Our approach to this report

This report focuses on specific parts of the oranga tamariki system

On 1 May 2023, our role was expanded to monitor the whole of the oranga tamariki system.

We report on care and custody annually in our Experiences of Care in Aotearoa
New ZealandView the full glossary reports.5 This new annual report series is focused on outcomes being achieved for tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori and their whānau
Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary.

There are legislative requirements for this report

The Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Act 2022 (the Oversight Act) requires us to report annually on the performance of the oranga tamariki system in respect of outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau.

This first report primarily focuses on compliance with the Oranga Tamariki Act, in particular early intervention to prevent escalation through the care and protection system,6 youth justice intervention to prevent escalation through the justice system, and the role of FGCs. It also highlights examples of iwi
TribeView the full glossary and community initiatives that are working well for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau. We plan to focus on other parts of the system, including the role of other government agencies, in future reports.

At the time of drafting this report, section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 was yet to be repealed.7 Therefore, we have written this report in the context of our regulations requiring the inclusion of Oranga Tamariki | Ministry for Children performance in relation to section 7AA.

The regulations accompanying the Oversight Act set out what this report must cover. At a minimum, we must include:

  • a report on the performance of Oranga Tamariki under section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act
  • a report on the measures taken by Oranga Tamariki to carry out section 7AA duties, and the impact of those measures on improving outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori, and their whānau, who have come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki
  • an assessment of outcomes being achieved for tamariki and rangatahi Māori, and their whānau, under section 7AA
  • an assessment of how well practices within the oranga tamariki system have regard to mana
    Prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charismaView the full glossary     tamaiti and the whakapapa of tamariki and rangatahi Māori and the whanaungatanga responsibilities of their whānau, hapū
    Sub-tribeView the full glossary     and iwi
  • the strategic partnerships that Oranga Tamariki has with iwi and Māori organisations.

Our approach to assessing outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau

Both our legislation and our monitoring approach require us to assess how outcomes are being achieved for tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori who are known to Oranga Tamariki and therefore in the oranga tamariki system.

In this report we have looked at both tamariki and rangatahi currently involved in the system and those adults who have been through the system to see how well they are doing. Tamariki and rangatahi need the agencies in the system to provide the services required for them to go on to have happy and productive lives and enjoy a standard of living similar to those who have not needed formal state intervention.

Our monitoring approach is guided by our Outcomes Framework.8 This is a holistic framework with six areas of wellbeing defined according to the context of our mahi
WorkView the full glossary, for all tamariki, rangatahi and whānau
Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary.9

  • Aroha: Tamariki and rangatahi feel loved, supported, safe and cared for and are capable of receiving kindness through love and giving love to others.
  • Manaakitanga: Tamariki and rangatahi have reciprocal relationships based on genuine care, generosity and respect, which enable their needs to be met. Parents, caregivers and whānau have what they need to meet these needs.
  • Whanaungatanga: Tamariki and rangatahi have strong, healthy and positive relationships and connections with their family, whānau, hapū
    Sub-tribeView the full glossary    , iwi
    TribeView the full glossary     and people around them.
  • Rangatiratanga: Tamariki and rangatahi, alongside their whānau, are involved, empowered and supported to become self-determining, and leaders in their own lives.
  • Kaitiakitanga: Tamariki and rangatahi have all aspects of their holistic wellbeing acknowledged, nurtured and supported in line with the cornerstones of Te Whare Tapa Whā.
  • Mātauranga: Tamariki and rangatahi are learning and developing their skills and knowledge about themselves, their culture, their potential, their future and their role/place in this world.

We developed indicators to measure how life is going for tamariki and rangatahi Māori in the oranga tamariki system

To measure outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori, we worked with the Social Investment Agency (SIA) to develop a set of indicators to use alongside the information gathered from our monitoring in communities. 

The indicators draw on information from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), a large database managed by Stats NZ, which enables us to track outcomes over time and compare outcomes for groups of tamariki and rangatahi involved in different parts of the oranga tamariki system. There is more detail on the IDI in Appendix Two.10

We have developed indicators that show how life is going for:

  • tamariki and rangatahi aged 0–17 who are currently involved in the oranga tamariki system
  • rangatahi aged 18–25 who are eligible for transition support services11
  • adults aged 27–30 who were involved in the oranga tamariki system as children.

For example, we use level of qualifications attained as indicators of educational outcomes for adults and school attendance levels for tamariki and rangatahi. The full set of indicators, their definitions and data sources can be found in Appendix Two. The tables in the appendix show how we define different levels of involvement in the system from low levels of involvement to the state being the parent and guardian and what proportion of each group have been involved at each point. 

We also use these indicators to compare how life is going for disabled Māori compared to those with no identified disability. It is well reported that life outcomes for disabled people are often worse than for those who are not disabled. In this report, we focus on the areas where those differences are most relevant to our understanding of the performance of the oranga tamariki system. 

As this set of indicators was developed, we consulted Oranga Tamariki strategic partners, iwi and Māori organisations, as well as Te Kāhui
To flock, to herd, to cluster and so denotes a groupView the full glossary – our Māori Advisory Group. We heard that, wherever possible, outcomes and indicators should be aspirational and reflect what is important to whānau Māori. They should also highlight inequities in access to services and supports. 

