“I have a Fast Track worker. They take me out and stuff. They take me out for a feed, take me out to disc golf … They keep me out of trouble.” –
We met with 491 people in the Canterbury community in April 2024. This included 55 and , 21 , 21 caregivers (whānau and non whānau), 88 kaimahi from kaupapa Māori / organisations / strategic partners, 88 Oranga Tamariki kaimahi, 9 Open Home Foundation kaimahi, 64 Police kaimahi, 58 kaimahi from other government agencies, 64 kaimahi from non-government organisations and 23 kaimahi working in group homes.
Read the summary of our findings by downloading the PDF or reading the content below.
6,565 have had a report of concern about their safety or wellbeing
2,589 are receiving some form of intervention from Oranga Tamariki (as the outcome of a report of concern)
3,725 are involved with Police for offending behaviour*
673 are in custody of Oranga Tamariki
592 are in care and protection orders
81 are on youth justice orders
1,122 have previously been in care and have left care (postcare)**
* Data provided by New Zealand Police for March 2023 - February 2024
** Total population and post-care includes ages 0-20 and comes from 2021 IDI data, all other data has been provided by Oranga Tamariki for November 2022 – October 2023
Total population and post-care includes ages 0-20 and comes from 2021 IDI data, all other data has been provided by Oranga Tamariki for November 2022 – October 2023.
Police response to youth offending is seen as overly punitive, resulting in a much higher level of sanction than the national average.
A lack of beds for in youth justice facilities results in some rangatahi remaining in police custody, in cells overnight and sometimes for days.
A shortage of non- care placement options is resulting in motel stays, or no accommodation at all, for some and rangatahi.
Tamariki and rangatahi face long waits for specialist health and education services, if any are available at all.
Multi-agency initiatives are helping prevent escalation of Tamariki and rangatahi through the oranga Tamariki system.
“I have a Fast Track worker. They take me out and stuff. They take me out for a feed, take me out to disc golf … They keep me out of trouble.” –
“We can’t get motels [because of funding restrictions] so we have to drive around at night with kids needing emergency placements. One incident ... we drove around with a three-year-old, knocking on doors to find someone to take them.” – Oranga Tamariki social worker
“A boy is now in isolation [he’s been there for] over 70 hours, that’s not unusual. We push it up the chain and alert Oranga Tamariki that someone is in custody for that long but there is never a reply back. It’s not helpful for a youth to be in custody that long.” - Police staff
These statistics1 compare outcomes for and who are at risk of being involved, are currently or were previously involved with Oranga Tamariki, with other tamariki and rangatahi in the region (rest of region2). This group is considered a priority under the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan (OTAP).
| OTAP Regional | OTAP National | Other Regional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ED admission in the last year3 | 19% | 18% | 11% |
| Potentially avoidable hospitalisation in the last year3 | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Truancy days in the last year4 | 6% | 9% | <1% |
| Two or more school changes over the last year4 | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.1% |
| NCEA Level 2 or higher (14–17 years old)5 | 63% | 64% | 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 2021) dataset.
2 This excludes tamariki and rangatahi who had early risk factors in the past and over 18-year-olds who were
previously known to Oranga Tamariki but not in care.
3 0-17 year olds
4 5-17 year olds
5 OTAP includes rangatahi who had early risk factors in the past and over 18-year-olds who were previously known to Oranga Tamariki but not in care.
43% of reports of concern in the region result in a further action required decision from Oranga Tamariki.
The national average is 54%.
72% of outcomes for youth offending in the region are bailed to Youth or District Court, or directed to prison.
The national average is 31%.
25 of and are in non- placements.
The national average for non-whānau care placements is 16%.
96 days is the average length of time for a completed Gateway Assessment (from the referral date to the received date) across all sites in the region. There is wide variation within the region, with Gateways in South Canterbury (Aoraki) taking an average of 134 days, compared to 68 days in Papanui.
The national average is 103 days.