Victim Support apologises to families of Christchurch shooting for 'miscommunication'

Mourners lay flowers on a wall at the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch.

Victim Support has apologised for standing up victims and families whose loved ones were killed in the Christchurch terror attack saying it was a "miscommunication."

Multiple families understood they would be meeting Victim Support at the University of Canterbury on Wednesday evening.

However, when they arrived no one was there and families thought the meeting had been cancelled without any notice given.

Victim Support chief executive Kevin Tso said clearly there had been a miscommunication.

"I want to meet the victims in person, and after I was invited on Tuesday night, I agreed that I would meet with the victims next month and explain our future plan once this is clearer," Tso said.

He said it was very understandable that the victims and their families felt let down, given they believed I would be meeting with them on Wednesday.

"I apologise to the victims and their families for this additional stress. Our core priority at this stage is helping individuals in crisis," Tso said.

He said they were working hard to distribute another round of payments to victims today and he would be talking to those affected to update them directly on progress.

Siham Qasem​, the widow of Abdelfattah Qasem​ who was among those killed in the terror attack, told Stuff the non-appearance of Victim Support on Wednesday night was "adding to the burden on us."