Violence against children - UNCROC - Sixth Periodic Report by the Government of New Zealand 2021

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(a)

The Professional Practice Group (Oranga Tamariki) monitors the quality of practice delivered by Oranga Tamariki practitioners in their work with children, young people, and their families and whānau. Monitoring activities are designed to assess practice and decisions against legislative requirements and core standards of practice. All front-line sites are required to complete annual self-assessments of key strengths and areas for improvement in practice. Random samples of casework by site-based Practice Leaders are assessed monthly.

The National Care Standards (NCS) and monitoring

Organisations that have legal custody of children or young people under section 396 of the OTA will also be responsible for meeting the NCS. The standards were built around what children and young people told us they need in the care system. The recently established Independent Children’s Monitor (the Monitor) oversees and produces annual reports to the government on adherence to these standards.

The Monitor has released reports on agency compliance with the NCS Regulations from 1 July 2019. Of particular note in the second report, the Monitor found areas for improvement for Oranga Tamariki to ensure that allegations of abuse or harm are better responded to and dealt with.

MSD is leading work to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, which encompasses statutory care of children. This work aims to strengthen system-level advocacy for all New Zealand children and young people (through the Office of the Children’s Commissioner), improve oversight and investigation of complaints (through the Office of the Ombudsman) and to strengthen independent monitoring and assurance of the Oranga Tamariki system (through the Monitor). Cohesive and consistent oversight between the three bodies will improve the rights, interests and wellbeing of children and young people in the Oranga Tamariki system.

Vetting of children’s workers

The Children’s Act 2014 requires vetting of children’s workers.

Oranga Tamariki conduct the following safety checks for children’s workers:

• confirmation of identity (if not already provided as part of the application process)
• police check completed through Police (and the Australian Police, if applicable) Licensing and Vetting Service Centre
• bankruptcy checks
• a check on their case management database
• third party checks with any applicable licencing authority and/or professional registration body.

Training programmes

Two compulsory training programmes on the use of restraints and de-escalation techniques are provided to support children’s workers managing safety in State care.

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(b)

In State care

Oranga Tamariki and Police have a statutory obligation to investigate incidents of violence and abuse of children and young people, including those in state care. Safety and wellbeing in relation to incidents of violence, abuse and neglect are taken into account through the course of an investigation or assessment.

Claims and complaints

MSD is responsible for responding to claims within the state care system from before 1 April 2017, and Oranga Tamariki is responsible for claims after this date. As at 30 June 2020, a total of 4,173 claims have been received by MSD since the team was established in 2004. Of these, 1,834 claims have been resolved. As part of redress, apologies and payments from MSD so far have totalled over $30 million. Individual payments have ranged from between $1,000 and $90,000, with the most common payment range between $10,000 and $25,000.

MSD is considering how it can provide more meaningful redress response to consultation with claimants in 2018. Wraparound services are being developed by external non-government organisations to act as a coordination point for supports claimants may need (e.g. housing, health services, employment assistance). Further consideration is also being given to initiatives such as providing whānau reconnection support and new options for how a claimant could receive an apology.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions was established in 2018 to investigate why people were taken into care, the abuse that happened, the reasons for, and the effects of the abuse. The Royal Commission is also looking at the way the State and faith-based institutions have dealt with survivors' claims through redress to assess what improvements could be made. The Royal Commission is scheduled to report back in January 2023 after developing recommendations aimed at better protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults in State care and the care of faith-based institutions now, and into the future.

Prosecution and sentencing

Police ensures that prosecutions involving child victims are initiated in accordance with the Solicitor-General Prosecution Guidelines. Under the Guidelines, a prosecution should only be initiated or continued where the prosecutor is satisfied that the there is sufficient admissible evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction, and prosecution is required in the public interest. Public interest considerations in favour of prosecution that might be relevant to alleged offending involving a child victim, include where the victim is vulnerable, where the defendant was in a position of authority or trust and the offending is an abuse of trust of that position, and where the defendant took advantage of a marked difference between the actual or developmental ages of the defendant and the victim. A public interest consideration against prosecution includes whether the defendant is a child or young person.

