‘Unlawful and inconsistent’: Gloriavale loses charitable status, leader barred from governance

| NewstalkZB | Michael Morrah |

Gloriavale’s trust has been stripped of its charitable status, and former community leader Howard Temple has been barred from holding a governance role.

The Charities Registration Board made the decision following an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs.

“The Department welcomes this significant decision from the Board,” the DIA’s Director of Charities Services Charlotte Stanley said.

The DIA’s investigation considered findings from recent Employment Court and Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal hearings which detailed the use of child labour in trust-owned businesses, and the non-reporting of sexual offending against children at Gloriavale’s trust-owned school.

In a statement Tuesday, the DIA acknowledged Gloriavale had implemented changes in recent years to improve governance, safeguarding and accountability.

“However, the seriousness, scale and duration of the governance and oversight failures led to a finding that trustees had failed in their responsibilities, and that deregistration was in the public interest,” the DIA said.

The decision means the trust will be deregistered tomorrow and it won’t be able to apply for charitable status for another three years.

“This outcome highlights the importance of accountability, effective governance, and demonstrable public benefit within the charitable sector. Maintaining public trust and confidence in registered charities is fundamental to the integrity of New Zealand’s charities system,” Stanley said.

She said the decision reflects the seriousness of the conduct identified and the impact on those affected.

In a statement from the Charities Registration Board, it said it found the way Gloriavale operated was “unlawful and inconsistent” with the wellbeing of trust beneficiaries.

“The Board has disqualified former trustee Howard Temple for the maximum period of five years to ensure he cannot assume a governance role again,” the agency’s statement said.

Temple was sentenced to 26 months prison in December for decades of sex offending against girls and women.

Within minutes of the decision being handed down, Temple’s lawyer Michael Vesty filed an appeal in the High Court.

A judge then granted his elderly client bail pending that appeal.

In 2022, the former principal of Gloriavale Christian School Faithful Pilgrim was banned by the Teacher’s Council’s disciplinary tribunal from leading a school for three years after failing to report a teacher’s sexual abuse of a 9-year-old girl.

Teacher Just Standfast forcefully kissed the girl, touched her bottom and exposed his penis. She told her mother who immediately told Pilgrim what had happened. In response, he moved the teacher to a Year 11 boys’ class – which he claimed removed any risk of reoffending.

Meanwhile, 61 Gloriavale leavers last month filed Employment Relations Authority claims against Gloriavale’s Overseeing Shepherd for lost wages, entitlements, compensation and damages totalling almost $40 million, Radio NZ reported.

The legal action followed two Employment Court rulings in 2022 and 2023 that found three men and six women were Gloriavale employees, rather than volunteers. They were working in factories, on farms or on the community’s domestic teams.

The board said it considered evidence from four other current and former trustees and concluded it was not in the public interest to disqualify them.