Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty- sixth session

17 January-4 February 2011

Written replies by the Government of New Zealand to the list of issues (CRC/C/NZL/Q/3–4) related to the consideration of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of New Zealand (CRC/C/NZL/3-4)*

[7 December 2010]

Part I

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 1 of the list of issues (CRC/C/NZL/Q/3-4)

1.The Ministry of Social Development is the department responsible for leading the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in New Zealand. The Chief Executive works with other departments to develop a work programme in relation to children and young people.

2.The approach that New Zealand takes to the implementation of the Convention means that comprehensive action is pursued through a collaborative work programme rather than through the development of a national plan of action.

3.A forum of social sector Chief Executives (the Forum) has been established to ensure that departments have co-ordinated and complementary work programmes. This Forum is chaired by the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development and is a key central government mechanism used to address cross-sectoral issues. Membership of the Forum includes the Chief Executives of central government departments: the Ministries of Health, Education and Justice, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Forum meets monthly and reports regularly to the Government’s Cabinet Social Policy Committee.

4.The requirement to report to a Cabinet committee ensures that Cabinet is kept informed of progress on the integrated work programme, with Ministers and their departments holding responsibility for implementation of different aspects of the programme.

5.Consequently, the Forum Chief Executives include some of the most important elements of the Convention in their departmental work programmes. Examples of this work include preventing child abuse, reducing inequalities in social well-being, and reducing educational disparities. The Forum is currently focused on key initiatives across social service departments designed to improve outcomes for children. These initiatives include:

The Community Response Model, which gives communities a greater say in the family support and services they need locally.

The Integrated Service Response and Community Link model, cross-departmental approaches that assist the most at-risk families in dealing with the underlying causes of their problems.

Integrated Family Health Centres, providing a full range of services to families in their communities

The Drivers of Crime initiative, which requires departments to work together to address the root causes of offending and victimisation

The Rangatahi Courts project, a Marae based initiative designed to reduce reoffending by young people.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 2 of the list of issues

6.New Zealand provided information on the measures undertaken from 2003 to 2008 in the third and fourth periodic reports.

7.Māori have experienced gains across many indicators of social and economic well-being. However, a proportion of the Māori population are over-represented amongst groups that experience negative socio-economic outcomes.

8.Improving access to, and participation in, quality education has continued to be a crucial component of New Zealand’s efforts to combat negative societal attitudes and discrimination against indigenous children. This is achieved through a number of specific measures, including the provision of culturally appropriate learning resources, education and programmes. These measures encourage productive partnerships between schools, whānau and iwi and the professional development of teachers. This aims to promote better attitudes and expectations of Māori students and their capability and capacity to meet their learning needs. These programmes are not only focused on improving outcomes for Māori students, but also improving outcomes and attitudes across all student groups.

9.In 2010, the Government announced it was investing an extra $91.8 million over four years in a package of initiatives designed to increase participation in early childhood education, particularly by Māori and Pacific children, and children from low income families. The initiatives include intensive community participation projects, flexible and responsive home-based initiatives, new supported playgroups, language, culture and community engagement support projects, a parent engagement programme, and improved property assistance.

10.To improve the performance of the education system for, and with, Māori the Ka Hikitia–Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012 was introduced in 2008, along with a new Māori language curriculum for primary and secondary schools. An evaluation of Ka Hikitia, and the Ministry of Education’s comprehensive annual report on Māori education, Ngā Haeata Mātauranga, indicates positive progress and the beginning of system change beneficial for tamariki. Māori. The evaluation showed that the proportion of Māori students leaving school with no qualifications has reduced, and that in 2009 there were 6,267 students in schools teaching in Te Reo Māori; an increase of 9.3 per cent since 2002.

11.New Zealand also recognizes that ensuring tamariki Māori are able to enjoy their rights requires a continuing commitment to address inequalities in health outcomes between Māori and non-Māori children. To ensure that this happens, the Ministry of Health agreed with District Health Boards to continue to increase access rates by a set per centage each year. A particular focus is on increasing access for Māori. In 2007/2008 the total child and youth access rate was 1.95 per cent and 1.89 per cent for Māori. Targets for 2010/2011 have been agreed with District Health Boards at 2.27 per cent and 2.57 per cent respectively.

12.The Government believes that Māori experience a lack of access to services rather than discrimination against them. New Zealand is working to provide better support for whānau and children who become involved with government social services, particularly children in alternative care. In 2010 Child, Youth and Family began implementing a new initiative for family/whānau caregivers involving a new assessment, approval and support process that recognizes the uniqueness of providing care for family or whānau members. Kaitoko Whānau (Family Support), introduced in 2009, supports whānau and connects them to services, resources and support via community-based workers in Māori communities.

13.Te Puni Kōkiri has also implemented initiatives that aim to support whānau and tamariki Māori well-being. The Oranga Whānau programme established a network of respected older Maori women providing support to caregivers and parents. These women provide support through the sharing of knowledge, practices, values, and attitudes across generations.

14.In May 2010, the Government announced it was investing $134 million over the next four years into Whānau Ora. Whānau Ora is a cross-department approach available to Māori and non-Māori families that aims to facilitate positive relationships and outcomes within whānau. The initiative is being jointly managed by Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Development and plans to ensure services reflect the cultural values of some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable families. The Whānau Ora approach is expected to be of significant benefit to tamariki and rangatahi.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 3 of the list of issues

15.The Government has focused on addressing the needs of vulnerable and at-risk children (especially very young children) and their families by investing $333 million over the next four years in a combination of national and community-based initiatives. Many of these initiatives are targeted at improving outcomes for families in order to improve outcomes for children.

16.In 2009, the Minister for Social Development and Employment established an Independent Experts Forum to provide advice to Ministers on priority areas for the prevention of child abuse. Recommendations from this group were included in the Vulnerable Infants package introduced in September 2009, aimed at reducing child abuse by focusing on the protection of babies and young children.

17.This package has a particular focus on physical abuse of under two year olds and includes:

A multi-media, public-awareness campaign aimed at ensuring that all New Zealanders understand that you should ‘Never, Ever Shake a Baby’

An awareness campaign targeted at all new parents, jointly piloted by Child, Youth and Family and the District Health Board in New Zealand’s largest city, with an evaluation process built into it

First Response, a community-based, abuse-prevention trial to follow up with families with children under two years old where there has been a domestic violence incident

Ensuring that all children and young people admitted to hospital as a result of abuse have a cross-departmental safety and care plan in place before they leave hospital

Setting up improved data and monitoring systems to benchmark and measure progress in preventing and responding to the abuse of children under two years old.

18.In May 2010, the Government allocated $14.9 million over the next four years to support vulnerable teen parents and their children. This includes funding for:

Supported housing for vulnerable teen parents and their children in high-needs communities

Case workers who work intensively with the most vulnerable teen parents to provide comprehensive and integrated support to their families

Volunteer neighbourhood support initiatives for those vulnerable teen parents who are not facing major challenges, but who may be isolated and would benefit from support to better connect them to their neighbourhoods

The development of guidelines on encouraging responsible and nurturing parenting by teen fathers, and training for service delivery providers based on these guidelines.

19.In addition, the Government is investing $6.6 million over the next four years to increase the number of Child, Youth and Family social workers to ensure one is present in at least one main hospital in each District Health Board.

20.Other initiatives include work to develop the national Child Protection Alert System to enable health providers to check to see if there is an alert or warning indicating a child at risk of abuse. Child, Youth and Family has also reviewed its protocols with relevant departments and non-government organisations regarding how they respond to issues of concern for children. The New Zealand Police Department is implementing changes to strengthen its practices following two recent inquiries into how it handles reported child abuse cases.

21.New Zealand has introduced initiatives to provide safety and protection to children from online exploitation, pornography and abuse. In 2009, the New Zealand Police established the Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand team, which patrols the internet for those committing grooming offences, investigates the exploitation of children across the internet and other electronic means, and co-ordinates international operations. In 2010, the New Zealand Police joined the Virtual Global Taskforce, a group of international law enforcement departments working collaboratively to combat online child abuse and exploitation.

22.The Department of Internal Affairs has trialled a filtering system allowing internet providers to block websites that host child sexual abuse images and prevent access to websites known to contain child sexual abuse material. This system was initially trialled between 2006 and 2008 and has been in operation since the first quarter of 2010.

23.In addition to working to protect vulnerable children in the community, New Zealand has introduced measures to ensure children in alternative care are appropriately cared for and have their well-being promoted and protected. Supporting children’s caregivers is a major focus. The new Ways to Care care-training curriculum, introduced in October 2010, provides foster carers and non-whānau carers with advice, resources and support.

24.Over the last year, Child, Youth and Family has put in place additional dedicated care-service managers and social workers to strengthen responsiveness to caregivers. In 2009, Child, Youth and Family introduced an online Practice Centre for frontline social workers, containing resources and new policy and practice guidance to support these initiatives. The Practice Centre includes guidance and policy relating to the Convention.

25.To support the victims of child abuse, Child, Youth and Family is working with the Ministries of Health and Education to develop an integrated health and education assessment for all children entering care as a result of child abuse. Identifying and addressing a child’s health and education needs is critical to ensuring their positive long-term outcomes.

26.The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) provides state-funded counselling for victims of child abuse. ACC recognizes that there is more work to be done to address issues around the access to services for children who need them, including improved engagement and consultation with providers of sexual abuse counselling and support.

27.The Home for Life package, announced in August 2010, provides caregiver families with the support required to offer a permanent nurturing home to children and young people in alternative care.

Addressing bullying and hazing in schools

28.The National Administration Guidelines, which set out statements of desirable principles of conduct or administration, require schools to provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students. Schools must have one or more policies to manage bullying behaviour and provide support for victims. Regular reviews by the national education sector monitoring department check that these obligations are being met.

