"Children’s Rights To Survival And Protection Are At Stake":

Save the Children is calling for urgent action to implement recommendations made by Dame Karen Poutasi following her review of the death of Malachi Subecz, after a new report shows children are no safer now than when Malachi died.

The report from Aroturuki Tamariki, the Independent Children’s Monitor, shows a "disappointing" lack of priority by government agencies to implement the recommendations made by Dame Karen, with Aroturuki Tamariki Chief Executive Arran Jones saying: "we are still not confident that tamariki in similar situations to Malachi are any more likely to be seen, or kept safe by the system, than they were when Malachi died."

Save the Children New Zealand Advocacy Director Jacqui Southey says it is "shocking and disappointing" that little progress has been made in implementing changes that could save the lives of our youngest and most vulnerable.

"Children’s rights to survival and protection are fundamentally at stake.

"What will it take to secure change? A tragic death like this occurs, and yet 18 months on and children are no safer now than they were when Dame Karen shared her report.

"If we're to shift the dial, organisations need to work together. This has been a longstanding recommendation for more than two decades and we still don't share information or collaborate effectively across agencies. We must have a singular goal of child protection across the whole system for children who need it the most."

Ms Southey says the concluding observations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child highlighted violence against children as a priority issue for New Zealand, yet, to date, we haven’t made any meaningful changes that have achieved a reduction in the country’s horrific rate of preventable child deaths.

Says Ms Southey: "This is an important report that highlights significant gaps across agencies that must be urgently addressed. This includes creating clearer pathways towards reporting harm against children and then clear steps for acting on those reports, a greater partnership between health, police and Oranga Tamariki, and building greater public awareness of knowing how to identify and report harm.

"We must create a system that gives people the confidence to report harm, and then know that the appropriate steps will be taken to ensure the safety of that child."

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