Lake Alice Survivors Receive Compensation Up to $600,000

The New Zealand government has initiated a compensation program for survivors of the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital, with payments reaching as high as $600,000. This redress scheme, announced last year, addresses the experiences of children and adolescents subjected to severe treatment, including electric shocks without anaesthetic and injections of paralysing drugs, at the facility in the Manawatū-Whanganui region during the 1970s.

Out of the approximately 362 survivors, 37 individuals opted for negotiated compensation, while another 105 survivors accepted a rapid payment of $150,000. The amounts awarded were determined by independent arbiter and former High Court judge Paul Davison, KC, who released a summary of his findings on October 5, 2023. The payments ranged from $160,000 to the maximum of $600,000, with the majority receiving between $175,000 and $250,000, all within a fiscal envelope of $8.39 million.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care revealed that many children admitted to the Lake Alice unit did not have a mental illness. Instead, they were subjected to inhumane treatment. The facility’s lead psychiatrist, Dr. Selwyn Leeks, emigrated to Australia shortly after its closure in the late 1970s and passed away in 2022 without facing accountability for his actions.

In his report, Davison commended the survivors for their courage in negotiating compensation. He noted the difficulty of recalling traumatic experiences for the redress assessment process, emphasizing how this process only highlights the deep psychological scars left by their time at Lake Alice. “Recalling traumatic events… has been acutely painful and difficult,” Davison stated. He acknowledged that the experiences of solitary confinement and sexual abuse also factored into the compensation determinations.

Most of the survivors were aged 12 or older upon admission, though some were as young as 9 when they underwent electric shocks. Davison adopted a “survivor-focused and trauma-informed approach,” generally accepting the survivors’ accounts while reviewing available records and prior statements. He remarked, “The survivors quite understandably see their lives as having been blighted by their Lake Alice experiences.”

Erica Stanford, New Zealand’s lead coordination minister for the response to the Royal Commission, emphasized the importance of giving survivors the choice between negotiation and rapid payments. “We know no amount of money can ever undo or fully recognise the harm and abuse survivors were subjected to,” she said. Stanford noted that no previous government had acknowledged or apologised for the torture that occurred at Lake Alice.

In July 2022, the government formally recognized that torture took place at the unit, in line with definitions set out in the United Nations Convention Against Torture. A specific redress scheme was established in December of the same year to express regret for the failures experienced by the survivors. Alongside monetary compensation, survivors have received individual apologies and access to additional support as needed.

This initiative marks a significant step in addressing historical injustices and highlights the need for ongoing dialogues about mental health and patient rights in institutional settings.