29.In 2010, New Zealand introduced the Positive Behaviour for Learning development programme across New Zealand. This programme provides support for parents, teachers and schools. Together with a number of the other Positive Behaviour for Learning initiatives, this programme is expected to reduce bullying behaviour as schools become involved. In addition, New Zealand supports programmes initiated by schools on positive behaviour, addressing bullying and harassment, and restorative justice. These programmes are provided by a range of non-government organisations.

30.Since 2009, the Ministry of Education has added advice on preventing and addressing bullying for schools and parents to its website. Victims of bullying can obtain further support or advice from the following free to call helplines: 0800 No Bully, Youthline, Kidsline and What’s Up.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 4 of the list of issues

31.There have been significant changes in adoption practice since 1955 although the legislation has not been substantially amended. For example, open adoption is a well-established practice in New Zealand. The review of New Zealand’s adoption laws is currently on hold because of other priorities in the justice sector. Adoption legislation will be reviewed as priorities allow. Any review of adoption legislation will include consideration of the matters raised by the Committee.

32.In New Zealand, a child’s consent to their adoption is not required under current domestic adoption legislation. However, before making an adoption order, the Judge must be satisfied that the welfare and interests of the child will be promoted by the adoption. This includes considering the wishes of the child, allowing for the child’s age and maturity. A social worker’s report to the court on whether the adoption will promote the welfare and interests of the child includes the child’s views on their proposed adoption, where possible.

33.The Adoption (Intercountry) Act 1997 implements the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Hague Convention) into New Zealand law. Article 4 of the Hague Convention specifies that consideration must be given to the child’s wishes and opinions and that the child’s consent, where required, has been given freely.

34.The Adult Adoption Information Act 1985 facilitates birth parents and adopted people accessing information about an adoption they have been a party to. From the age of 20, an adopted person may apply for their original birth certificate and identifying information about a birth parent or parents.

Transition of 17-year olds from alternative care

35.Processes to assist young people before and after they leave alternative care are included in Child, Youth and Family’s national practice guidelines.

36.Formal planning for successfully transitioning from care to independent living commences when a young person is 15 and involves the young person, their social worker, family/whānau and caregivers. A transition plan is developed that identifies the preparation needed before the young person will leave care, and how this will be achieved. The plan is reviewed every three months to ensure the young person is receiving the right support, such as links to employment, training, and all their financial entitlements. Departments work together at an individual case level and in planning the services needed to achieve positive outcomes for young people leaving care.

37.In June 2009, Child, Youth and Family implemented a new residential framework with a therapeutic and rehabilitative focus, to ensure that young people leaving residential care have a job to go to, and/or well-supported educational plans, and safe and stable living arrangements post-residence.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 5 of the list of issues

38.New Zealand’s infant mortality rates have been declining over the past few decades due to improvements in several key areas such as immunization, access to low-cost primary health care and a marked decline in Sudden Unexplained Death in Infants (SUDI) rates since the early 1990s.

39.However, declines in SUDI rates for Māori babies have been much less marked and disparities continue to exist. New Zealand recognizes the factors contributing to Māori infant mortality, particularly SUDI, include unsafe sleeping, smoking, late access to midwifery care, child abuse, lower immunization rates, socio-economic factors, and issues with access to services for some groups.

40.New Zealand has sought to reduce SUDI rates by introducing social marketing campaigns that educate New Zealand parents on how and where to put their babies to sleep to help guard against SUDI, explaining the dangers of co-sleeping. Improving the uptake of SUDI prevention messages by vulnerable Māori families is a major focus.

41.Cumulative increases in taxation on tobacco by 53 per cent from April 2010 to January 2012 are expected to positively impact on Māori infant mortality. Smoking is a risk factor for SUDI; Māori smoking rates are higher than for other ethnic groups.

42.New Zealand has initiatives underway to improve the quality and safety of maternity services and is encouraging District Health Boards to configure their services in a way that ensures the early engagement of vulnerable, hard-to-reach Māori women in antenatal care.

43.The Well Child programme, a universal screening, education and support service for all children from birth to five years, supports the immunization of New Zealand children. The national target for immunization is for 90 per cent of two year olds to be fully immunised by July 2011 and 95 per cent by July 2012. As at June 2010, the national figure was 88 per cent, while immunization rates for Māori children were 83 per cent. However, over the past three years the rate of increase in immunization has been greater for Māori children, at 15 per cent rather than the national average of 10 per cent. Between June 2009 and June 2010, Māori immunization rates increased by 10 per cent.

44.The Well Child programme was updated in 2010 following a major review. The updated programme includes an increased emphasis on infant and child mental health and attachment, postnatal depression, developmental delay and behavioural problems, child abuse, obesity, nutrition and breastfeeding, and oral health. Work is underway to improve the responsiveness of Well Child to vulnerable children and families.

45.In addition to the parenting support provided via the Well Child programme, other parenting support programmes are available for vulnerable Māori families. The Oranga Whānau programme and other parenting support programmes are discussed above in the reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the list of issues.

46.Low socio-economic status, overcrowding and damp housing lead to health problems that include respiratory tract infections and infectious diseases, some of which are vaccine-preventable. The October report on perinatal and maternal mortality in New Zealand for the year ending June 2010 indicates that socio-economic status negatively influences infant mortality. Māori are over-represented amongst low socio-economic New Zealanders. As well as working to increase the vaccination rate, in July 2009 New Zealand launched the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart initiative to improve insulation and heating in houses to make them warmer and drier by subsiding the cost of insulating for low-income families. Specific programmes are targeted to the most vulnerable groups. Other initiatives promoting insulation and better home heating are provided by the health sector.

47.Another way New Zealand is seeking to reduce Māori infant mortality is by promoting better access to health services by Māori and other vulnerable groups. New Zealand’s Zero Fees for Under Sixes and Very Low Cost Access initiatives means that that 82.7 per cent of New Zealand children under age six are now able to access free primary health care services during business hours. Many of these children come from low socio-economic areas. The improved access to low-cost primary health care and improved immunization rates contributed to a significant reduction (15.6 per cent) in the rate of preventable admissions to hospital for the most-deprived under five year olds from 2007 to 2009. Whānau Ora will allow these programmes to be delivered in a way that reflects Māori cultural values.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 6 of the list of issues

48.In 2007, the Ministry of Social Development commissioned Associate Professor Ian Lambie of Auckland University to undertake research evaluating Family Group Conferencing. The study investigated the process and development of practice in Family Group Conferencing, identifying areas of both weakness and best practice.

49.Dr Lambie found that Family Group Conferencing is effective for most youth offenders, although not as successful for recidivist offenders with high and complex needs. He made a number of recommendations that departments have followed up on.

50.One recommendation was for increased staff training. All staff facilitating Family Group Conferences completed training to refresh and enhance their practice skills by 2010. Further training material is available on the Youth Justice Learning website introduced this year.

51.Dr Lambie also recommended improving departmental leadership. In 2007, Child, Youth and Family introduced specialist, cross-department Youth Justice Teams to co-ordinate service provision and information sharing. Regional Youth Justice Practice Advisors were introduced and a third tier manager for youth justice services was appointed within the Ministry of Social Development.

52.Processes allowing professionals to meet before a Family Group Conference have also been introduced to enhance professional collaboration within the youth justice sector, another measure recommended by Dr Lambie.

53.Dr Lambie also suggested improving the quality and flow of information within the system. Legislative amendments associated with the ‘Fresh Start’ package (discussed in the reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 8 of the list of issues) have facilitated this, leading to better sharing of education and health information.

54.Two further reports evaluating the effectiveness of Family Group Conferencing are currently underway. The Henwood Trust is exploring youth justice stories at the request of the Principal Youth Court Judge. This project, a snapshot of the youth justice system, is expected to finish in January 2011.

55.Dr Gabrielle Maxwell is undertaking a substantive piece of research comparing the processes and outcomes of Family Group Conferences in New Zealand and Youth Offender Referral Panels in the United Kingdom. The study focuses on evaluating how effective restorative youth justice is in meeting the needs of offenders while responding to victims’ interests. Dr Maxwell is expected to conduct her study from October 2010 to October 2012.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 7 of the list of issues .

56.In July 2009, New Zealand adopted a Plan of Action to Prevent People Trafficking (Plan of Action) to better equip officials with the ability to detect, prevent and combat this crime. It was developed by the Department of Labour for the Inter-agency Working Group on People Trafficking.

57.The main action items in the Plan of Action are to:

Undertake research on the causes and impacts of people trafficking, particularly best practice in assisting victims

Implement training and awareness-raising measures

Develop policies for delivering comprehensive support and assistance to identified victims

Implement measures to empower victims to participate in the criminal justice process against their traffickers.

58.In May 2010, New Zealand made financial assistance available to victims of people trafficking through the social security system. Decisions about residence or repatriation of child victims (aged under 18 years at the time they are identified) are based on the best interests of the child.

59.The Department of Labour has developed an alert system to assist border and immigration staff to identify suspected trafficking and escalate cases to the appropriate law enforcement departments. The Department of Labour’s Immigration branch in Manila also held a session for their staff on children travelling alone and possible trafficking indicators.

60.The Inter-agency Working Group has developed presentations, brochures and other material to assist the public to identify and report people possibly involved in trafficking. This material is now available on the Immigration New Zealand website, which also contains advice about transporting children over borders.

61.The Interagency Working Group is engaging with the non-government organisation sector regarding the implementation of the Plan of Action, particularly for culturally appropriate services and support.

62.Initiatives associated with the Plan of Action are funded through departments’ baseline funding.

Reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 8 of the list of issues

63.In 2009, the Government announced it was committing $72.4 million over four years to extend programmes, supervision orders and supports for youth offenders. These changes are known as the Fresh Start programmes.

64.In 2010, the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Act 2010 (the Amendment Act) was passed. It extends the jurisdiction of the Youth Court to include the most serious child offenders aged 12 and 13 years. This amendment came into force on 1 October 2010.

65.As a result of the Amendment Act, New Zealand now has a dual pathway for 12 and 13 year olds who may, in some circumstances, be charged with certain serious offences. The Government recognizes that not all 12 and 13 year olds who commit serious offences should be dealt with by the Youth Court.

