Summary of our visit to Greater Wellington
Summary of our visit to Greater Wellington
We met with 376 people in the Greater Wellington area in February 2025. Read the summary of our findings by downloading the PDF or reading the content below.
104,800 |
and in the region* |
|
3,900 |
have had a report of concern about their safety or wellbeing | |
1,700 |
are receiving some form of intervention from Oranga Tamariki or a community provider (such as family group conference plans or support services) | |
530 |
were proceeded against by Police** | |
410 |
are in custody and/or care | |
390 |
are under care and protection orders | |
20 |
are in youth justice custody | |
* Total population from Stats NZ 2023 Census, ages 0–18. All other data provided by Oranga Tamariki for January – December 2024.
** NZ Police data January – December 2024.
Funding cuts and policy changes at Oranga Tamariki have reduced support for , and . Community organisations and and Māori services are doing everything they can to continue to meet the needs of tamariki, rangatahi and whānau.
Hapori, a community intake and assessment table in Porirua, helps triage reports of concern and is reporting a drop in renotifications. Professionals making reports of concern elsewhere in the region told us the threshold for Oranga Tamariki action appears very high and they have serious concerns about the safety of tamariki and rangatahi.
Poor referrals and out of date plans make it harder for organisations to build relationships, find appropriate care placements, and provide the care and support needed to tamariki and rangatahi.
There are currently long waits for care and protection family group conferences. When the FGC is held, poor communication can get in the way of whānau participation and understanding.
Some tamariki and rangatahi are not enrolled in school and are in Oranga Tamariki offices during the day. This is due to the refusal of some schools to accept enrolments, and a lack of clarity about who is responsible for the support needed at school, or the supervision if not enrolled in school.
Oranga Tamariki regional leader
"At Hapori [community intake and assessment table in Porirua] [Oranga Tamariki is] not the head of that table, it is the community [who] leads. That’s partnership … We communicate, we trust, and they trust us."
Caregiver
“[Ministry of Education] says Oranga Tamariki should pay ... Who and where does the responsibility sit with? ... It’s not clear on who pays. Government only has so much money, but it would be good to understand who has responsibility.”
These statistics¹ compare outcomes for and who are at risk of being involved, are currently or were previously involved with care and protection and/or youth justice systems, with other tamariki and rangatahi in the region (rest of region²). This group are considered part of the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan priority population (OTAP).
| OTAP Regional | OTAP National | Other Regional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Department admission in the last year3 | 19% | 19% | 14% |
| Potentially avoidable hospitalisation in the last year3 | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Truancy days in the last year4 | 7% | 9% | <1% |
| Two or more school changes over the last year4 | <1% | <1% | 0% |
| NCEA Level 2 or higher5 | 70% | 62% | 89% |
1 These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) which is carefully managed by Stats NZ. For more information about the IDI please visit https://www.stats.govt.nz/integrated-data/. Statistics are taken from the most recent (June 2022) dataset.
2 Excludes those who had early risk factors in the past.
3 0–17 year olds.
4 5–17 year olds.
5 18–20 year olds. OTAP includes those who had early risk factors in the past and over 18 years of age who were previously known to Oranga Tamariki but not in care.