Right from the
beginning:
The nineteenth century saw no great concern for the welfare
of children. In fact, New Zealand had a greater concern for the welfare of
Animals before the welfare of children. In 1822 New Zealand’s Protection of
Animals Act (http://www.spca.org.nz/Aboutus/history.aspx) was the world’s first
anti-cruelty law. Although this is amazing in its own right, the children of
New Zealand didn’t get to see a law protecting their lives until 1925.
In the
1840’s the Courts and the Justice Department held the duties obtaining to
children’s welfare but most of the responsibilities were with the hospital
boards and religious organisations. During the 1880’s the responsibilities of
child welfare were with the Education Department. Through the work of the
Education Department the Child Welfare Act 1925 was established which then
followed with the Child Welfare Division of the Education Department. During
1948 the New Zealand residents saw the Child Welfare Amendment Act come into
place. This was the prompting factor for the Child Welfare Division of the
Education Department to become self-governing and independent with its own
minister. (Archives New Zealand, 2011; Doolan & Connolly, n.d.).
In 1974 the Third Labour Government legalised the
Children and Young Persons Act. This Act came to New Zealanders and would have
been seen as an important part of modernisation when considering child welfare.
Doolan and Connolly (n.d.) state that this act was “described as a workable, versatile, and adequate piece of
legislation” (para. 9). Doolan and Connolly (n.d.) then go on to say “it was
perhaps more pedestrian than early promoters planned and
tended to continue a benign ‘child rescue’ model of practice.” (para. 9).
The Ministry of Social Development
(2007) provides indications that both the Department of Social Welfare, at the
time, and the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 were found to “reinforce institutional racism, which resulted
in high numbers of both iwi Māori and Pasifika children entering foster care”
(para. 4).
1986 saw the critique of the Children and Young
Persons Act 1974, and a Bill for a new child protection law was put forward to the New Zealand Parliament. The
Ministry of Social Development (2007) states that within this critique the “Treaty of Waitangi provided a constitutional imperative
for including Māori values and concepts within legislative frameworks” (para.
4). After extensive consultation with Māori and Pacific
Island people the Bill was completely re-formed. From the consultation with
Māori and Pacific Island people it was found that the family structures were
very different from those of western culture descent. This new structure and development
of the Bill now placed a strong emphasis on extended family. The structure of
this Bill would become the foundation of the care and protection legislation
(Family Court of New Zealand, 2002).
In 1989 came the repeal of the Children and Young Persons Act 1974, and brought New
Zealand the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act.
The Family Court of New Zealand (2002) describes this Act as giving “the wider
family a central decision making function and emphasises the principle of
minimal intervention” (para. 5). The department of Child Youth and Family
Services (CYFS) is a government department responsible for the intervention
where families may have a case of child abuse or neglect of children. CYFS
primary role is in supporting families (Family Court of New Zealand, 2002).
The general objectives of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act is to promote the well-being
of children, young persons, and their families through establishing and
promoting of services and facilities, assisting disrupted family groups with
children, assisting children in order to prevent them from suffering harm and
deprivation, and ensuring children are held accountable when committing
offences. This Act introduced the Family Group Conference, sections 20-38,
as a means of making decisions surrounding a child which does not involve a
court hearing. Section 39 provide officers and social workers with the ability to obtain warrants to
remove children from their homes if they deem necessary due to ill-treatment,
neglect, deprivation, abuse, or harm.
In 2003 the Children, Youth and Their Families Act
was modified by the Children's
Commissioner Act, which implemented the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child. This was achieved by increasing
the role of the Children's Commissioner of New Zealand
(Wikipedia, 2013).
In 2007 the Anti-smacking Law was passed by the New
Zealand Government. This Bill was introduced to the New Zealand Parliament as a
private members Bill in 2005, after being drawn from the ballot (Bolton, 2011; Robinson,
n.d; The New Zealand Herald, 2007)
The Ministry of Justice (2013) provides a pdf that summarises the proposed changes to the Crime Amendment Act 1961. Currently
it reads as follows:
Section 152:
Duty of parents and guardians to provide necessaries, maximum 7 years
imprisonment.Section 195: Cruelty to a child, maximum of five years imprisonment.
The proposed changes are as follows:
Section 152: Duty of parents and guardians to provide necessaries and protect from injury, maximum 10 years imprisonment.
Section 195: Ill treatment or neglect of child or vulnerable adult, maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
And an additional section of
Section 195A: Failure to protect child or vulnerable adult, maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
In 2011 the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) was passed.
This means it is now an offence to fail to take reasonable steps to protect
children from harm, sexual assault, or death which holds a maximum penalty of
ten years imprisonment. This also means that the maximum cruelty to a child
penalty doubles from five to ten years (Power, 2011). In 2011 the Crimes
Amendment Bill (No 3) was also passed, which strengthens provisions in the
Crimes Act 1961 within relation to violent and sexual offending. This means
that it is now an offence to stay silent when it is known a child is at risk of
harm, sexual assault, or death. Collins (2012) states that “failure to speak
out and take reasonable steps to protect a child or vulnerable adult will
result in charges with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment” (para. 6).
July 27th 2011, the Minister for Social Development, Paula
Bennett released the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children to New Zealand.