Although it is well-established in New Zealand that violence against, and neglect of children is an aggravating factor at sentencing, offending against children may be penalised through a range of sentencing outcomes.

Abuse outside of the care system

Oranga Tamariki and Police work collaboratively to respond to alleged or actual incidents of serious child abuse or neglect. Oranga Tamariki and Police will assess all reports of child safety concerns received and:

• take immediate steps to secure the child’s safety and wellbeing. This is the first and paramount consideration including identifying and seeking support from family members and others who can help
• intervene to ensure the child’s rights and interests are safeguarded
• investigate all reports of serious child abuse in a child-centred timeframe, using a multi-agency approach
• take effective action against offenders so they can be held accountable
• strive to better understand the needs of victims
• keep victims and/or their families fully informed during investigations with timely and accurate information as required by section 12 of the Victims’ Rights Act 2002.

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(c)

Children and young people are welcome to contact Oranga Tamariki to discuss any concerns or complaints they may have. To provide this feedback, they are encouraged to speak with their social worker, or contact the Feedback Team directly using either the online form or via a dedicated phoneline. If a child is in the care of Oranga Tamariki residential services they are able to participate in the grievance process. Oranga Tamariki manages a free-dial telephone number which enables anyone to make a report of concern about a child to support possible intervention.

If the child or young person is not satisfied with the outcome of their complaint, they may seek a review by contacting the Chief Executive’s Advisory Panel or the Office of the Ombudsman.

Work is underway to create a more unified complaints and investigations mechanism for children through the Office of the Chief Ombudsman. This is a part of the ongoing work to strengthen the oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system.

School Based Health Services (SBHS) can be an avenue for students to report issues and receive support in the school system. [1] There is ongoing work improve the quality of SBHS, including better integration with pastoral supports and school counsellors in secondary schools, and integration with other health and wellbeing initiatives by education and health.

Children and whānau who interact with the healthcare system have rights under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, outlined in the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994. All healthcare services in New Zealand must have a channel to receive and consider complaints under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994. Complaints can also be made directly to the Health and Disability Commissioner through their website, through email, in writing, or over the phone. The Health and Disability Commissioner also operates a free nationwide health and disability advocacy service to support children and whānau to make a complaint and to seek a resolution with the healthcare provider.

The Initial Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is responsible for three pieces of work:

• Monitoring and reporting on the Government's system transformation response to He Ara Oranga
• Developing an outcomes framework for Aotearoa New Zealand's mental health and wellbeing
• Supporting the establishment of the permanent Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.

TPK commissions Whānau Ora Commissioning Agencies that provide tamariki-friendly services and mental health services as part of their service delivery model. These agencies also provide a reporting channel for children.

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(d)

One of the CYWS goals is that children are safe and flourishing in their homes. To best support Māori and disabled children, a pillar of the framework for the CYWS is that children and young people are accepted, respected and connected. This has a focus on addressing racism and discrimination, as well as actions to increase sense of belonging and cultural connections. [2]

Read an overview of the Child and Youth Wellbeing strategy

The Government is developing a Joint Venture Strategy to address family and sexual violence in New Zealand. This Strategy aims to develop new ways of working across government, and with iwi and communities, to reduce family violence and sexual violence through an integrated response. It is supported by a Ministerial group comprising the MOJ, MSD, Oranga Tamariki, and TPK.

While the Joint Venture Strategy will provide attention to all groups of people, there is intention for a focus on children – especially those with disabilities, who have a three times higher risk of being exposed to physical and sexual abuse than other children.

TPK provided a Māori perspective to the Joint Venture Strategy. This includes support to the interim group set up to represent the Māori-Crown partnership and the provision of expert Māori views and experiences of family harm in the development of the Strategy.

