Since our report was finalised, agencies have progressed some actions from their own reviews, but we are still not confident that tamariki in similar situations to Malachi are any more likely to be seen, or kept safe by the system, than they were when Malachi died. This is because:
- the recommendations of the Poutasi review have not been implemented and the system change Dame Karen called for has not happened
- individual agency reviews have made limited progress, and what has been done does not address the fundamental underlying problems
- across the children’s system, agencies are not adequately prioritising child protection and struggle to collaborate and share information
- when people report concerns, Oranga Tamariki is not sufficiently focused on the safety of the child and social workers are forced to make decisions on when to act based on staff availability.