66.Consequently, the law changes enable the New Zealand Police to determine whether charges should be laid in the Youth Court or the offending dealt with as a care and protection matter in the Family Court. Should charges be laid in the Youth Court, a Youth Court Judge may refer the matter back to the New Zealand Police to reconsider whether the care and protection system or the youth justice system is more appropriate.

67.In deciding whether to use the Youth Court, legislative provisions must be taken into account. Charges can be laid only if the offence in question carries a maximum penalty of between 10 and 14 years imprisonment (depending on whether the child has offended previously). Consequently, the extension of the jurisdiction of the Youth Court will apply only to a small group of 12 and 13 year olds who commit serious offences. The minimum age of criminal prosecution remains at 14 years for most offences.

68.The Amendment Act expands the options available to the New Zealand Police and the Youth Court to address the offending of the most serious and persistent young offenders in a manner appropriate to their age. New and extended supervision orders and programmes available to the Youth Court in the Fresh Start package allow Child, Youth and Family to work more intensively with young people and their families for a longer period, and at a younger age, increasing opportunities to influence longer-term outcomes. Fresh Start includes supervision orders for parenting programmes (for parents of young offenders, or young offenders who are about to be parents), drug and alcohol programmes, mentoring, community youth programmes, military-style activity camps, and community-developed supports for youth offenders. These supervision orders and programmes are expected to result in fewer young offenders being transferred to adult courts for sentencing.

69.The first results of the evaluation project assessing the impacts of the Fresh Start package are due in December 2010.

70.Departments have also successfully introduced procedures to reduce the length of time young people spend in Police cells. During 2009, children and young people spent an average of 1.9 days detained in police cells; between 2002 and 2006, they spent from seven to 15 days. Child, Youth and Family use an effective process to monitor young people’s length of stay in Police cells, regularly meeting with key departments and stakeholders such as the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. Child, Youth and Family recently opened a new youth justice residence in the North Island and the increased capacity will help reduce the likelihood of young people being detained in Police cells.

71.Police and the Department of Corrections have developed joint protocols for the custody and transportation of young offenders in the care of the Department of Corrections. These protocols include a directive that prisoners under 18 are not to be transported with prisoners aged 18 and older. The recently passed Courts (Remote Participation) Act 2010 allows greater use of audio-video links in court proceedings, removing the need for some young people to be transported to court and detained in court cells awaiting hearing.

72.Current Government policy and legislation means that 17 year olds are dealt with in adult courts.

73.The Department of Corrections maintains specialist youth units located in three male prisons to ensure that youth offenders are detained separately from adults in prisons. Due to their low numbers, young women aged 17 are almost always detained with adults as it would not be in their best interests to be detained in isolation (the only way to ensure they would be separated from adult prisoners).

74.Prisoners housed in youth units, who present a threat to other vulnerable youth prisoners, may be placed on directed segregation for short periods. This protects other youth prisoners but also maintains their separation from adult prisoners. Youth prisoners who cannot be housed in a youth unit due to the security classification may be housed in an adult unit, but will not come into contact with adult prisoners.

Part II

Reply to the issues raised in part II of the list of issues

75.Due to the page limit, the answers to this section represent only the key legislation, policies, programmes and projects introduced since 2008.

New bills or laws, and their respective regulations

Legislation	Article(s)
Care of Children Amendment Act 2008	Articles 12
Courts (Remote Participation) Act 2010	Articles 3,12
Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Act 2010	Article 40
Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Act 2008	Articles 3, 5, 7, 18, 20, 24, 27
Disability (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Act 2008	Articles 2, 18, 19, 23, 24, 28, 44
Domestic Violence Amendment Act 2009	Article 19
Employment Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2008	Articles 24, 32
Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (Storage) Amendment Act 2010	Article 30
Immigration Act 2009	Article 2, 28
Sentencing (Offences Against Children) Amendment Act 2008	Article 19
Social Security (New Work Tests, Incentives, and Obligations) Amendment Act 2010	Articles 18, 26

Bills	Article(s)
Alcohol Reform Bill (2010)	Articles 17, 24, 33
Child and Family Protection Bill (2009)	Articles 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 19, 35, 36
Taxation (Income-sharing Tax Credit) Bill (2010)	Articles 2, 26

Regulations	Article(s)
Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 2008	Article 32
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008	Articles 24, 28
Education (Playgroups) Regulations 2008	Articles 28, 29
Minimum Wage Orders 2008, 2009, 2010	Articles 1, 2, 32

New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms

76.No significant institutional reforms have been made since 2008.

Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing

77.The initiatives referred to below are in addition to those discussed in part I above.

Health sector

$1.6 million has been allocated for the provision of cochlear implants over the next four years. This will support increased access by disabled children to the services they need and reduce waiting times.

In 2010, as a result of concern around food marketing and advertising to children, the Advertising Standards Authority reviewed and revised the Codes of Advertising to Children and Advertising of Food, and the Ministry of Health implemented their Food and Beverage Classification System.

In 2009, the Government invested $82 million over four years into organised sport for all school-aged children through the KiwiSport initiative.

Released in 2010, the new road safety strategy, Safer Journeys sets priorities and policy direction for reducing road deaths and injuries in New Zealand between 2010 and 2020. It prioritizes increasing the road safety of young people aged 15 and over.

Children detained with adults

In June 2009 the Ministry of Health disseminated guidance for health providers to ensure that residential and in-patient services did not detain adults with children.

Preventing child maltreatment

A review of Family Start, to lift the performance of providers and to ensure key components of the programme are being delivered and key outcomes achieved (including Well Child checks, enrolment in early childhood education, and the use of positive parenting techniques), is due to be completed by the end of 2010.

Education

In 2010 the Government announced nine trade academies, starting in 2011, to allow senior secondary students interested in a career in trades or technology to combine studies towards senior secondary qualifications with a nationally transferable tertiary qualification.

New Zealand is undertaking a comprehensive review of the special education system to ensure that students with special educational needs fully participate.

In 2009, $80 million was allocated to the ongoing and reviewable resourcing schemes, so that more students with special education needs have access to additional funding and support.

The School Network Upgrade Project will receive over $48 million additional funding over the next four years, bringing school broadband spending to $150 million in total.

The Immigration Act 2009 allows long-stay children unlawfully in New Zealand to attend state-funded schools.

In 2008, New Zealand introduced a website to support Home-School partnerships. This makes available a wide range of approaches and programmes found to be successful in supporting student achievement.

The Ministry of Education is implementing the Government’s new approach to lifting student achievement. This includes appointing practitioners (who have demonstrated their ability to lift student achievement) to work with schools, developing additional student support programmes and implementing redesigned professional learning and development. Professional development programmes are designed to support teachers working with a wide range of students.

Employment of young people

New Zealand introduced the $152 million Youth Opportunities initiative in 2009, a time-limited package of initiatives providing employment and training opportunities for 16 to 24 year olds more at risk of long-term unemployment due to the recent recession. In 2010, the number of places in the Job Opportunities scheme (providing subsidised employment for up to six months) was doubled and the scheme extended until December 2011. The Community Max scheme (providing subsidised work in community programmes) received funding for an additional 1500 places in the regions with the highest Māori youth unemployment.

The Department of Labour is using non-regulatory options to ensure the protection of young people under the age of 16 from hazardous work through guidance and information.

Maintaining family links

The Immigration Act 2009 allows dependent children of the partner of certain New Zealand expatriates to be granted unconditional Permanent Resident visas.

Housing

Following an independent review released in October 2010, the Government is considering policy changes that would significantly reform New Zealand’s social housing sector. Potential reforms include increasing the support to non-government organisations that provide social housing, and improving the access of vulnerable families to social housing.

Material well-being

Public consultation on reforming New Zealand’s child support system was completed in October 2010. The Government will receive a report on the submissions shortly, with a view to introducing legislative changes around the middle of next year.

In October 2010 legislative changes encouraging and supporting sole parents receiving social security income support into paid work came into force.

The Welfare Working Group, an independent advisory group, is looking at new ways to address long-term welfare dependency, including among sole parents. One of the Group’s goals is improving social outcomes, such as reducing poverty.

The Government announced personal tax cuts in April 2009 and October 2010, increasing the disposable income of most New Zealand families.

Recent ratifications of human rights instruments and any steps taken toward such ratifications, in particular with regard to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

78.On 7 September 2000, New Zealand signed the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Child and Family Protection Bill, due to be passed shortly, will allow New Zealand to ratify the Optional Protocol. This Bill creates a new offence, in the Adoption Act 1955, of improperly inducing consent for the adoption of a child. This is the last legislative amendment required to enable ratification. This Bill also amends the Domestic Violence Act 1995, and the Care of Children Act 2004, to improve the responsiveness of courts to domestic violence and enhance the protection of children and families.

Part III

Reply to the issues raised in p art III, paragraph 1 of the list of issues

Number of children without parental care , disaggregated by causes (i.e. poverty, abandonment as a result of discrimination, etc.)

79.New Zealand does not collect data on the number of children without parental care disaggregated by cause.

Number of children separated from their parents as a result of court decisions (inter alia, in relation to situations of detention, imprisonment, exile or deportation)

80.Immigration New Zealand does not collect data on the number of children separated from their refugee or migrant parents as a result of court decisions on immigration matters.

81.New Zealand does not collect data on the number of children separated from their parents as a result of court decisions, detention or imprisonment. However, of the new prisoners entering prison between 1 June 2009 and 31 May 2010, 13 per cent of male prisoners and 34 per cent of female prisoners had indicated on admission to prison that they were caring for at least one child before being imprisoned.

Number of institutions for these children disaggregated by region, number of places available in these institutions, ratio of caregivers to children and number of foster homes

Data on the ratio of caregivers to children is not available.

