Happy new year
Ngā mihi o te tau hou! I hope you had the opportunity to unwind and connect with friends and whānau over the summer break.
Our team was all go right up to the end of the 2025 work year as we completed two nationwide reports.
Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children – a second review
Our second review of the implementation of the recommendations of Dame Karen Poutasi following the death of Malachi Subecz went to Ministers, and to government agencies for formal response, on 16 December. The Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Act provides 35 working days to respond, so our report will be published in mid-February.
This is a follow-up to our first review, Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children, published in August 2024.
Dame Karen Poutasi, and her work on child protection
We were saddened to hear of the death of Dame Karen early in the new year. Our thoughts are with her whānau.
We were fortunate to meet with Dame Karen several times following her December 2022 report Ensuring strong and effective safety nets to prevent abuse of children. She was determined to ensure that her report resulted in the improvement of New Zealand’s child protection system.
Noting the number of reports that had come before her's following the death of a child, and the gaps that were repeatedly being pointed to, she asked that we monitor the implementation of her recommendations for change. In October 2025, as we were drafting our second review, all of Dame Karen’s recommendations were accepted by Government.
We briefed Dame Karen on our second review only a few months ago and are committed to carrying her work forward to see if changes are made and that they make a difference to keeping children safe.
Experiences of Care 2024/25 will be published in March
Our annual report on compliance with the National Care Standards Regulations, Experiences of Care in Aotearoa 2024/25, is currently being finalised and will be published in early March.
Alongside nationwide data, our report includes information from our engagements with more than a thousand tamariki (children), rangatahi (young people), whānau, caregivers, social workers and other professionals who support tamariki and rangatahi in care. It draws on what we heard from our monitoring visits to Bay of Plenty and Central Plateau, Greater Wellington and Te Tai Tokerau (Northland).
Sharing information and the Children’s Commissioner’s campaign
Towards the end of 2025, there were some important resources published, and an important advocacy campaign launched by the Children’s Commissioner.
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The Privacy Commissioner published guidance on sharing information where there is a safety or wellbeing concern for a child. This delivers on one of Dame Karen’s recommendations and is part of the integrated government response.
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The Ombudsman published a new set of child-friendly resources for tamariki and rangatahi in care. The Ombudsman’s goal is to make the complaints process more understandable and approachable – and real.
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Mana Mokopuna – Children’s Commissioner’s Dear Children advocacy campaign is about recognising children’s safety as a significant social issue - one we all have a role in addressing.
Read on for more information about these – I encourage you to take a look and share with your team.
Arran Jones
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive
