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.

We also sometimes assist with restorative approaches to sorting out what happened, when it might not yet be clear that someone is accountable for causing harm through their sexual behaviour.

Restore

History

  • Project Restore was founded in 2005. It was inspired by the research of Dr Shirley Jülich and what victims/survivors were asking for in response to the dissatisfactions they experienced around processes and outcomes inherent in the criminal justice system.
  • From early beginnings based in and alongside the Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP organisation and other organisations involved in responding to sexual violence, 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.
  • 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.

Impact

  • 94% of adults who are victims of harmful sexual behaviour don’t report to the police.
  • Many survivors feel unable to secure a ‘sense of justice’ from a system that places those that have caused the harm at the centre and can often cause further harm due to the processes of the court system.Using a specialist, tailored restorative approach we work with survivors, those that may have caused the harm, whānau + family, workplaces and wider communities. Our approach is centred around the needs of the victim/survivor of harmful sexual behaviour or sexual violence.
  • Project Restore works closely with both survivors and those that have caused the harm to progress a meaningful healing process. When a need for accountability is clear, we carefully navigate a dialogue about what justice could look like.

Our Mission

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

Our Vision

That Aotearoa New Zealand is free from cycles of violence.

Our Values

  • Collaboration
  • Generosity
  • Manaakitanga
  • Respect
  • Responsibility

Project Restore – Summary Privacy Statement

  1. Project Restore New Zealand Trust provides restorative justice for sexualised behaviour that causes hurt or harm and is committed to safeguarding the privacy of personal information we collect and hold. We must comply with the Privacy Act 2020 (Act) and the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs).
  2. You can find out more about our privacy obligations from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz).
  3. Below is our summary privacy statement:

 

  • We collect personal information so that we can provide our restorative justice services or alternative resolution services – this includes working out whether we are the best service for you and what we can do to provide you with the best possible service.    When we provide our services, we will create a file to hold this information.
  • For community and self-referrals we may initially collect information from the relevant support agency, counsellor, police officer or the individual concerned.
  • For court and corrections referrals, we initially collect information from third parties, such as the court, police, victims’ advisors and corrections case manager/probation officer.
  • With your consent, we may collect information from health professionals, probation officers, other support service providers, your support people and whānau.
  • You are not required to provide us with your information, however, if we are unable to collect certain information, we may not be able to provide our services.
  • To guide our decision making we may also share information with police, victims’ advisors, corrections, social support agencies and counsellors (with your consent). We may share relevant personal information with those who are also participating in the restorative process, such as the court and others you have authorised.
  • You can ask us at any time to access and correct the personal information we hold on you.
  • We will only use and disclose your personal information to carry out our restorative justice services, or for any other purpose for which you have authorised, or where we are permitted or required to do so by law.  Examples are if it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to the life or health of any person where we are required to give information to Oranga Tamariki or the Police.
  • Your information is collected and held by Project Restore NZ, in paper and electronic formats.  We currently use Penelope, a cloud-based case management system hosted by Social Solutions Global, Inc.  The servers are based in Australia.

 

  1. Our full Privacy Statement can be found here:  Full Privacy Statement

Project Restore NZ, PO Box 8423, Symonds Street, Auckland, [email protected].
Last updated September 2022 C PRNZ

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 www.advocacy.org.nz