Table 1: Number of places available in care and protection residences, by location and bed numbers, October 2010

Name	Location	Number of Beds
Whakatakapokai	South Auckland	20
Epuni	Lower Hutt	20
Te Oranga	Christchurch	10
Te Poutama Arahi Rangatahi	Christchurch	12
Puketai	Dunedin	8

Table 2: Occupancy rates in care and protection residences

Gender	Percentage	Number
Female	40	23
Male	60	35

Ethnicity	Percentage	Number
Māori	57	33
New Zealand European	36	21
Cook Island Māori	3	2
Australian	2	1
Tongan	2	1

Age at Placement	Percentage	Number
11	9	5
12	9	5
13	31	18
14	31	18
15	21	12

Table 3: Number of places available in youth justice residences, by location and bed numbers, October 2010

Name	Location	Number of Beds
Korowai Manaaki	Auckland	40 + 6
Lower North Youth Justice	Palmerston North	30
Te Puna Wai o Tuhinapo	Christchurch	40
Te Maioha o Parekarangi	Rotorua	30

Table 4: Occupancy rates in youth justice residences

Gender	Percen t age	Number
Female	14	15
Male	86	90

Ethnicity	Percentage	Number
Māori	61	64
New Zealand/Pakeha	27	28
Cook Island Māori	2	2
Tongan	2	2
Fijian	1	1
Indian	2	2
Latin American/Hispanic	1	1
Other	1	1
Other European	1	1
Samoan	2	2
Unknown	1	1

Age at Placement	Percentage	Number
14	17	18
15	47	49
16	35	37
17	1	1

Group Homes

83.Child, Youth and Family have 80 small group homes, accommodating up to six children and young people for short-term care placements while work is continuing with their families. The occupancy rate of the homes is usually 80 per cent at any time.

84.Child, Youth and Family also place children and young people with non-government organisations that provide a variety of small-group living environments of a similar nature. The number of children and young people housed with these organisations at any one time is highly variable.

Supervised Group Homes

85.Twelve of the group homes accommodate up to six young people engaged in a structured therapeutic programme.

Specialist youth units in male prisons

86.The Department of Corrections maintains three specialist youth units in male prisons to ensure that youth offenders are detained separately from adults in prisons.

Number and percentage of children separated from their parents who are living in institutions, with foster families or in kinship care, as well as the duration of placement and frequency of its review

87.In 2008/2009, 77 per cent of the 5,689 children separated from their parents were placed out-of-home. In the year 2009/2010, 78 per cent of the 5,446 children were similarly placed out-of-home.

88.This data only relates to families in contact with the care and protection system and does not include informal arrangements.

89.New Zealand has a practice requirement for each child in care, regardless of age, to be visited by a social worker at least every eight weeks.

Table 5: Care and protection o ut-of-home care placements

Gender	2008	2009	2010
Male	2,439	2,348	2,240
Female	2,062	2,027	1,965
Not Recorded	21	33	33

Ethnicity	2008	2009	2010
Asian	49	53	41
Other European	38	20	28
Māori	2,180	2,210	2,186
NZ European	1,910	1,804	1,666
Other Ethnicity	53	47	40
Pacific	288	264	252
Unknown	4	10	25

Age Group	2008	2009	2010
0-5 years	1,256	1,283	1,324
6-10 years	1,262	1,213	1,113
11 + years	2,004	1,912	1,801

Note: Age calculated from date of birth to 30 June of each year.

Table 6: Duration of care and protection out-of-home placements

	30 June 2008	30 June 2009	30 June 2010
Gender	0-1 year	1+ year	0-1 year	1+ year	0-1 year	Over 1 year
Male	1,635	804	1,667	681	1,632	608
Female	1,369	693	1,440	587	1,370	595
Not Recorded	16	5	31	2	31	2

	30 June 2008	30 June 2009	30 June 2010
Ethnicity	0-1 year	Over 1 year	0-1 year	Over 1 year	0-1 year	Over 1 year
Asian	32	17	40	13	23	18
Other European	28	10	13	7	22	6
Māori	1,503	677	1,620	590	1,578	608
NZ European	1,231	679	1,235	569	1,191	475
Other	33	20	30	17	29	11
Pacific	189	99	190	74	165	87
Unknown	4	0	10	0	25	0

	30 June 2008	30 June 2009	30 June 2010
Age Group	0-1 year	Over 1 year	0-1 year	Over 1 year	0-1 year	Over 1 year
0-5	932	324	992	291	1,105	219
6-10	739	523	787	426	694	419
11 +	1,349	655	1,359	553	1,234	567

	30 June 2008	30 June 2009	30 June 2010
Region	0-1 year	Over 1 year	0-1 year	Over 1 year	0-1 year	Over 1 year
Northern	924	443	1,056	249	893	341
Midlands	520	296	591	278	626	250
Central	750	310	720	307	675	283
Southern	824	453	768	436	836	330
Adoptions	1	0	2	0	3	0
Contact Centre	1	0	1	0	0	1

Note: Age calculated from date of birth to 30 June of each year

Number and percentage of children reunited with their parents after a placement

90.Child, Youth and Family data collated on in-home placements is not broken into reunification with parents. Returning home and remaining home data is collected but ‘home’ may not be where parents reside.

Number of children in domestic (formal and informal) and intercountry adoption programmes disaggregated by age and with information on the country of origin and of adoption for the children concerned

91.Adoption information is held by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development. The domestic and intercountry adoption numbers for 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 are set out in table 7. There is no age breakdown available for domestic adoptions and figures for intercountry adoption only cover children adopted into New Zealand.

Table 7: Adoption numbers in the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 fiscal years

Adoptions	2008/2009	2009/2010
Registered in New Zealand	222	199
In overseas court & recognize d by New Zealand	-	-
- In Hague country & recognize d by New Zealand	47	63
- In non Hague country & recognize d by New Zealand	224	282
Total adoptions granted or recognize d by New Zealand	493	544

92.The statistics in table 8 refer to children who have been adopted from outside New Zealand, and who have successfully registered as New Zealand citizens by descent under the Citizenship Act 1977. The registration of citizenship is not compulsory, and is only completed when people apply in the approved manner. The numbers therefore may differ from the actual total of overseas adoptions, although they are likely to be very similar.

Table 8: Overseas adoption: children registered as New Zealand citizens by descent

	1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009	1 July 2009 – 30 June 2010
Country of Origin	0-5 years	5-14 years	0-5 years	5-14 years
Australia	3	-	1	2
Brazil	-	-	-	1
Canada	4	-	4	-
Chile	-	1	1	2
China	8	-	2	-
Colombia	1	-	-	-
Ecuador	-	2	-	-
England	3	2	7	4
Fiji	2	1	3	1
France	-	1	-	-
Georgia	-	-	1	-
Ghana	-	1	-	-
Hong Kong	3	-	1	-
Israel	-	-	2	-
Jamaica	-	1	-	-
Japan	-	-	-	1
Kenya	1	-	-	-
Korea	-	-	-	2
Lesotho	2	-	-	-
Lithuania	1	4	-	-
Malaysia	1	1	1	-
Mexico	-	-	2	-
Papua New Guinea	-	1	-	-
Philippines	1	-	3	1
Republic of Ireland	-	-	1	-
Russia	5	1	5	1
Samoa	60	138	72	172
Scotland	1	-	2	1
Singapore	6	-	5	-
South Africa	-	-	1	-
Swaziland	1	-	-	-
Taiwan	-	1	-	1
Tanzania	-	-	2	-
Thailand	-	-	8	1
Tonga	2	-	2	3
U.S.A.	5	-	12	5
Uganda	-	-	2	-
Ukraine	-	-	1	-
Vanuatu	-	-	2	-
Wales	1	-	-	-

