OPINION: In May 2016, the then-government approved the creation of a new, stand-alone agency to provide a single point of accountability for services for vulnerable children and young people – Oranga Tamariki.
Seven years later, despite numerous reviews and previous election promises, we are still waiting for that accountability. As a result, we are still waiting for better outcomes for our vulnerable children.
For years, Child Matters has had to collate its own statistics about the number of children who have tragically lost their lives to abuse and neglect. We collate these figures from media reports and it takes hours and hours. But we do it because these figures are not officially available from the government agency responsible for them.
One would think these critical figures would be collated, published and debated by politicians not just prior to elections, but throughout an electoral term. However, that is far from the case.
In August, the question of child abuse death statistics was asked directly by investigative journalist Jehan Casinader. Oranga Tamariki “couldn’t” provide them. Last week, they were anonymously leaked to him.
During the global pandemic, health experts put the number of Covid cases and deaths front and centre every day. Waka Kotahi updates road death numbers on its website daily. A quick check of Water Safety New Zealand’s site indicates 69 people have drowned in New Zealand this year, while Worksafe openly report 62 fatalities in New Zealand workplaces in the year to July 2023.
But when it comes the loss of a child’s life due to abuse or neglect, the public had to rely on an anonymous leak to the media to inform them that 57 children have died since Oranga Tamariki’s establishment. Astoundingly, the agency also admitted they may not even know if a child in their system had died from abuse or neglect.
Statistics in isolation do not always tell the full story, but they are critical when it comes to increasing transparency and accountability – and in turn, making a genuine difference for our communities.
Clearly the numbers were there, but the desire for Oranga Tamariki to talk about them was not. It also begs the question, did successive responsible ministers know these figures? If not, why not? And if yes, why weren’t they talking about them?
Oranga Tamariki’s website shows they report many other statistics, including the diversity of their team, number of children in care, and how many community organisations they fund.
I am the first to say Oranga Tamariki frontline workers have a tough job and I do not wish to detract from their dedicated, hard work. But the system they work in is failing – not just failing the children who are at risk, but this frontline team as well.
The current response to a child at risk is a lottery depending on what site is involved, the workload, and the experience of the social worker. If we are going to make change, we need to understand the problem and that includes the numbers.
Since the death of Baby Ruthless-Empire, I have been asked numerous times if we will ever really be able to do anything about child abuse in New Zealand.
I do not believe we will ever eliminate child abuse or neglect. However, we can turn around the statistics so they are heading in the right direction, and this will save lives. But it will take leadership and an honest discussion in Wellington about how little progress has been made, and brave decisions about forging a better way forward.
As they say “the time for the truth is always now”.
