Appendix A: Summary of agency progress on Poutasi recommendations
For each of the critical gaps identified in the Poutasi report, Dame Karen made a number of recommendations to address them. This table provides an overview of the status of each of the recommendations in the Poutasi report. It includes brief commentary on progress made. More detailed commentary is set out in the body of this review.
Recommendation 1: Oranga Tamariki should be engaged in vetting a carer when a sole parent of a child is arrested and/or taken into custody. Police (or other prosecuting agency) in the first instance, and the Court in the second, will need to build into their processes time for this to occur.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, supported by Corrections, Ministry of Justice and Police | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | An interagency hub will be established in January 2026 to gather and share information to identify and respond to the needs of whose sole parent is remanded in custody and/or sentenced to imprisonment. |
Recommendation 2: Oranga Tamariki should be engaged in regular follow-up checks and support for such an approved carer while the sole parent remains in custody. Resourcing must be addressed to enable this to occur.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, supported by Corrections and Police | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | Agencies are working together to enhance the existing report of concern process to ensure that tamariki whose sole parent is arrested and/or taken into custody are identified and their needs met. |
Recommendation 3: Multi-agency teams working in communities in partnership with and , resourced and supported throughout the country to prevent and respond to harm. There are examples of this happening already across the country. Implementation in all localities must be a priority so that relevant local teams can help assess, respond to the risk to a child, and provide support.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, Police and the Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | This is being progressed through Enabling Communities. |
Recommendation 4: Medical records held in different parts of the health sector should be linked to enable health professionals to view a complete picture of a child’s medical history.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Health and Health NZ | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | Health NZ is undertaking a multi-year programme to link medical records across relevant healthcare settings to enable health professionals to view a picture of a child’s medical history. |
Recommendation 5: The health sector should be added as a partner to the Child Protection Protocol between Police and Oranga Tamariki to enable access to health professionals experienced in the identification of child abuse, and to facilitate regular joint training.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Health and Health NZ, supported by Oranga Tamariki and Police | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | Health NZ is considering joining the CPP in a training and governance capacity while further work is undertaken to assess resourcing requirements of participating fully. |
Recommendation 8: Professionals who work with children should be mandated to report suspected abuse to Oranga Tamariki. This should be legislated by defining the professionals and service providers who are to be classed as ‘mandatory reporters’, to remove any uncertainty around their obligations to report.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, supported by Corrections, Ministry of Justice, Police, , Ministry of Health, Health NZ, Ministry of Education and ERO | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | A staged approach will be taken to these recommendations, starting with mandatory education and training for designated workforces to improve child protection knowledge and skills. |
Recommendation 9: The introduction of mandatory reporting should be supported by a package approach that includes:
- A mandatory reporting guide with a clear definition of the red flags that make up a highrisk Report of Concern, together with the creation of a ‘High Report of Concern’ category similar to New South Wales ‘Risk of Significant Harm’ definition
- Defining mandatory reporters, all of whom should receive regular training
- In addition, for professionals deemed to be mandatory reporters, there should be:
- Undergraduate courses teaching risks and signs of child abuse
- Mandatory regular updated training regarding their responsibilities and the detection of child abuse, with practising certificates conditional on training and refreshers.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, supported by Corrections, Ministry of Justice, Police, MSD, Ministry of Health, Health NZ, Ministry of Education and ERO | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | A staged approach will be taken to these recommendations, starting with mandatory education and training for designated workforces to improve child protection knowledge and skills. |
Recommendation 10: There should be active monitoring of implementation by early childhood education services of their required child protection policies to ensure they are providing effective protection for children. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and the Education Review Office should jointly design and administer a monitoring and review cycle for the implementation of Child Protection Policies in Early Learning Services.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Education, supported by ERO | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | The revised ECE licensing criteria are expected to be implemented in April 2026. |
Recommendation 11: The agencies that make up the formal Government’s children’s system should be specifically defined in legislation.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, supported by Corrections, Ministry of Justice, Police, , Ministry of Health, Health NZ and Ministry of Education (Children’s System Working Group) | Not achieved. | Complete. | Agencies advise that this recommendation is complete. |
Recommendation 12: These agencies should have a specific responsibility included in their founding legislation to make clear that they share responsibility for checking the safety of children.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki, supported by Corrections, Ministry of Justice, Police, MSD, Ministry of Health, Health NZ and Ministry of Education (Children’s System Working Group) | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | Progressing this recommendation is being considered in the context of other changes being implemented to strengthen agency accountability for checking child safety. Agencies are taking steps to ensure that all children’s agencies are complying with provisions in Part 2 of the Children’s Act for checking the safety of . Officials will also assess whether there are any gaps and consider what further legislative change may be required to fully implement the intent of this recommendation. |
Recommendation 13: Regular public awareness campaigns should be undertaken so the public is attuned to the signs and red flags that can signal abuse and are confident in knowing how to report this so children can be helped. society needs to hear the message ‘don’t look away’.
| Lead agency | 2024 status | 2025 status | Progress made towards recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oranga Tamariki advised that the lead agency for this work is yet to be confirmed | Not achieved. | Not achieved. | A public awareness campaign will be progressed to help reinforce the mandatory training and education under recommendation 9. |