Reply to the issues raised in part III, paragraph 2 of the list of issues

Table 9: School suspensions by school type, ethnicity, age, and gender

School type	Ethnic group	Age group	2008	2009
Female	Male	Total	Female	Male	Total
Composite (provide primary and secondary education: Year 1–15)	Asian	14-19	-	-	-	-	5.0	5.0
Asian Total	-	-	-	-	5.0	5.0
Māori	5-9	-	-	-	-	3.0	3.0
10-13	16.6	46.0	62.5	10.9	39.5	50.4
14-19	28.8	45.7	74.5	20.0	73.8	93.8
Māori Total	45.4	91.7	137.0	30.8	116.3	147.2
NZ European	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
10-13	0.4	17.5	17.9	4.1	11.5	15.6
14-19	14.2	20.7	35.0	19.0	32.2	51.2
NZ European Total	14.6	39.2	53.8	23.2	43.7	66.8
Other	10-13	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
14-19	-	2.0	2.0	-	5.0	5.0
Other Total	-	2.0	2.0	-	6.0	6.0
Pacific	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
10-13	1.0	1.6	2.6		3.0	3.0
14-19	2.0	4.6	6.6	2.0	11.0	13.0
Pacific Total	3.0	7.1	10.1	2.0	14.0	16.0
Composite Total	63.0	140.0	203.0	56.0	185.0	241.0
Contributing (provide primary education: Year 1–6)	Asian	5-9	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Asian Total	-	-	0.0	-	1.0	1.0
Māori	5-9	1.0	38.5	39.5	5.0	30.0	35.0
10-13	4.0	31.5	35.5		34.5	34.5
Māori Total	5.0	70.0	75.0	5.0	64.5	69.5
NZ European	5-9	4.0	36.4	40.4	1.0	50.0	51.0
10-13	6.0	24.4	30.4	2.0	27.4	29.4
NZ European Total	10.0	60.8	70.8	3.0	77.4	80.4
Other	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
10-13	-	1.0	1.0	-	1.0	1.0
Other Total	-	2.0	2.0	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific	5-9	-	2.1	2.1	-	6.0	6.0
10-13	-	2.1	2.1	-	7.1	7.1
Pacific Total		4.2	4.2		13.1	13.1
Contributing Total	15.0	137.0	152.0	8.0	157.0	165.0
Full Primary (provide primary education: Year 1–8)	Asian	10-13	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
Asian Total	0.0	1.0	1.0		-	-
Māori	5-9	5.5	31.7	37.2	1.0	25.7	26.7
10-13	34.0	111.2	145.2	23.0	92.0	115.0
Māori Total	39.5	142.8	182.3	24.0	117.7	141.7
NZ European	5-9	2.4	33.3	35.7	1.0	22.0	23.0
10-13	6.0	70.7	76.7	5.0	52.0	57.0
NZ European Total	8.4	104.0	112.4	6.0	74.0	80.0
Other	10-13	-	5.0	5.0	-	3.0	3.0
Other Total	-	5.0	5.0	-	3.0	3.0
Pacific	5-9	0.1	4.0	4.1	1.0	2.3	3.3
10-13	4.0	15.1	19.1	1.0	26.0	27.0
Pacific Total	4.1	19.1	23.2	2.0	28.3	30.3
Full Primary Total	52.0	272.0	324.0	32.0	223.0	255.0
Intermediate (provide primary education: Year 7–8)	Asian	10-13	-	1.0	1.0	1.0	5.0	6.0
Asian Total	-	1.0	1.0	1.0	5.0	6.0
Māori	10-13	72.4	172.4	244.8	54.0	188.4	242.4
14-19	-	2.0	2.0	-	-	-
Māori Total	72.4	174.4	246.8	54.0	188.4	242.4
NZ European	10-13	25.8	108.1	133.9	11.0	69.4	80.4
NZ European Total	25.8	108.1	133.9	11.0	69.4	80.4
Other	10-13	1.0	3.0	4.0	3.0	3.0	6.0
Other Total	1.0	3.0	4.0	3.0	3.0	6.0
Pacific	10-13	9.8	40.5	50.3	3.0	39.1	42.1
Pacific Total	9.8	40.5	50.3	3.0	39.1	42.1
Intermediate Total	109.0	327.0	436.0	72.0	305.0	377.0
Restricted Composite (provide primary and secondary education, either: Year 7–10 Year 7–9)	Māori	10-13	-	2.0	2.0	-	-	-
14-19	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Māori Total	-	2.0	2.0	-	1.0	1.0
NZ European	10-13	2.0	2.0	4.0	1.0	2.0	3.0
14-19	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
NZ European Total	2.0	2.0	4.0	1.0	3.0	4.0
Restricted Composite Total	2.0	4.0	6.0	1.0	4.0	5.0
Special (usually provide primary and secondary education for special needs children: Year 1–15)	Māori	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
10-13	0.9	7.5	8.3	-	-	-
14-19	1.0	4.0	5.0	-	-	-
Māori Total	1.9	12.5	14.3	-	-	-
NZ European	5-9	-	-		-	1.0	1.0
10-13	1.1	1.4	2.5		1.0	1.0
14-19	1.0	5.0	6.0	1.0	4.0	5.0
NZ European Total	2.1	6.4	8.5	1.0	6.0	7.0
Pacific	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
10-13	-	0.1	0.1	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific Total	-	1.1	1.1	-	1.0	1.0
Special Total	4.0	20.0	24.0	1.0	7.0	8.0
Year 7-15 (provide primary and secondary education)	Asian	10-13	-	-	-	-	3.0	3.0
14-19	-	3.0	3.0	-	3.6	3.6
Asian Total	-	3.0	3.0	-	6.6	6.6
Māori	10-13	30.0	81.7	111.7	27.0	68.0	95.0
14-19	30.0	97.1	127.1	45.0	101.3	146.3
Māori Total	60.0	178.8	238.8	72.0	169.3	241.3
NZ European	10-13	26.0	66.2	92.2	21.0	59.0	80.0
14-19	55.0	122.9	177.9	55.0	177.3	232.3
NZ European Total	81.0	189.1	270.1	76.0	236.3	312.3
Other	10-13	-	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	3.0
14-19	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.0	4.0	7.0
Other Total	1.0	7.0	8.0	5.0	5.0	10.0
Pacific	10-13	2.0	11.1	13.1	-	7.0	7.0
14-19	12.0	34.0	46.0	8.0	35.9	43.9
Pacific Total	14.0	45.1	59.1	8.0	42.9	50.9
Year 7-15 Total	156.0	423.0	579.0	161.0	460.0	621.0
Year 9-15 (provide secondary education)	Asian	10-13	0.1	3.0	3.1	-	7.0	7.0
14-19	9.0	56.6	65.6	11.0	45.1	56.1
Asian Total	9.1	59.6	68.8	11.0	52.1	63.1
Māori	10-13	126.7	181.0	307.7	135.4	273.5	408.9
14-19	312.6	582.6	895.2	376.0	728.9	1,104.9
Māori Total	439.3	763.6	1,202.9	511.4	1,002.4	1,513.8
NZ European	10-13	49.1	118.3	167.4	44.4	117.5	161.9
14-19	214.9	571.4	786.3	226.9	620.2	847.1
NZ European Total	264.0	689.7	953.7	271.3	737.7	1,009.0
Other	10-13	1.0	10.0	11.0	2.0	8.0	10.0
14-19	16.0	58.0	74.0	17.0	68.0	85.0
Other Total	17.0	68.0	85.0	19.0	76.0	95.0
Pacific	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
10-13	9.1	46.7	55.8	16.3	51.0	67.3
14-19	96.5	185.4	281.9	97.1	237.8	334.9
Pacific Total	105.6	233.1	338.6	113.3	288.8	402.1
Year 9-15 Total	835.0	1,814.0	2,649.0	926.0	2,157.0	3,083.0
Grand Total	1,237.0	3,137.0	4,374.0	1,257.0	3,498.0	4,755.0

Table 10: School exclusions by school type, ethnicity, age, and gender

School type	Ethnic group	Age group	2008	2009
Female	Male	Total	Female	Male	Total
Composite (provide primary and secondary education: Year 1–15)	Māori	5-9	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
10-13	-	6.0	6.0	1.0	2.0	3.0
14-19	3.0	11.3	14.3	1.3	12.0	13.3
Māori Total	3.0	17.3	20.3	2.3	15.0	17.3
NZ European	10-13	-	2.0	2.0	1.0	2.0	3.0
14-19	6.0	3.0	9.0	3.7	11.0	14.7
NZ European Total	6.0	5.0	11.0	4.7	13.0	17.7
Other	10-13	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Other Total	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific	10-13	1.0	1.0	2.0	-	-	-
14-19	2.0	1.7	3.7	-	5.0	5.0
Pacific Total	3.0	2.7	5.7	-	5.0	5.0
Composite Total	12.0	25.0	37.0	7.0	34.0	41.0
Contributing (provide primary education: Year 1–6)	Māori	5-9	-	10.0	10.0	3.0	13.0	16.0
10-13	1.0	6.0	7.0	-	11.0	11.0
Māori Total	1.0	16.0	17.0	3.0	24.0	27.0
NZ European	5-9	1.0	19.0	20.0	-	15.0	15.0
10-13	3.0	10.0	13.0	-	5.0	5.0
NZ European Total	4.0	29.0	33.0	-	20.0	20.0
Other	10-13	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Other Total	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	2.0	2.0
10-13	-	-	-	-	3.0	3.0
Pacific Total	-	1.0	1.0	-	5.0	5.0
Contributing Total	5.0	46.0	51.0	3.0	50.0	53.0
Full Primary (provide primary education: Year 1–8)	Asian	10-13	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
Asian Total	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
Māori	5-9		13.0	13.0	1.0	6.0	7.0
10-13	9.0	37.5	46.5	7.0	24.0	31.0
Māori Total	9.0	50.5	59.5	8.0	30.0	38.0
NZ European	5-9	1.0	9.0	10.0	1.0	7.0	8.0
10-13	1.0	19.4	20.4	2.0	21.0	23.0
NZ European Total	2.0	28.4	30.4	3.0	28.0	31.0
Other	10-13	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Other Total	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific	5-9	-	1.0	1.0	-	1.0	1.0
10-13	1.0	4.1	5.1	-	4.0	4.0
Pacific Total	1.0	5.1	6.1	-	5.0	5.0
Full Primary Total	12.0	85.0	97.0	11.0	64.0	75.0
Intermediate (provide primary education: Year 7–8)	Asian	10-13	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Asian Total	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Māori	10-13	26.0	49.0	75.0	18.0	57.3	75.3
Māori Total	26.0	49.0	75.0	18.0	57.3	75.3
NZ European	10-13	8.0	29.0	37.0	4.0	17.0	21.0
NZ European Total	8.0	29.0	37.0	4.0	17.0	21.0
Other	10-13	-	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	3.0
Other Total	-	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	3.0
Pacific	10-13	1.0	10.0	11.0	2.0	16.7	18.7
Pacific Total	1.0	10.0	11.0	2.0	16.7	18.7
Intermediate Total	35.0	89.0	124.0	26.0	93.0	119.0
Restricted Composite (provide primary and secondary education, either: Year 7–10 Year 7–9)	Māori	10-13	-	2.0	2.0	-	-	-
Māori Total	-	2.0	2.0	-	-	-
Restricted Composite Total	-	2.0	2.0	-	-	-
Special (usually provide primary and secondary education for special needs children: Year 1–15)	Māori	10-13	-	0.5	0.5	-	-	-
14-19	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
Māori Total	-	1.5	1.5	-	-	-
NZ European	10-13	-	0.4	0.4	-	-	-
14-19	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
NZ European Total	-	1.4	1.4	-	-	-
Pacific	10-13	-	0.1	0.1	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific Total	-	0.1	0.1	-	1.0	1.0
Special Total	-	3.0	3.0	-	1.0	1.0
Year 7-15 (provide primary and secondary education)	Asian	14-19	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Asian Total	-	-	-	-	1.0	1.0
Māori	10-13	10.0	21.0	31.0	6.0	21.0	27.0
14-19	7.0	32.5	39.5	15.0	32.0	47.0
Māori Total	17.0	53.5	70.5	21.0	53.0	74.0
NZ European	10-13	5.0	17.0	22.0	6.0	21.0	27.0
14-19	12.0	21.5	33.5	10.0	37.0	47.0
NZ European Total	17.0	38.5	55.5	16.0	58.0	74.0
Other	10-13	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
14-19	1.0	-	1.0	-	1.0	1.0
Other Total	1.0	1.0	2.0	-	1.0	1.0
Pacific	10-13	1.0	3.0	4.0	-	2.0	2.0
14-19	1.0	9.0	10.0	3.0	9.0	12.0
Pacific Total	2.0	12.0	14.0	3.0	11.0	14.0
Year 7-15 Total	37.0	105.0	142.0	40.0	124.0	164.0
Year 9-15 (provide secondary education)	Asian	14-19	1.0	14.0	15.0	3.0	12.0	15.0
Asian Total	1.0	14.0	15.0	3.0	12.0	15.0
Maori	10-13	46.3	58.2	104.5	53.0	97.5	150.5
14-19	110.5	197.1	307.6	130.9	256.0	386.9
Maori Total	156.8	255.3	412.1	183.9	353.5	537.4
NZ European	10-13	15.7	59.6	75.3	14.0	45.5	59.5
14-19	52.0	185.8	237.8	59.6	189.5	249.1
NZ European Total	67.7	245.4	313.1	73.6	235.0	308.6
Other	10-13	1.0	3.0	4.0	2.0	6.0	8.0
14-19	6.0	22.0	28.0	7.0	21.0	28.0
Other Total	7.0	25.0	32.0	9.0	27.0	36.0
Pacific	10-13	3.0	23.2	26.2	7.0	25.0	32.0
14-19	27.5	81.2	108.7	30.5	84.5	115.0
Pacific Total	30.5	104.3	134.8	37.5	109.5	147.0
Year 9-15 Total	263.0	644.0	907.0	307.0	737.0	1,044.0
Grand Total	365.0	999.0	1,364.0	394.0	1,103.0	1,497.0

