When they are happening, interagency teams and are leading to better collaboration and delivery of support to , and . A more inclusive approach to local relationship management within Oranga Tamariki would further improve collaboration.
Summary of our visit to Te Tai Taokerau
We met with 239 people in the Te Tai Tokerau area in March 2025. Read the summary of our findings by downloading the PDF or reading the content below.
47,800 |
and in the region* |
|
3,900 |
have had a report of concern about their safety or wellbeing | |
2,500 |
are receiving some form of intervention from Oranga Tamariki (as the outcome of a report of concern was a further action required) | |
330 |
had their offending addressed by Police** | |
370 |
are in custody and care | |
340 |
are in care and protection orders | |
30 |
are in youth justice custody | |
* Total population from Stats NZ 2023 Census, ages 0–18. All other data provided by Oranga Tamariki for January – December 2024.
** NZ Police data January – December 2024.
There is a shortage of services in the region to meet the needs of and . Support from those services that are available are limited by incomplete and inaccurate referrals, eligibility criteria, funding and complex financial approval processes at Oranga Tamariki.
There are delays in responding to reports of concern, with notifiers often not informed of action taken. When reports of concern are referred to ROC tables, community organisations are able to work with to provide support. However poor recording at Oranga Tamariki of the actions taken – either by them or community – is putting the safety of and at risk.
A lack of family group conference (FGC) coordinators and funding constraints are leading to delays in FGCs being held, how they are run and the support available for to attend – and therefore the needs of and not being met.
There is a shortage of care options resulting in and being moved out of the region or or in placements that are not suited to their specialist needs.
FGC co-ordinator
“... There is a limit of $150 for an FGC. We need to maximise that amount to cover everything which includes petrol voucher for , venue hire ... venues are pretty expensive and so we are then left with so little to cover food, or there is nothing left for other costs. It is hard, you have to really budget that little amount ...”
NGO kaimahi
“You do worry about their [Oranga Tamariki] train of thought sometimes. who have three children of their own and taken on four children that belong to a sibling. So, then they have seven in their house and these children have older siblings … and the social worker will say do you think you can take these kids as well?”
Health kaimahi
“Through all the services there is not enough support for trauma. A child’s behaviour becomes the focus, and the root cause may never be addressed. Every child that come into Oranga Tamariki has trauma and it has such a huge impact of behaviour, mental health, school, and everything else and the problem is, right across the system there is not enough support for trauma.”
These statistics1 compare outcomes for and who are at risk of being involved, are currently or were previously involved with care and protection and/or youth justice, with other tamariki and rangatahi in the region. This group are considered part of the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan priority population (OTAP).
| OTAP Regional | OTAP National | Other Regional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Department admission in the last year2 | 19% | 19% | 13% |
| Potentially avoidable hospitalisation in the last year2 | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Truancy days in the last year3 | 13% | 9% | 2% |
| Two or more school changes over the last year | 1% | <1% | <1% |
| NCEA Level 2 or higher (14 - 20 years old) | 55% | 62% | 80% |
1 These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) which is carefully managed by Stats NZ. For more information about the IDI please visit https://www.stats.govt.nz/integrated-data/. Statistics are taken from the most recent (June 2022) dataset.
2 0–20 year olds.
3 5–17 year olds.
56% |
of and aged 0-18 in the region are Māori. This is double the national average of 28%. |
54% |
of reports of concern in the region were determined to require further action by Oranga Tamariki. This is higher than the national average of 45%. |
75% |
of Police investigations under the Child Protection Protocol are still open. This is more than four times higher than the national average of 18%. |
10% |
of tamariki and rangatahi in care have a diagnosed disability recorded by Oranga Tamariki. This is lower than the national average of 16%*. |
* Note that these figures only represent the proportion of tamariki and rangatahi who have had their disability needs diagnosed, and not those with suspected but undiagnosed disabilities.