In addition to the above strategies, MBIE’s Child Protection Policy articulates its commitment to ensuring the wellbeing and safety of children and young people receiving services from MBIE or from organisations funded or contracted by MBIE. In doing so, MBIE recognises a genuine and significant opportunity to identify the abuse and neglect of children that might otherwise be undetected.

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(e)

The Safety of Children in Care unit (Oranga Tamariki) was established in 2018 to implement a new measurement approach to consider all abuse experienced by children and young people in care, regardless of where the abuse occurred or who caused the harm. Reports are released quarterly, with accompanying bi-annual and annual reports.

The Oranga Tamariki Evidence Centre also carries out a range of diverse research associated with violence against children. Recently published examples include:

• methamphetamine and care
• factors associated with disparities experienced by tamariki Māori.

TPK also supports the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse to undertake research on family harm and acts as a key disseminator of kaupapa [3] Māori research on this matter. TPK has also commissioned several pieces of research on the extent, causes, and nature of violence against whānau Māori and their tamariki.

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(f)

All findings of harm are reviewed by Safety of Children in Care unit, and the data and associated information is held by the unit in a National database.

The National Intelligence Application provides a national database of all cases of violence against children recorded by Police. [4]

The Joint Venture work programme includes data and analytics around the elimination of family violence and sexual violence.

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(g)

The Children’s Action Plan is now called the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan (OTAP), which is currently under development.

Under the Children’s Act 2014, the action plan must set out the steps that chief executives of children’s agencies will take to work together to achieve wellbeing outcomes set by the CYWS for children and young people of interest to Oranga Tamariki.

The Action Plan cohort includes children and young people who are at risk of being involved with, are already involved with, or have been involved with our care and protection and youth justice systems.

Police are a key contributor towards supporting violence intervention in relation to the OTAP. As a member of the Family Violence Sexual Violence Joint Venture, Police’s primary area of focus is crisis response through Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke and the Integrated Safety Response sites. 

Reply to Freedom of the child from all forms of violence - 16(h)

The Government has committed to strengthening specialist family violence and sexual violence services in its recent budget allocations:

• Budget 2018 - $93.3 million
• Budget 2019 - $320.9 million
• Budget 2020 - $202.9 million (page 78)

The Government invested an additional $1.1 billion over four years for Oranga Tamariki to deliver on system transformation in the care and protection and youth justice systems in Budget 2019. This included additional investment to meet new legislative requirements, such as the NCS and establish new support services with adequate resourcing. $40.8 million was provided for sexual violence services.

Police is committed to ensuring the right capacity and capability across frontline services to respond to, and prevent, cases of child abuse. In the six-year period from 2017/2018 to 2022/2023, Police has funded an additional 1,800 constabulary officers. Of those 1,800, more than 300 officers sit within Youth Specialist and Serious Crime frontline responder groups across the country (including dedicated Child Protection and Adult Sexual Assault Teams). 

All new Police recruits undertake dedicated training on child and family harm, including how to manage cases involving children and how to provide referrals to support services for children who have been harmed (or who are at risk of being harmed). Refresher training to all constabulary employees is provided to ensure continuous improvement in the delivery of policing services. The centralised Child Protection Team maintains oversight of all activity through monitoring workflows, supporting prioritisation and escalating risk.

Reply to Harmful practices - 17(a)

In New Zealand, forced marriage (through intimidation, threats or violence) has been criminalised through the Family Violence (Amendments) Act 2018. This amendment came into force in 2019 and is specifically aimed at preventing people being subjected to forced or coerced marriage, particularly women and children. Note also the reply to paragraph 8 on the minimum age of marriage.

Given New Zealand has very minimal marriages occurring where either the bride and/or groom is aged under 18 years (a total of 7 marriages of 19,071 that were registered in 2019), the Government does not have a formal awareness-raising campaign on this issue. However, Oranga Tamariki will ensure that any young person who discloses a complaint of potential or actual forced marriage, is supported and assisted in making decisions to ensure they are being adequately protected from potential harm.