Reply to the issues raised in part III, paragraph 3 of the list of issues

Number of reported cases of child abuse and neglect

93.In the 2008/2009 financial year there were 101,797 notifications to Child, Youth and Family. Of these, 49,224 required further action. In the 2009/2010 financial year there were 125,000 notifications to Child, Youth and Family. Of these, 55,494 required further action. This means that a safety assessment was undertaken to determine the level of risk and a decision was made to determine the type of action to be taken.

Table 11: Investigation assessments

Findings	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Emotionally abused	8,664	10,938	12,535
Physically abused	2,321	2,855	2,886
Sexually abused	1,003	1,126	1,201
Neglected	4,302	4,677	4,403
Behavioural/Relationship Difficulties	4,154	4,256	5,007
Self Harm/Suicidal	116	106	137
Not Found	19,334	25,486	29,313

Gender	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Male	19,282	23,923	27,071
Female	19,338	24,082	26,629
Not Recorded	1,274	1,439	1,782
Ethnicity	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Asian	816	1,065	1,103
Other European	336	375	502
Māori	18,185	23,317	25,856
NZ European	13,420	16,031	17,890
Other Ethnicity	674	737	706
Pacific	4,967	5,933	6,985
Unknown	1,496	1,986	2,440

Age Group	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
0-5	15,369	20,221	22,598
6-10	10,996	13,436	15,124
11 +	12,728	14,845	16,421
Not recorded	801	942	1,339

Region	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Northern	17,409	19,704	21,260
Midlands	6,185	9,619	11,494
Central	8,883	11,295	11,764
Southern	7,413	8,823	10,959
Adoptions	2	1	0
Contact Centre	2	2	5

Notes:

1. Findings of investigations completed in years ended 30 June. Numbers may not relate to notifications received in that year.

2. Number of investigation findings may not relate to:

 Number of children or young people (as there may be more than one investigation related to the same individual in the same year)

 Numbers of notifications assessed as requiring further action (as one investigation may address more than one such notification), or

3. Numbers of investigations (as multiple findings may result from one investigation).

Table 12: Substantiated findings of abuse

Finding Type	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Emotionally abused	8,664	10,938	12,535
Physically abused	2,321	2,855	2,886
Sexually abused	1,003	1,126	1,201
Neglected	4,302	4,677	4,403

Gender	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Male	7,841	9,348	10,043
Female	8,011	9,759	10,333
Not Recorded	438	489	649

Ethnicity	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Asian	376	417	425
Other European	108	107	154
Māori	7,885	10,174	11,003
NZ European	4,807	5,402	5,484
Other Ethnicity	229	227	210
Pacific	2,483	2,651	3,020
Unknown	241	618	729
Age Group	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
0-5	6,861	8,693	9,275
6-10	4,624	5,306	5,789
11 +	4,509	5,265	5,430
Not recorded	402	332	531

Region	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Northern	7,790	8,611	9,051
Midlands	2,581	4,257	5,355
Central	3,435	4,102	3,703
Southern	2,484	2,626	2,911
Contact Centre	0	0	5

Number and percentage of reports that resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up, including prosecution

94.The two main types of follow up for child abuse offending are prosecution and Family Group Conference. In the 2008/2009 period there were 172 prosecutions. This increase from the previous two periods could be explained by an increase of reporting of child abuse in society and an increase in societal intolerance for it.

Table 13: Number of child abuse prosecutions by age, gender (of defendant), and offence

	Offence
Fail Provide Necessities	Mistreatment Child Under 16 Years	Cruelty	Abandonment	Wilful Neglect	Other Abuse (Not Assault)
Year	Age	Gender
2008	17-19	Female	-	2	-	-	-
Male	-	-	-	1	-	-
20-24	Female	1	2	-	3	-	-
Male	-	5	2	-	-	-
25-29	Female	5	8	4	2	-	-
Male	1	2	-	1	-	-
30-39	Female	7	18	5	-	2	-
Male	3	15	7	-	3	-
40+	Female	1	11	4	1	1	1
Male	-	10	3	-	-	-
2009	17-19	Female	-	-	2	-	-	-
Male	-	-	3	2	-	-
	20-24	Female	2	15	-	-	-	-
Male	-	3	4	1	-	-
	25-29	Female	3	8	3	3	-	-
Male	4	28	-	-	-	-
	30-39	Female	1	17	7	1	-	-
Male	5	26	8	1	-	-
	40+	Female	1	4	3	-	-	-
Male	-	13	3	1	-	-

Table 14: Ages of children and young people involved in Family Group Conferences

Age of child or young person when conference held	2007/2008 Number	2008/2009 Number	2009/2010 Number
Number of new conferences held
0–1	787	1,026	924
1–4	867	1,000	1,146
5–9	1,234	1,393	1,465
10–13	1,089	1,092	1,117
14–17	830	891	1,073
18 or over	4	5	17
Not recorded	55	74	143
	Number of other conferences held
Reconvened conferences	824	853	796
Review conferences	1,552	1,333	1,479

Note: Numbers of conferences may not relate to numbers of children or young people, as there may be more than one conference related to a particular individual in the same year.

Number and proportion of child victims who received counselling and assistance in recovery

95.The ACC provides therapy to children for mental injury arising from abuse (‘sensitive claims’).

Table 15: Number of accepted sensitive claims lodged by year and age

Lodgement Year	2008	2009	2010 (to 30 October 2010)
Male	131	75	13
Female	624	358	81

Age at claim to lodgement	2008	2009	2010 (to 30 October 2010)
2 - 3	0	<4	0
3 - 4	4	9	4
4 - 5	18	14	<4
5 - 6	16	13	<4
6 - 7	30	15	<4
7 - 8	27	13	4
8 - 9	42	14	7
9 - 10	34	14	5
10 - 11	37	22	<4
11 - 12	36	16	5
12 - 13	38	21	<4
13 - 14	78	51	10
14 - 15	101	71	13
15 - 16	105	64	19
16 - 17	96	52	9
17 - 18	93	42	8

Region event occurred	2008	2009	2010 (to 30 October 2010)
Northland	30	21	<4
Auckland	192	83	9
Waikato	79	48	14
Bay of Plenty	65	40	9
Gisborne	12	4	<4
Hawkes Bay	22	15	4
Taranaki	20	17	<4
Manawatu-Wanganui	43	22	5
Wellington	60	39	8
Tasman	5	<4	<4
Nelson	12	12	<4
Marlborough	<4	6	<4
Canterbury	109	54	20
West Coast	5	<4	0
Otago	23	16	4
Southland	23	22	<4
Other	<4	0	<4
Unknown	49	30	5

Reply to the issues raised in part III, paragraph 4 of the list of issues

The number of adolescents affected by sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, tobacco use and drug and alcohol abuse, disaggregated by sex and age

96.Eight children aged 0 to 14 years were diagnosed with HIV (by antibody test), and four children aged 0 to 14 years with AIDS, between 2008 and 2010.

Table 16: Number of young people with chlamydia and gonorrhoea , 2008 – 2010

Year	STI	Gender
Male	Female
2008	Chlamydia	998	4,925
Gonorrhoea	258	260
2009	Chlamydia	1,683	8,375
Gonorrhoea	308	416
2010	Chlamydia	881	4,134
Gonorrhoea	156	227

Smoking

97.National surveys on tobacco use were conducted in 2008 and 2009. Full results are not yet available for 2009. However, a media release indicates that the youth smoking rate (for those aged between 15 and 19) reduced to 18.0 per cent in 2009 from 20.8 per cent in 2008. Table 17 gives results from the 2008 survey, disaggregated by age and sex.

Table 17: Youth currently smoking ( per cent ) in 2008

Gender	15-17	18-19	Total (15-19 years)
Male	14.7 ( 8.6 - 22.9)	27.6 ( 18.3 - 36.8)	19.8 ( 14.2 - 25.3)
Female	19.9 ( 13.1 - 26.6)	24.9 ( 13.8 - 36.1)	22 ( 16.3 - 27.6)

Note: A current smoker is defined as someone who has smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and at the time of the survey was smoking at least once a month (World Health Organisation 1998).

