Child labour from age six among findings as Gloriavale Trust loses charity status
The trust that supports the Gloriavale Christian Community has been stripped of its charitable status after regulators found “serious wrongdoing”, including gross negligence and gross mismanagement.
The Charities Registration Board announced on Tuesday it would deregister the Christian Church Community Trust for three years from Wednesday.
The trust governs and administers the commonly owned assets of the isolated West Coast religious community.
Former trustee Howard Temple has also been disqualified from holding officer positions in registered charities for the maximum five years.
The decision follows a years-long investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs and drew heavily on findings from the Employment Court and Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal.
The department said those findings included the use of child labour from the age of six in trust-owned businesses, work in harsh and sometimes dangerous conditions, failures to protect children and workers from harm, and the internal handling and non-reporting of sexual offending against a child at a trust-owned school.
The board found funding provided by the trust supported the Gloriavale community to operate in ways that had been found to be unlawful and inconsistent with the wellbeing of its beneficiaries.
“This has been a particularly complex matter,” board chair Jane Wrightson said.
“The Board accepts that current trustees have worked hard to effect change in the community and to improve procedures to support their community.
“However, the behaviour set out in the NOID did occur, and meets the threshold for serious wrongdoing: the behaviour was both grossly negligent and constitutes gross mismanagement.”
The board had notified the trust in April 2025 that it intended to deregister it and disqualify five trustees.
It subsequently spent two days hearing objections from trust representatives and considered further information during 2026.
The board ultimately decided it was not in the public interest to disqualify four other current or former trustees.
Former trustee Fervent Stedfast would have been disqualified for the maximum period, but the board said his health meant such an order would have no legal effect.
Three other current or former trustees had been “actively and readily involved” in improving the trust’s governance.
The Department of Internal Affairs said significant changes in recent years, including appointing independent trustees and strengthening governance and safeguarding arrangements, had also been considered.
But the “seriousness, scale and duration” of the governance and oversight failures meant deregistration was in the public interest.
Wrightson stressed the decision concerned the trust’s charitable status rather than whether Gloriavale itself could continue operating.
“The Board recognises the right of the community to exist as a religious minority within a free and democratic society,” she said.
“The Board regulates the Trust, not the community, and this decision does not determine the future operation of this religious community.”
Department of Internal Affairs director of Charities Services Charlotte Stanley said the decision reflected the seriousness of the conduct identified.
“This outcome highlights the importance of accountability, effective governance, and demonstrable public benefit within the charitable sector.”
Gloriavale has faced a series of legal challenges in recent years over the treatment of people who lived and worked in the isolated West Coast community.
In landmark Employment Court cases in 2022 and 2023, former male and female members were found to have been employees rather than volunteers. The cases detailed children working from as young as six and women carrying out what the court described as “grinding, hard, unrelenting” work.
Those judgments have led to further legal action from former members seeking compensation for unpaid wages and other entitlements.
The community has also faced increased scrutiny over its governance and the treatment and protection of children, with court and tribunal findings forming a significant part of the Charities Registration Board’s decision to deregister its trust.
Gloriavale has introduced changes in recent years, including independent trustees and strengthened governance and safeguarding arrangements, which the board acknowledged in reaching its decision.
The trust and trustees have the right to appeal the decision.