New Zealand finds state and religious bodies failed to prevent decades of abuse

People arrive at Parliament in Wellington (Charlotte Graham-McLay/AP)

New Zealand’s wide-ranging independent inquiry into the abuse of children and vulnerable adults in care has released a final report that found the country’s state agencies and churches failed to prevent, stop or admit the abuse of those they were supposed to look after.

The scale of the abuse was “unimaginable” with an estimated 200,000 people abused across seven decades, the report said.