National child advocacy group, Child Matters, says while they welcome today’s report into 5-year-old Malachi Subecz’s tragic death, they are disappointed the government is yet to accept all the report’s recommendations.

Malachi, from Te Puna, tragically died in November last year following sustained and horrific abuse at the hands of his carer.

The report examined how to improve identification of, and response to, abuse of children and young people and looked at how the six government departments that came into contact with Malachi, might have prevented his death.

Ex-Police detective, lawyer and now CEO of Child Matters, Jane Searle says while the report is comprehensive and covers the key issues, none of the findings are a surprise.

She says the issues outline in the report have existed for years. She urges the government to accept and implement all the recommendations, including mandatory reporting.

“There is no logical reason why the government couldn’t implement mandatory reporting,” she says.

“It will take resource and planning, but successive governments have dragged their feet on this issue long enough - the time is now.”

Ms Searle says there have been numerous reports with similar recommendations, but they have never been fully implemented.

“The government says it’s committed to fixing the issues, but we need to see change now, before another precious child dies,” she says.

“Malachi would still be alive today if these agencies had acted appropriately when Malachi’s wider whānau, and others, raised concerns about his welfare.”

She says addressing the issues within Oranga Tamariki is a top priority and needs to start with the basics.

“The team needs to be rebuilt so staff are well trained and resourced, have manageable caseloads and are enabled to deliver good social work practice,” she says.

“The issues with Oranga Tamariki are not with individual social workers or staff; it is the system that does not support them to get on with their jobs and allows substandard practice to be accepted.”

One child dies from abuse every five weeks on average in New Zealand.

Child Matters believes the introduction of compulsory child protection training in Aotearoa is crucial if we are to have a society that knows how to protect its children and young people, take action when needed, and follow up to ensure their safety.

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