A former Victim Support worker says the charity refused to replace the bloodied clothes of a woman who'd been stabbed.
Photo: 123RF
The charity's board is currently sitting on an independent report into allegations of bullying, inadequate training and service delivery failure.
The National Party's justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said the board's refusal to release the document "feels like a cover up".
RNZ has now spoken to half a dozen former workers concerned about recruitment practices, inadequate training and service delivery failures.
One woman recounted Victim Support refusing to replace a stabbing victim's clothes, suggesting her working partner pay for them instead.
"They never went back on it. They would not hand that money over and I've never been so ashamed as to have to phone that woman up and tell her we can't help her.
"I'm sorry I'm getting upset because she was upset ... they had holes in them from the stab marks, had blood all over them, she never wanted to see them again."
An internal letter seen by RNZ confirms bullying and a slow complaints process but board chair Lorraine Scanlon insists the report was never intended to be a public document.
Goldsmith said this isn't right.
"It feels like a cover up and that shouldn't be the case. Transparency is important in this issue because it is ultimately public funds," he said.
"It should be a basic requirement of the money being handed over to the organisation that they are accountable for the way that the place is organised and run."
Victim Support is a charity but receives the bulk of its funding from central government; close to $16 million in 2021, $15 million in 2020 and $13 million in 2019.
Goldsmith said it's reasonable to expect organisations handling that amount of public money are doing a good job and this can't be known without seeing the report.
RNZ asked Justice Minister Kris Faafoi what he knew about the workplace report.
"About as much as you've told me," he said.
RNZ also asked Faafoi if he would be asking for a copy of the report and if he expected more transparency from an organisation largely bankrolled by the taxpayer.
"I'll go find out what the story is and then I'll find out what I'll do after that... Look you're telling me one thing. I'll go check it out. If there's issues to look at, we'll have a look at it."
The former worker quoted above argues the entire structure of Victim Support is outdated and doing more harm than good.
"If you look at all the services that are out there now, Victim Support isn't necessary. We have so many organisations that have fully qualified trained people doing what Victim Support are playing and they go for contracts that they can't fulfil just to bring more money in."
Goldsmith said the Justice Minister should insist on seeing a copy of the report to ensure Victim Support is an effective organisation.
Board chair Lorraine Scanlon is meeting with ministry officials and the police to give them a summary of the report today.
