1 Aug 2013

Former Glenn inquiry members say review lacks credibility

9:49 am on 1 August 2013

Some former members of the inquiry set up by the businessman, Sir Owen Glenn, into domestic violence and child abuse are questioning the credibility of a review of its work.

The review examined the way interview panels were conducted and whether confidential information provided by survivors of abuse was secure.

It was carried out by former think-tank member Kim Workman and the Women's Refuge chief executive Heather Henare.

But some formerly involved with the Glenn inquiry say the review is fundamentally flawed, as no-one who was on the panel at the time was interviewed.

Lawyer Joanne Morris, who quit in June, says the review made statements it could not back up without talking to members of the panel.

"None of the four of us who were actively involved as panel chairs or think-tank members were interviewed and yet in the report itself it says that the think-tank members who took part in the panel process commended it."

The review says that until executive director Ruth Herbert and operations director Jessica Trask resigned, the victims' information was kept in one place, but Ms Morris says this is incorrect as those conducting interviews had their own notes which they kept secure.

Another panel member who left in June, University of Waikato senior lecturer Rachel Simon-Kumar, says neither of the reviewers spoke to her.

The authors of the review and the inquiry's chair have declined to comment.