Table 18: Drug use by 16–17 year olds (2007/2008)

16-17 year olds ( per cent age)
Gender	Ever used drugs for recreational purposes in lifetime
Male	33.5
Female	42.6
	Used any drugs for recreational purposes in past 12 months
Male	22.3
Female	27.9
	Ever used cannabis for recreational purposes in lifetime
Male	33.2
Female	41.4
	Used cannabis for recreational purposes in past 12 months
Male	21.5
Female	28.1

Alcohol

98.Table 19 contains 2008 and 2009 data regarding child and youth access to specialist, addiction-treatment services (prevalence data not available). However, the figures are incomplete as two of the District Health Boards have not provided any data and a number of District Health Boards have not provided complete figures for 2009. Data for 2010 is not presently available.

Table 19: Clients seen by alcohol and drug services, aged under 18 years

	2008	2009
Age In Years	Female	Male	Female	Male
0-9	7	17	5	12
10	2	7		3
11	1	4	1	2
12	6	22	11	11
13	42	60	26	42
14	73	93	49	112
15	58	126	73	125
16	68	182	64	156
17	124	280	107	310

The number of teenage pregnancies, disaggregated by urban/rural area and by minority groups

99.We are unable to disaggregate by urban/rural area or provide abortion rates in five-year age bands.

Table 20: Live births by age of mother

Year	Total	Māori
Under 15 years	15-19 years	Under 15 years	15-19 years
2008	39	5185	26	2670
2009	29	4641	20	2361

Table 21: Abortions by ethnicity and age of woman

Year	European Under 20	Māori Under 20 years
2008	2853	1212
2009	2542	1134

The number of programmes and services aimed at the prevention and treatment of adolescent health concerns, including mental health problems and suicidal behaviour

Child and adolescent mental health

100.Nationwide provision of child and adolescent mental health services is funded and delivered through the District Health Boards to 28,000 young people (2.3 per cent of the population aged between 0 and 19 years) each year. District Health Boards determine where services should be provided within their catchments. Many provide outreach clinics in rural areas. There are three regional tertiary mental health in-patient units based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

101.There are currently eight preventive and treatment services targeting children and youth which cover:

Programmes that help caregivers play a role in preventing suicide, including cultural and clinical reference groups to help in the development of workshops tailored specifically for Pacific and Māori people

Resources for schools on how to manage suicide risks, as well as training and support for schools to plan for and manage a traumatic event

An interactive website supported by a free to call helpline (www.thelowdown.co.nz) that is part of the Suicide Prevention Strategy targeting youth. In March 2010 there were approximately 25,000 incoming and outgoing messages between users of the website. The helpline samples indicate that approximately 86 per cent of users are aged below 25 years. In its first year of operation, approximately 30 young people were referred to emergency services due to concerns about their personal safety

Programmes to help build resilience and enhance connections for young people in their first year of secondary school, including specialised support for children, young people, adults and their families who are facing change, loss, trauma and grief

Specialist child and youth eating disorders treatment

Development and evaluation of parent management behaviour services in primary care settings in three regions

Parent management training

Mental health services in care and protection and youth justice residences run by Child, Youth and Family.

Reply to the issues raised in part III, paragraph 5 of the list of issues

Number of persons under 18 who have been arrested by the police due to an alleged conflict with the law

102.An individual may be apprehended across a number of categories, or be apprehended more than once in the time period, and therefore appear more than once in the data.

Table 21: Homicide and related offences by age, ethnicity, and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/210
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
NZ European	12-14	-	2	-	1	1	-
15-17	-	6	1	-	-	4
Māori	12-14	-	1	-	-	1	2
15-17	2	2	2	4	2	6
Pacific	12-14	-	-	-	-	-	-
15-17	-	3	-	-	-	-

Table 22: Acts intended to cause injury, by age, ethnicity, and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	10-11	2	-	1	-	-	1
12-14	2	14	1	6	4	7
15-17	25	47	7	29	16	28
NZ European	0-9	-	14	2	19	2	19
10-11	8	59	7	55	2	75
12-14	183	370	185	350	239	387
15-17	507	1,112	520	1,098	552	982
Indian	0-9	-	-	-	-	1	-
10-11	-	-	-	-	1	-
12-14	2	5	2	10	3	9
15-17	9	24	3	26	8	29
Māori	0-9	3	17	3	26	1	21
10-11	17	62	12	63	16	70
12-14	262	419	291	392	346	488
15-17	500	1,251	550	1,237	600	1,259
Pacific	0-9	1	-	-	1	-	2
10-11	3	3	-	8	2	5
12-14	35	75	34	66	33	71
15-17	97	341	71	321	101	282
Other/ Unknown	0-9	1	-	-	-	-	1
10-11	1	4	-	5	2	3
12-14	8	28	11	24	9	22
15-17	14	47	31	54	19	69

Table 23: Sexual assault and related offences, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	0-9	-	-	-	1	-	-
15-17	-	2	-	3	-	5
NZ European	0-9	-	4	-	7	-	5
10-11	3	5	2	1	-	6
12-14	4	50	1	39	4	36
15-17	-	68	4	81	4	76
Indian	12-14	4	-	-	-	-	1
15-17	-	1	-	1	-	1
Māori	0-9	-	1	-	3
10-11	-	3	-	2	-	4
12-14	3	32	-	36	-	46
15-17	2	50	3	46	1	45
Pacific	10-11	-	2	-	-	-	-
12-14	-	8	-	11	-	5
15-17	1	20		21	1	23
Other/ Unknown	0-9	-	-	-	1	-	1
12-14	-	5	-	1	-	2
15-17	-	9	-	4	-	5

Table 24: Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
NZ European	0-9	-	1	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	-	-	2	-	1
12-14	1	18	2	10	3	13
15-17	2	15	3	15	5	29
Indian	12-14	-	1	-	-	-	-
15-17	-	1	-	-	-	1
Māori	0-9	-	-	-	2	-	1
10-11	-	-	-	3	-	2
12-14	-	5	-	22	-	10
15-17	2	7	4	18	2	9
Pacific	0-9	-	-	-	-	-	2
10-11	-	-	-	1	-	2
12-14	-	3	-	1	-	1
15-17	-	2	1	4	-	3
Other / Unknown	10-11	-	1	-		-	-
15-17		-	-	-	1	1

Table 25: Abduction, harassment and other related offences against persons, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	10-11	-	-	1	-	-	-
12-14	1	2	-	3	1	-
15-17	2	7	1	5	4	14
NZ European	0-9	1	7	-	5	-	2
10-11	2	29	4	16	1	27
12-14	53	103	63	135	45	113
15-17	154	344	130	330	126	370
Indian	12-14	1	4	-	2	-	1
15-17	-	8	1	17	3	8
Māori	0-9	-	7	-	1	-	4
10-11	8	13	1	17	5	13
12-14	45	111	42	94	45	125
15-17	80	214	73	202	83	281
Pacific	0-9	-	-	-	1	-	4
10-11	-	2	-	-	1	3
12-14	5	13	1	15	6	24
15-17	10	45	11	49	9	61
Other / Unknown	0-9	-	-	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	1	1	3	1	-
12-14	3	6	2	7	1	6
15-17	7	19	9	9	11	23

Table 26: Robbery, extortion and related offences, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	12-14	-	5	-	-	-	-
15-17	-	2	2	4	-	7
NZ European	0-9	-	2	-	1	-	-
10-11	-	-	-	2	-	2
12-14	1	16	3	27	5	14
15-17	22	88	22	91	17	67
Indian	12-14	-	1	-	-	-	2
15-17	-	2	-	1	-	4
Māori	0-9	-	2	-	5	-	1
10-11	1	16	1	9	-	3
12-14	38	102	60	86	37	107
15-17	71	314	64	273	62	270
Pacific	0-9	-	1	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	-	1	3	-	-
12-14	4	52	4	12		23
15-17	10	133	9	107	10	81
Other / Unknown	10-11	-	2	-	-	-	-
12-14	-	2	1	5	-	1
15-17	-	13	-	12	1	1

Table 27: Unlawful entry with intent/burglary, breaking and entering, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	0-9	-	-	-	-	-	2
10-11	-	-	-	1	-	-
12-14	1	17	-	16	-	6
15-17	1	14	2	19	1	12
NZ European	0-9	5	34		18	3	16
10-11	9	43	9	36	5	48
12-14	61	379	49	336	49	408
15-17	119	1,278	144	1,283	121	1,039
Indian	12-14	-	3	-	2	-	7
15-17	-	8	-	12	-	15
Māori	0-9	4	44	14	35	-	27
10-11	20	75	22	102	6	111
12-14	183	1,085	125	982	134	1,093
15-17	295	1,951	214	1,868	227	1,797
Pacific	0-9	-	3	1	1	1	2
10-11	2	7	1	10	-	5
12-14	13	78	9	87	6	112
15-17	13	163	12	249	5	255
Other / Unknown	0-9	-	1	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	2	-	1	-	-
12-14	3	22	3	19	6	20
15-17	2	49	1	33	1	31

Table 28: Theft and related offences, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	0-9	1	1	-	-	-	2
10-11	1	2	8	3	3	1
12-14	30	33	42	18	24	21
15-17	94	52	64	70	52	65
NZ European	0-9	9	48	10	63	13	52
10-11	46	146	27	151	47	131
12-14	743	943	773	997	831	1,025
15-17	1,251	3,062	1,322	2,904	1,352	2,922
Indian	10-11	1	1	2	3	1	1
12-14	13	38	7	29	12	16
15-17	25	47	16	49	25	51
Māori	0-9	35	104	44	109	40	123
10-11	150	260	130	247	162	325
12-14	899	1,610	1,020	1,490	1,216	1,821
15-17	1,402	3,037	1,344	2,839	1,609	2,835
Pacific	0-9	1	7	2	6	1	12
10-11	7	19	9	17	10	24
12-14	129	212	105	193	143	237
15-17	207	596	191	580	213	563
Other / Unknown	0-9	3	3	1	2	1	5
10-11	4	5	3	9	9	12
12-14	31	75	57	64	48	60
15-17	50	111	80	99	62	95