Reply to Harmful practices - 17(b)

The Paediatric Society was directed by MOH in 2017 to set up an Intersex Working Group to develop guidelines and protocol for infants born intersex, based on newborn principles of best practice. Next steps for this work programme for children and young people are currently being discussed with relevant stakeholders.

In 2020, Oranga Tamariki updated their Practice Guidelines to assist social workers when responding to cases involving Female Genital Mutilation (an illegal practice under the Crimes Act 1961).

Reply to Family environment - 18

Treatment of alcohol and drug-related problems

Publicly-funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) services are available in each District Health Board (DHB) throughout New Zealand. Around 50,000 people access these services each year. Around a third of people accessing AOD services are Māori, and the DHBs in New Zealand that experience disproportionately higher levels of AOD harm are largely rural DHBs with a high Māori population. The Government has prioritised investment in AOD services for DHBs with a high Māori population, including specific funding for managed withdrawal and post-treatment support through Budget 2019.

Welfare Overhaul

The Government has committed to overhauling the welfare system. Recognising the value of unpaid work, including caring for children, is a key feature of the vision for this overhaul. Welfare overhaul progress has included initiatives that support children and the performance of carers’ child-rearing responsibilities.

In April 2020, the Government repealed section 192 of the Social Security Act 2018, which previously cut incomes to parents and their children if the name of the other parent was not declared to the Government. In May 2019 it was estimated that around 24,000 children would be significantly better off as a result of this change, with many sole parents’ incomes increasing by an average of $34 per week.

Cabinet has also agreed to remove the subsequent child policy from the Social Security Act 2018, planned to come into effect in November 2021. This policy currently impacts eligibility for Sole Parent Support and places obligations on parents to return to work earlier if they have an additional child while receiving a main benefit. This initiative will increase affected parents’ flexibility to spend time with their subsequent children in the critical first 1,000 days of their life and will have a positive impact for Māori (who are currently disproportionately impacted by the subsequent child policy).

Oranga Tamariki

Budget 2020 invested $209.9 million to increase financial assistance for around 22,000 children being looked after by around 14,000 caregivers.

Oranga Tamariki also invests over $150 million per annum with non-government organisations and iwi partners to support the delivery of Early Support and Intensive Response services. Many partners are co-funded with other Government funders and supported by charitable income. Examples include:  

• Family Start - a longstanding home-visiting programme. It supports whānau/families at risk of facing health and social challenges to realise better outcomes for their children. Whānau are enrolled in the programme from pre-natal to the child’s first birthday.
• Services in Schools (for example Social Workers in Schools) - a community, school-based social work service, provided in most decile 1-3 primary, intermediate and secondary schools to support individual children and their whānau.
• holistic whānau support services - for example, Waitomo Papakāinga for tamariki and rangatahi Māori in Te Hiku to remain connected to their whakapapa (genealogy). They provide social work, counselling and emergency housing services, as well as budgeting, cooking and literacy classes. Their interventions and decisions are based on knowledge of tikanga Māori (Māori customary practice) and whānau values.
• Strengthening Families - this process develops joint plans with whānau to meet their needs when they require multiple agencies working with a whānau. 

Oranga Tamariki are beginning work to develop a new approach to early support, with a focus on supporting iwi, Māori organisations, and communities to develop sustainable, locally-led, and whānau-centred approaches that bring together the right agencies and partners to offer early support.

Oranga Tamariki, TPK and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) have recently invested $42 million dollars over two years in Whānau Ora for the development of a whānau-centred early support prototype designed to strengthen families and improve the safety and wellbeing of children. This is part of a wider Ngā Tini Whetū​ programme, which aims to support around 800 North Island families over a two-year period starting in January 2021. This new collaborative approach is a positive step towards devolution of services to Māori, by Māori, for Māori.[2]

Read Reports to the Minister for Children

Reply to Children deprived of a family environment - 19(a)

In December 2015, the Modernising Child, Youth and Family Expert Panel (the Expert Panel) made a series of recommendations to overhaul the care, protection and youth justice systems.

