Acknowledgments I should like to express my sincere thanks to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for inviting me to undertake this review. Too frequently, little is done to examine whether recommendations made in reports such as my 2017 review of seclusion and restraint practices in New Zealand, are met, and whether promises are acted on. Thanks are due to Jaimee Paenga, Legal Adviser, HRC, who worked alongside me on this project from the very start, and maintained her calm, competent composure throughout what can only be described as a highly unusual time. Many thanks also to Janet AndersonBidois, former Chief Legal Adviser, HRC, and to John Hancock who replaced her, for commissioning this report and working alongside me, and to Eleanor Vermunt, Legal Adviser, HRC, for her excellent briefings and papers. Finally, my thanks to Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt, Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero MNZM, Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Dr Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo and Race Relations Commissioner, Meng Foon, and Deputy Chief Executive Tricia Keelan, for supporting this work. We invited a small number of civil society organisations to make informal submissions to this review. I am very grateful to: Amnesty International New Zealand; Balance Aotearoa; Barnardos; Health, Quality & Safety Commission; Wellington Howard League; Just Speak; Mental Health Foundation; People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA); and Te Pou for their invaluable contributions. I look forward to continuing our work to improve conditions for those people who are held in closed institutions. Thanks to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and in particular to Tanya Jondahl, for accompanying us on a visit. Many thanks to the Office of the Ombudsman for their insightful comments and suggestions. Many thanks also to Matt Beattie, Principal Advisor at Oranga Tamariki, for ensuring that we were able to access all the information requested in a timely manner, and to Emma Roebuck, Patrick, and to Dolly and Wendy for their support. Particular thanks to Julie Miller at the Department of Corrections for her open and helpful approach and for her efforts to respond to all our queries and requests, and to Valerie Shirley for doing the same when Julie left. Peter Johnston and Paula Thomson very helpfully pulled together the data requested: my thanks to them, and to Chief Inspector Janis Adair, and to Rebecca Gormley, Fiona Irving and Elaine Smit at the Office of Inspectorate, for generously sharing their time and expertise. Many thanks also to Waitemata DHB, Capital and Coast DHB, Mental Health and Addictions at the Ministry of Health, and to Mental Health, Addictions and Intellectual Disability Service for providing data and information on seclusion and restraint practices. Last but not least, I am grateful to the many people who engaged with us during our visits – managers, staff, and, in particular, service users, for sharing their experiences and thoughts with us. It is my sincere hope that this report will serve to help improve their treatment and conditions. Sharon Shalev London, November 2020 7