Table 29: Fraud, deception and related offences, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	12-14	-	-	-	2	-	-
15-17	19	2	-	3	-	3
NZ European	0-9	-	-	1	-	-	1
10-11	-	3	1	2	2	3
12-14	19	40	30	42	15	43
15-17	162	261	118	305	129	198
Indian	12-14	-	3	-	1	-	-
15-17	-	39	1	73	2	2
Māori	10-11	1	-	-	1	-	1
12-14	46	25	8	19	12	31
15-17	76	103	88	121	85	72
Pacific	10-11	-	-	-	-	3	-
12-14	12	1	7	-	3	2
15-17	57	17	1	16	-	16
Other / Unknown	0-9	-	-	-	-	-	-
12-14	2	3	1	-	-	2
15-17	2	6	11	14	4	7

Table 30: illicit drug offences, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	M	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	12-14	-	-	1	-	-	1
15-17	3	14	-	23	6	34
NZ European	0-9	-	2	-	1	-	5
10-11	-	2	2	9	2	5
12-14	39	96	38	142	35	178
15-17	207	1,142	211	1,248	217	1,225
Indian	12-14	-	-	-	-	2	-
15-17	3	4		15	2	17
Māori	0-9	-	3	-	9	-	6
10-11	5	26	3	20	6	27
12-14	62	151	66	190	99	222
15-17	122	584	132	708	119	721
Pacific	0-9	-	1	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	-	-	2	-	1
12-14	13	14	3	15	3	12
15-17	4	56	5	54	6	61
Other / Unknown	0-9	-	-	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	8	-	1	-	-
12-14	5	6	1	3	2	9
15-17	7	32	7	31	4	18

Table 31: Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	10-11	-	1	-	-	-	-
12-14	-	4	-	1	-	5
15-17	-	16	1	17	-	9
NZ European	0-9	-	6	-	6	1	4
10-11	2	18	-	14	1	17
12-14	9	170	12	156	9	158
15-17	42	617	65	563	43	485
Indian	12-14	-	-	-	-	-	1
15-17	-	10	-	18	-	8
Māori	0-9	-	6	-	4	-	6
10-11	2	26	1	17	5	31
12-14	22	193	20	211	15	193
15-17	42	552	39	524	42	504
Pacific	0-9	-	1	-	2	1	1
10-11	-	-	-	4	-	3
12-14	1	30	4	30	1	24
15-17	5	104	9	123	3	111
Other / Unknown	10-11	-	-	-	1	-	-
12-14	1	5	-	7	-	9
15-17	1	17	2	33	3	20

Table 32: Property damage and environmental pollution, by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	10-11	-	3	-	-	-	-
12-14	-	15	1	6	4	9
15-17	2	58	2	35		25
NZ European	0-9	7	48	4	54	2	63
10-11	23	123	14	124	10	88
12-14	107	872	140	818	145	691
15-17	342	2,657	292	2,415	208	2,210
Indian	0-9	-	-	-	-	-	1
10-11	-	1	-	-	-	-
12-14		7	-	8	-	12
15-17	2	24	2	23	6	43
Māori	0-9	13	88	11	93	8	73
10-11	33	226	11	177	21	190
12-14	255	1,486	178	1,218	169	1,287
15-17	301	2,427	239	1,892	310	2,015
Pacific	0-9	1	8	-	7	1	15
10-11	-	32	1	6	1	14
12-14	34	140	20	145	14	176
15-17	20	360	42	354	26	315
Other / Unknown	0-9	-	10	-	-	-	5
10-11	1	4	1	10		5
12-14	8	71	2	40	7	38
15-17	3	61	2	94	4	66

Table 33: Public order offences by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	0-9	1	-	-	-	-	-
10-11	-	-	1	-	-	-
12-14	1	7	2	7	2	7
15-17	9	43	6	38	9	52
NZ European	0-9	2	10		16	1	10
10-11	3	53	13	37	6	45
12-14	142	457	120	481	196	508
15-17	589	2,682	592	2,689	600	2,575
Indian	0-9	-	1	-	-	-	2
12-14	2	6		2	3	6
15-17	2	30	1	40	4	39
Māori	0-9	5	11	5	22	7	25
10-11	18	70	13	57	11	82
12-14	198	643	218	635	247	708
15-17	503	2,220	564	2,212	624	2,270
Pacific	0-9	1	3	-	-	1	2
10-11	-	4	1	7	1	10
12-14	26	81	19	114	28	137
15-17	58	558	87	547	122	631
Other / Unknown	0-9	-	1	-	1	-	2
10-11	1	2	1	2	1	6
12-14	5	31	12	18	8	28
15-17	19	120	40	133	44	137

Table 34: Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	12-14	-	--	1	-	-	2
15-17	-	11	2	14	2	11
NZ European	0-9	1	1		-	-	2
10-11	5	2	2	-	-	-
12-14	16	36	23	32	13	22
15-17	174	535	148	456	144	390
Indian	12-14	-	1	2	1		1
15-17	3	9	2	12	2	7
Māori	0-9	1	-	-	-	-	1
10-11	1	2	-	1	1	1
12-14	44	85	35	63	25	58
15-17	258	667	216	581	187	508
Pacific	10-11	-	1	-	--	1	1
12-14	6	12	5	8	3	11
15-17	46	188	17	166	43	166
Other / Unknown	10-11	-	-	-	-	-	1
12-14	-	-	2	2	-	-
15-17	4	33	5	28	1	18

Table 35: Miscellaneous offences by age, ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Age	2007/2008	2008/2009	2009/2010
Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Asian	10-11	-	-	-	-	1	-
NZ European	0-9	1	1	-	-	2	-
10-11	-	3	-	2	-	2
12-14	4	8	7	16	7	15
15-17	18	43	18	47	16	55
Indian	0-9	-	-	1	-	-	-
12-14	-	-	-	1	-	-
15-17	1	1	1	-	-	-
Māori	0-9	-	1	-	3	-	2
10-11	2	2	-	2	-	4
12-14	19	24	10	9	5	10
15-17	16	21	5	23	7	17
Pacific	10-11	-	1	-	-	-	-
12-14	1	6	-	-	-	3
15-17	-	7	2	1	-	6
Other / Unknown	12-14	-	-	2	2	-	1
15-17	-	-	2	2	1	2

Number of children between 12 and 14 years of age who have committed serious crimes

103.Police apprehension figures indicate that approximately 80 12 and 13 year olds a year are apprehended in circumstances which would qualify as serious offending under the new legislation, discussed above in the reply to the issues raised in part I, paragraph 8 of the list of issues. This figure is based on a count of apprehensions for offences punishable by 14 years’ imprisonment or more and repeat offending for offences punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment or more.

Percentage of cases where legal or other assistance has been provided

104.Every child or young person who enters the youth justice system is entitled to legal support at any stage of the process. All young people appearing before Youth Court, charged with an offence, will have a youth advocate (Barrister or Solicitor) representing them in proceedings.

Number and percentage of persons under 18 who have been found guilty of an offence by a court and have received suspended sentences or have received punishment other than deprivation of liberty

Table 36: Number of pers ons under 18 who received suspended sentences other than deprivation of liberty by ethnicity and gender

	Ethnic Group
NZ European	Māori	Pacific	Other	Unknown	Percentage
Year	Age	Gender
2008	14	Female	1	-	-	-	-	0.00%
Male	1	-	1	1	1	0.01%
15	Female	1	6	-	-	1	0.03%
Male	22	15	5	1	6	0.15%
16	Female	12	10	2	1	12	0.1%
Male	66	66	8	6	45	0.58%
17	Female	335	346	37	3	160	2.71%
Male	1657	1237	260	77	644	11.40%
2009	14	Female	-	1	-	-	-	0.00%
Male	1	-	-	-	-	0.00%
15	Female	2	9	-	-	-	0.04%
Male	23	15	2	2	6	0.15%
16	Female	10	13	5	-	5	0.11%
Male	69	53	5	6	24	0.48%
17	Female	390	329	41	9	111	2.78%
Male	1680	1252	260	76	275	10.66%

Note: The percentage figure represents the percen t age of offenders by age cohort and gender. For example, 2.71% of all 17 year old female New Zealanders received suspended sentences other than deprivation of liberty in 2008. The New Zealand population data is estimated resident popu lation data by age and gender.

N umber of persons under the age of 18 detained in adult penitentiaries and the number of pregnant women and women with children who are held in penitentiaries

105.There were 81 prisoners aged under 18 years old in prison in the week beginning 18 October 2010, with 73 of these housed in the three specialised youth units in male prisons.

Number of pregnant women and number of women with children who are held in penitentiaries

106.There were 19 pregnant women and five women who have babies living with them in prison in the week beginning 18 October 2010. Given the 40-week gestation period, annual figures are not collated by New Zealand Corrections.

Number of persons under 18 participating in probation programmes of special rehabilitation

107.There were 25 offenders aged under 18 serving community sentences in the week beginning 18 October 2010. Rehabilitation programmes are available to those with an assessed need. All offenders in specialised youth units in male prisons undertake a specific rehabilitation programme targeted to youth.

Percentage of recidivism cases

108.Table 37 shows the rate of reconviction/re-imprisonment among all offenders released from prison, or commencing a new community sentence. The reconviction figures are inclusive of imprisonments. The age is at the point the offender was released from prison or began a community sentence.

109.An exact figure for recidivism for those under 18 years is not readily available. Based on the reconviction rates for those released from prison, and the difference between those aged under 18 and those aged under 20, the reconviction rate for offenders under 18 on community sentences is likely to be 67 per cent.

Table 37: Rate of recidivism/re - imprisonment (within a 24-month period), 2007–2008

Age	Released from prison ( percent age)	Beginning community sentence ( percent age)
Re-imprisonment	Reconvicted	Imprisoned	Reconvicted
Under 20	58.9%	85.5%	11.9%	62.4%
Under 18	75.6%	88.9%	-	Estimated at 67%