In our 2023/24 Outcomes for Māori report, published in June 2025, we identified two pou. We chose these two pou as key indicators of the long-term performance of the oranga tamariki system 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.
For this report, we include data for our pou that compares Māori who have had involvement with Oranga Tamariki with Māori who have not. We also include data where Māori have indicated a disability.
We may identify more pou in future reports.
In our 2023/24 Outcomes for Māori report, we said that intergenerational involvement will reduce over time if the system is working well.
The data for this pou is an outcome indicator for Māori aged 27–30 in 2023. The first two measures compare Māori who have had no involvement with Oranga Tamariki with those who have had involvement.10 This year, we also include a third measure as a comparison for Māori aged 27–30 who are indicated as disabled.
| No Oranga Tamariki involvement | 20% |
| Care or custody | 65% |
The baseline measure for this in our 2023/24 Outcomes for Māori report was 68 percent.11 Data for this report shows there has been a decrease of 3 percentage points. While this is heading in the right direction, we cannot yet tell if it is a trend.12
| No Oranga Tamariki involvement | <1% |
| Care or custody | 11% |
The baseline measure for this in our 2023/24 Outcomes for Māori report was 12 percent. Data for this report shows there has been a decrease of 1 percentage point.
This was higher for disabled Māori parents. 14 percent of disabled Māori parents who were in state care as children had a child who was in state care. This measure is new for this report.
In our 2023/24 Outcomes for Māori report, we said that, if the system is working well, we will continue to see tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori remaining hopeful about their futures and will also hear about them realising their aspirations.
The baseline data for this pou was from the What About Me? survey for rangatahi aged 15–18. Specifically, we use data for tamariki and rangatahi Māori who were involved with Oranga Tamariki. This includes those who self-identify as disabled. New results were not available at the time of writing this report.13
| I feel hopeful not at all very about my future | 6.6 (0 not at all hopeful, 10 very hopeful) |
Our 2024/25 regional engagements with tamariki and rangatahi Māori indicated that they remain hopeful about their futures. The quotes that follow are some of what we heard from tamariki and rangatahi 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 about their aspirations for the future.
“I want to be a social worker. I want to help kids like me. I would be really good [as a social worker] and I would work here [at residence].”
“If I was to have kids, I don’t want them to go through this sort of stuff that I went through. One thing I want for my future is to stay out of trouble. I don’t want to go to jail. Just work. Travel overseas. Move out of New Zealand, go to America.”
“[I am going to] stay safe, got to get a job with my dad, get certified [forklift licence].”
“[My daughter] talks with her social worker about [aspiration], and now she wants to be a social worker too. She’s got a mentor who helps her with her schooling. She got lots of support while [at residence].”
“[In the future, I want to] live with our Mum.”
“[She] wanted to start talking Māori, wants to know what to say. I would love for her to get into that. If she did get into her whole culture, she will know what she can do, needs to be pointing in the right direction. She is different from other kids.”
“My hopes for [my son] are to work hard on his routine and structure. To respect women and respect himself, to develop the tools that he needs to do that and choose different outcomes. Make good money. Travel. To get to leave this country.”
10 Any involvement with Oranga Tamariki, including where a child may have had one report of concern with no further action.
11 Outcome indicators in our 2023/24 report show IDI data from 2022. In this report, IDI data is from 2023.
12 We may not see any significant shift in this pou for a number of years. It takes time for any changes implemented now to take effect and for today’s tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary to become young adults.
13 The What About Me? survey was undertaken in 2021. As outlined earlier in the section Our approach to this report, the new Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey was undertaken in 2025 and merged questions from the What About Me? survey with another survey stream. Published results from the 2025 Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey were not available at the time of writing this report, but will be used in our 2025/26 Outcomes for Māori report.