by 31 March 2026.

If your application is successful

Successful grant recipients will be required to submit a report detailing:

how the grant funding was spent – this will include an income and expenditure statement of actual grant expenditure against the budget submitted in the application
results the grant achieved – an account of how the grant has met the fund objectives as described in the application, with appropriate evidence and data to demonstrate the benefits and impacts, including:
- how the grant contributed to the agreed outcome, and
- how the survivor community benefited from the funded project and / or service provided.

If an organisation fails to submit a satisfactory report before 30 April 2027, it may result in:

the Department making an application to have the organisation’s grant funding returned, and/or
no further grants being approved.

Please note that all information provided in a submitted grant application is subject to the Official Information Act and may be required to be released.

In addition, all grants may be subject to an audit by the Department of Internal Affairs.