There are areas where we would have liked to have indicators that better reflect te ao Māori
The Māori worldView the full glossary such as involvement and affiliation of tamariki and rangatahi with iwi and hapū, but currently there is no comprehensive data available at a national level. The data available in the IDI is mainly based on government administrative data – data about interactions with government departments. 

To help address this, we have supplemented the indicators developed in the IDI with measures from the What About Me? survey of rangatahi aged 13–18 conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development in 2021. It includes questions about their health, wellbeing, whānau and community. Further details on this survey are available in Appendix Two. 

Agency data

Under the Oversight Act, we request data and information from government agencies and some NGOs
Non-government organisationsView the full glossary. For this report, we made substantial requests for operational data from Oranga Tamariki and NZ Police and a more limited request for information from the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).12

We use agency operational data to understand:

  • the number of tamariki
    Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary     and rangatahi
    Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary     Māori within different parts of the oranga tamariki system
  • any disparities, including ethnic disparity and disparity for disabled tamariki and rangatahi at various points within the oranga tamariki system
  • the performance of the oranga tamariki system.

Oranga Tamariki was unable to provide all the information we requested. This was partly due to a digital infrastructure upgrade (as part of its Enterprise Data and Analytics programme), which temporarily interrupted its ability to provide data. We have been advised this data will be available for our future reports.

Data that is currently unavailable from Oranga Tamariki includes:

  • detail about reports of concern, assessments and investigations, hui
    Meeting, gatheringView the full glossary    -ā-whānau
    Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary    , timeliness, participation and outcomes of FGCs
  • data showing the effectiveness of prior intervention in preventing re-entry and/or escalation through the oranga tamariki system.13

The inability of Oranga Tamariki to provide this data for this report has limited our ability to look closer at performance for Māori and disparities. This also impacts its own understanding and ability to use those insights to support delivery of services.

Ethnicity data for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau

This report focuses on tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau who are involved in the oranga tamariki system. Oranga Tamariki data records all ethnicities that an individual identifies with.14 NZ Police has provided ethnicity data, but only one ethnicity is recorded per individual. Ethnicity is not known for almost a third of the tamariki and rangatahi involved with NZ Police in 2023/24, which makes data analysis for this report difficult.

The lack of reliable data from government agencies means that the full extent of disparity is not known.

The voices of tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau

The way in which Oranga Tamariki, its partners and NZ Police work directly impacts the experiences of tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori and their whānau
Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary. For this reason, their voices are central to our report and are highlighted in the use of quotes throughout the text.

Sometimes we use a quote to highlight a theme, and we also use quotes to highlight good practice where we have heard experience is primarily negative. Learning from these areas of good practice helps drive improvement.

Further information about how we collect and analyse data is available on our website.15

Who we spoke with during 2023/24

  • 200 Tamariki
    Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary     and rangatahi
    Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary     - including 130 tamariki and rangatahi Māori

  • 70 Whānau
    Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary     - including 45 whānau Māori

  • 120 Whānau and non-whānau caregivers

  • 550 Oranga Tamariki kaimahi

  • 160 Iwi
    TribeView the full glossary    /Māori social service providers kaimahi

  • 275 Non-government organisations kaimahi

  • 430 Government agencies kaimahi

For this 2023/24 reporting period, we visited communities in the upper South Island (including the West Coast), Taranaki-Manawatū, Tāmaki Makaurau
AucklandView the full glossary Auckland and Canterbury.

For this 2023/24 reporting period, we visited Tāmaki Makaurau – Auckland, Taranaki and Manawatū, Upper south and Canterbury. The image shows the location of these communities on a New Zealand map.

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Footnotes

5 https://aroturuki.govt.nz/reports#experiences-of-care-reports
6 This includes preventing entry into care.
7 The Government repealed Section 7AA on 7 April 2025.
8 Our Outcomes Framework was developed using a holistic te ao Māori
The Māori worldView the full glossary lens. It draws upon the Government’s six wellbeing outcomes from the Child and Youth Strategy and incorporates key dimensions from the Whānau Ora Outcomes Framework and the Oranga Tamariki Outcomes Framework.
9 https://aroturuki.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Documents/Core-documents/Our-Outcomes-Framework-with-indicators.pdf
10 The IDI holds de-identified data about people and households in Aotearoa
New ZealandView the full glossary. Results from IDI analysis are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the IDI, which is carefully managed by Stats NZ. For the full disclaimer see Appendix Two. For more information about the IDI, visit https://www.stats.govt.nz/integrated-data/
11 There are three broad types of transition support services: maintaining contact; advice and assistance; and support to remain living with a caregiver. A person is included in this group if they are eligible of any of these. Note that a person who is eligible may refuse some or all the support to which they are entitled.
12 We also sent information requests for our 2023/24 reports to the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, VOYCE Whakarongo Mai, Office of the Ombudsman, Open Home Foundation, Barnardos and Kōkiri Marae Keriana Olsen Trust. Information from these organisations features in our report Experiences of Care in Aotearoa 2023/24.
13 For example, absence of care entry/re-entry or further reports of concern for tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary who received various forms of intervention from Oranga Tamariki (following reports of concern).
14 In the case of younger tamariki, ethnicity is usually identified by a parent or guardian on their behalf.
15 https://aroturuki.govt.nz/what-we-do