The Expert Panel developed its recommendations with extensive consultation with stakeholders and experts from across the system, including care-experienced young people. A Youth Advisory Panel of eight young people with current or previous experience of the care system was established to test, challenge and refine the design work. The Expert Panel also conducted interviews with 63 children and young people, parents, caregivers and social workers who had been involved with the care, protection and youth justice systems. The Expert Panel held a series of collaborative design workshops with users of the care, protection and youth justice systems to explore what a future child-centred system could look like.

Oranga Tamariki worked closely with TPK to support whānau engagement with children in both residential and non-residential state care when developing the NCS.

The All About Me plan (administered by Oranga Tamariki) supports outcomes by recording planning information that is responsive to their changing needs and circumstances and advances their long-term goals and outcomes. This helps everyone involved support the needs and objectives of children and young people.

Reply to Children deprived of a family environment - 19(b)

Since its establishment in 2017, Oranga Tamariki has been focused on implementing the recommendations from the “State of Care” report published by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, including:

• setting explicit expectations for Māori children who come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki, and
• the development of partnerships with iwi and Māori organisations to build the capability of communities to support Māori children and families.

Oranga Tamariki reports annually on the Government’s progress of its practical commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi to improve outcomes for tamariki Māori their whānau, hapū and iwi (section 7AA OTA). The first 7AA report (July 2020) observed a shift in focus towards early intervention services, with more support delivered for Māori by Māori.

Reply to Children deprived of a family environment - 19(c)

Data about children, in particular data from a child’s perspective, is an area of New Zealand’s data system we are looking to expand. Currently, there are few collections that allow children to directly participate in the provision of data. Most official household surveys target people aged 15 years and above and require parents or caregivers in responding households to provide information on children when it’s required.

Oranga Tamariki is working to improve collection of data from children and their families/whānau using better processes, technical solutions, and outcomes reporting. This involves working closely with partner service providers to improve upon service delivery data collection.

Reply to Children deprived of a family environment - 19(d)

Oranga Tamariki contract service providers are accredited by MSD (using the SSA Standards) and are monitored by the Oranga Tamariki Partnering for Outcomes Group. These can be found in the table below, noting that funding in the current financial year is subject to contracting and may change.

The Independent Children’s Monitor will provide clear, independent advice and information to Government on the impact of the systemic reforms on children’s outcomes. The Children’s Commissioner also considers individual and thematic issues.

The Independent Children’s Monitor has acknowledged that it will take several reporting periods using its Outcomes Framework (in development) for it to receive the level of quantitative and qualitative data required to draw trends and patterns, and that practice change takes time to embed within agencies.

Reply to Children deprived of a family environment - 19(e)

Oranga Tamariki is developing more suitable placements to meet the needs of young people in care and protection residential care, however there is not yet a set timeframe for this work.

Read Proactive release of Transforming our Response to Children and Young People at Risk of Harm: Paper Four: Care

Oranga Tamariki and Police have expanded community-based options to reduce the use of detention for children and young people. These community-based options aim to provide a more child and young person-centred placement and ensure that young people’s connection to their whānau are upheld and strengthened. In turn, this aims to improve the wellbeing of young people who are held on detention. This work has included improvements to support young people on bail conditions to prevent breaches through engaging young people in activities and education and building connections with whānau.

Reply to Adoption - 20

The Government is currently reviewing the adoption laws. This review presents an opportunity to modernise all of our adoption laws, including the Adoption Act 1955, which hasn’t been substantially updated in 66 years. The Government is committed to ensuring the law aligns with New Zealand’s values and protect children’s rights, including those set out in the Convention.

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Footnotes

1. More detail in reply to paragraph 22(b) of the list of issues. Return to text
2. For further information on how children and young people were involved in the development of the CYWS, please refer to the reply to paragraph 5(b). Return to text
3. Defined as principles and ideas which act as a base or foundation for action. Return to text
4. The Government notes that not all cases come to Police attention and therefore is unable to fully disaggregate cases which take place in State care. Return to text