Priority 3 – Preventing child harm
What we mean by preventing child harm
In this Strategy, preventing child harm means preventing child abuse and neglect within families and whānau, by addressing early risk factors and strengthening protective factors.
The drivers of child harm are complex, but there are some common risk factors that create toxic stress for families, affect parents'; ability to cope, and get in the way of positive, nurturing relationships:
- Low incomes
- Housing instability
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Mental health challenges
- Community disadvantage
Why this is a priority
Experiencing abuse and neglect in childhood can have significant negative effects on physical, mental and emotional health and development. This can have flow on impacts across all six enduring outcomes as well as longer term and intergenerational impacts. Within te ao Māori, harm is acknowledged as a violation of mana and ora (life, health and vitality).
Brain development: Physical, verbal and emotional abuse can detrimentally affect brain development in children and young people. Exposure to violence, abuse and neglect can also affect the nervous, metabolic, immune and emotional systems of the developing child.
Interactions with the justice system: 97% of 10–13-year-olds who committed serious offences had been the subject of a prior child welfare notification to Oranga Tamariki.
Educational outcomes: Exposure to and experience of child harm can negatively affect school attendance and achievement.
Too many children are experiencing abuse and neglect
It is challenging to get an accurate picture of the incidence of child abuse and neglect. Current data doesn’t provide a true picture of the extent of this issue. Nevertheless, we know that every year thousands of New Zealand children experience abuse and neglect at the hands of loved ones.
From the data we have, we know:
- there were 10,426 substantiated Oranga Tamariki findings of abuse or neglect in 2022
- 23.5% of children born in 1998 had been the subject of a report of concern to Oranga Tamariki by age 17
- some groups of children (Māori, Pacific, disabled children and those in low-income households) are overrepresented in the data on children who experience abuse and neglect
Current government policies and actions to prevent child harm
- Second Te Aorerekura Action Plan, which includes a focus on ensuring children and young people are safe and appropriately supported
- Changes to strengthen the child protection system, following Dame Karen Poutasi’s report into the death of Malachi Subecz
- Response to the findings from the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care
- Changes to strengthen oversight of the care and protection system
- Oranga Tamariki-led actions to improve systems responses to harm once it has occurred, to better protect and support children and prevent harm from re-occurring
- Delivery of MSD programmes, including E Tū Whānau and Pasefika Proud
Where we will focus to prevent child harm
The wide range of factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect means a coordinated, cross-government approach is needed. We will focus on prevention and early intervention using a life course lens to address factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect within families.
Our collective efforts will focus on three areas:
Addressing underlying stressors and risk factors – These include material hardship, housing insecurity, and lack of social supports. We will identify opportunities to improve core services and better support those with the greatest needs.
Strengthening protective factors, including supporting nurturing, positive parenting and caring practices – There is good evidence about the factors that protect children from harm, and we will explore opportunities to strengthen these.
Effective and responsive early intervention for those with early indicators or risk factors for child harm – We know the factors that can increase the risk of abuse and neglect, and we can do more to ensure families have the support and skills to prevent harm from occurring.
We will look at ways to improve prevention and early intervention programmes and services and to ensure those who need them most can access them.