The Green Paper is a discussion document containing some ideas about what the Government could
do to improve outcomes for vulnerable
children. The slogan of this document: Every child thrives, belongs, achieves
Ka whai oranga, ka whai w-ahi, ka whai taumata ia tamaiti. The Green Paper document
contained 43 questions and a nine priority questions document that the people
of New Zealand could anonymously fill in and post back or fill in online. There
were also single question post cards and pop up advertisements on the internet
to direct readers to the website www.saysomething.org.nz. There were also 17 meetings held throughout New Zealand where
Paula Bennett personally attended to hear New Zealanders speak in person. Every submission
that was received was thoroughly read and carefully collated. All of the feedback
provided formed a comprehensive document called The Green Paper for Vulnerable
Children: Complete Summary of Submissions (2012). This document clarifies what the people of New Zealand thought, what they want
the government to do, and what they want the community to do to help the vulnerable
children.
As a direct result of the Green Paper for Vulnerable
children the White Paper for Vulnerable Children was developed and released on October
11th 2012. A press release from the Social Development Minister
Paula Bennett (2012) states that “the White Paper for Vulnerable Children is a
detailed and complex document involving children, parents, community,
government departments, non-government organisations, volunteers and
professionals” (para. 10). This document acknowledges the on-going financial hardship
some families are living in, and is aimed at making an extra effort to ensure every
support system for the children who are in danger of neglect and/or abuse. Paula
Bennett also describes that the White Paper for Vulnerable Children is “the
most significant advance in the protection of children this country has ever
seen” (Children’s Action Plan, 2012, para. 8).
Throughout New Zealand all early childhood centres
will have policies in place, in some way or another, surrounding child abuse.
The following blog will look closer at the impact and responsibilities teachers
have when considering centre policies, and the pedagogical implications that
could occur when a child has suffered from abuse, neglect or malnutrition.
Archives New Zealand. (2011). Welfare. Retrieved from http://archives.govt.nz/sites/default/files/Welfare.pdf
Bennett, P. (2012). White Paper for Vulnerable Children. Retrieved from http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/white-paper-vulnerable-children
Bolton, K.R. (2011). The State versus
Parental Authority. The Journal of
Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 36(2), 197-217. Retrieved
from ProQuest Central database.
Children’s Action Plan. (2012). Every child thrives, belongs, achieves. Retrieved from http://www.childrensactionplan.govt.nz/home
Collins, J. (2012). Crimes Act strengthened to better protect children. Retrieved from http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/crimes-act-strengthened-better-protect-children
Doolan, M., Connolly, M. (n.d.). Care and protection: Capturing the essence of our practice.
Retrieved from http://www.practicecentre.cyf.govt.nz/practice-vision/care-and-protection/capturing-the-essence-of-our-practice/care-and-protection-capturing-the-essence-of-our-practice.html
Family Court of New Zealand. (2002). New
Zealand Initiatives in Decision Making Around Child Protection Issues.
Retrieved from http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/family-court/publications/speeches-and-papers/archived-speeches/new-zealand-initiatives-in-decision-making-around-child-protection-issues
Ministry of Justice. (2013). Proposed changes to the Crime Amendment Act 1961. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:qC3NDolrZDsJ:www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/c/crimes-amendment-bill-ill-treatment-neglect-and-violence-against-children/crimes-amendment-bill-ill-treatment-neglect-and-violence-against-children-summary/at_download/file+what+are+the+maximum+penalties+for+child+neglect+new+zealand&hl=en&gl=nz&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgfgSPLZL6YCIy9Upm7qjBaiEcm_eLSO9-JUuzU0flWpQixcN6eMgIZQ_PV9n3gL9oVslvWSUY_7VMu-1VDXpf7HuiSe8lI3TlLAypMfK-waTeZ1Z_kuUsy6X6zM4yki9shhbp7&sig=AHIEtbQdc7RQxHW8Qvm0bTIXbZHoqRv3oA
Ministry of Social Development. (2007) Cultural Identity and the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act
1989: Ideology, Policy and Practice. Retrieved
from http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj32/32-cultural-identity-and-the-children-young-persons-and-their-families-act-1989-pages49-71.html
National Council of Voluntary Organisations. (2005).
Retrieved from http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/what-policy
Parliamentary Counsel Office. (2013). New Zealand
Legislation: Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. Retrieved
from http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM147088.html#DLM149477
Parliamentary Counsel Office. (2013). New Zealand Legislation:
Glossary. Retrieved from http://www.legislation.govt.nz/glossary.aspx
Power, S. (2011). Bill to protect children from abuse one step closer. Retrieved from
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/bill-protect-children-abuse-one-step-closer
Robinson, K. (n.d). How to understand the New Zealand Anti-smacking Law. Retrieved from
http://howto.yellow.co.nz/legal/consumer-law/how-to-understand-the-new-zealand-anti-smacking-law/
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
(2013). Retrieved from http://www.spca.org.nz/Aboutus/history.aspx
The Green Paper for
Vulnerable Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/policy-development/green-paper-vulnerable-children/green-paper-for-vulnerable-children.pdf
The Green Paper for Vulnerable Children. (2012).Complete summary of submissions. Retrieved
from http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/policy-development/green-paper-vulnerable-children/the-green-paper-for-vulnerable-children-submissions.pdf
The New Zealand Herald. (2007). Anti-smacking Bill becomes law. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10440080
United Nations International Children’s Emergency
Fund. (2013). Convention on the Rights of
the Child. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/crc/
Wikipedia. (2013). Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children,_Young_Persons,_and_Their_Families_Act_1989
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