Who are we?

We are New Zealand’s national provider of restorative justice for harmful sexual behaviour and sexual violence. We work with people of all backgrounds and walks of life – no matter who they are, where they live, or what the circumstances of their personal experience of harm are.

Project Restore NZ is recognised as a world leader in restorative justice for harmful sexual behaviour and sexual violence.

Restore

History

  • Project Restore, an incorporated Society until July 2017, was founded in 2005. It was inspired by The RESTORE programme in Arizona, USA together with the research of Dr Shirley Jülich in New Zealand. Our organisation was created in response to the dissatisfaction experienced by the survivor/victim around processes and outcomes inherent in the traditional justice system.
  • Dr Jülich, Kathryn McPhillips, Jennifer Annan, Fiona Landon and others shaped restorative justice processes that are recognised internationally as best practice. Project Restore empowers all participants to move forward with a greater sense of mana.
  • From early beginnings based in and alongside the Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP organisation, the founders worked to establish a very specialised offering, pulled together some funds and their own "sweat equity" to develop a thoroughly tested protocol that is truly survivor centric.
  • Project Restore has been governed by a Charitable Trust since July 2017. The objectives and values remain the same as under the Incorporated Society. All four founders are still very much involved in the organisation today.

Our Mission

We restore a sense of humanity, justice and dignity, when sexual harm has occurred. We believe that the experience of restorative interaction has the power to model compassionate behaviour which breaks wider cycles of sexual harm, hurt and violence now and for future generations. We provide a Kiwi made world class survivor centred Restorative Justice approach to “putting things right” where sexual harm or violence has occurred.

Our Vision

Project Restore New Zealand’s vision is that Aotearoa New Zealand is free from cycles of sexual violence.

Our Values

  • Collaboration
  • Generosity
  • Manaakitanga
  • Respect
  • Responsibility

Privacy

We ask you to tell us about yourself so that we can provide a quality service to assist in your Restorative Justice journey. However, if we ask you things you don’t want to talk about, you can choose not to. All information we collect is dealt with in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 (which you can read at: www.privacy.org.nz).

When we talk, we will likely record some notes from our discussion to help with our provision of services to you and in writing reports to third party funders. Project Restore NZ keeps separate files for each person, which also contain communications with other service providers. These files are kept in a secure cloud based case management system. Electronic information is protected by passwords and firewalls.

You are entitled to access the information we have about you and ask us to correct anything you disagree with. Whether you are a current or past client of Project Restore NZ, upon showing identification you can request that a copy of your notes be provided to your or be sent to someone else, like a new Counsellor.

Phone: 09 308 9712
Email: info@projectrestore.nz 

Confidentiality

Our notes and anything you tell us are confidential between you and Project Restore NZ. There are, however, a few exceptions to this which we will discuss in detail if you should wish to engage with our service.

We always deal with confidential information in accordance with the statutory requirements.

Complaints

If you feel dissatisfied with an aspect of the service you receive at Project Restore or feel like your rights are not being upheld, please let your Specialist or one of the Management Team know. Our complaints procedure and the relevant forms can be requested from our head office, or you can share your complaint via email, in a letter or over the phone.

We aim to provide the highest level of service possible, so will do our best to resolve your concerns and improve where we can.

If you need help making a complaint, there is a free advocacy service available through the Health and Disability commission: 0800 11 22 33