The Tom Phillips case: a year on
September 8, 2026
Child Matters CEO, Megan West: A year ago today, Tom Phillips’ children were found in the thick Marokopa bush where their father had been hiding them for four years.A year ago today, the question on everybody’s lips was “how could this have happened”?A year on, we’...
The frontline of child protection is failing; missing statistics are just one symptom
November 7, 2023
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 electio...
Urgent action needed to fix Oranga Tamariki
November 10, 2022
This month marks a year since the tragic and preventable death of five-year-old Malachi Subecz from Te Puna. In the six months after his death, six more children died of suspected neglect and abuse, and a total of eight children have died so far this year. Behind that statis...
