Speaking notes – Oral Submission at Select Committee on the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill

Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad presented our submission to the Social Services & Community Select Committee on the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill on January 29, 2025.

Upon request, we are publishing Dr Achmad's speaking notes here. You can also watch and listen to her submission on Vimeo (from around 10:00).

Introduction

Last year when I came to speak in this forum, we had a number of discussions relating to mokopuna – children and young people – who are in the care of Oranga Tamariki – in the context of care and protection, and youth justice.

As you will remember, in previous submissions in this area, I have focused on:

Today in speaking to our position and advice on this Bill – as the independent advocate for all mokopuna in our country – I want to make a couple of things very clear at the outset:

Mana Mokopuna – Children and Young People’s Commission does not support the Responding to Serious Youth Offending Bill. In fact, we have deep concerns about this Bill.

This is because if it progresses, it will take our country further away from a children’s rights approach to youth justice.

It will do more harm than good, especially for mokopuna Māori and other overrepresented groups in the youth justice system, such as mokopuna with disabilities, FASD and neurodiversities.

Approaches other than further criminalising children to address offending behaviour exist, including here in our country, and they are working. We should focus on those.

I am calling on you as members of this Committee, and on the Government and all members of Parliament to stop; think again; and remember: it is children, children, who will be impacted by this Bill. They are not merely statistics or policy subjects; they are our present and our future and they all have the right to safety, support, and the best possible opportunities to thrive and reach their full potential.

I acknowledge those who are affected by the offending that has given rise to this Bill, and those, including mokopuna, who are fearful of offending that occurs in our communities.

Alongside this, every young person in Aotearoa has the right to be treated with dignity and have chances to turn their life around if it is heading down an offending pathway. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - the Children’s Convention - clearly states that children involved in the justice system should be treated in a way that prioritises their rehabilitation and supports reintegration into society.

Children’s rights

This Bill moves us further away from a children’s rights-based approach. It is inconsistent with New Zealand’s duties and obligations under the Children’s Convention. The simultaneous realisation of tangata whenua rights as affirmed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi is essential to improving the rights, interests, and wellbeing of mokopuna Māori, within the context of their whānau, hapū, iwi and communities.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has explicitly called for New Zealand to reduce youth incarceration, raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility, and invest in alternatives to custody. This Bill goes in the opposite direction, rather than addressing the root causes of offending to prevent offending behaviour and intervene early to prevent re-offending.

This Bill was drafted without consulting mokopuna, inconsistent with their right to participate under Article 12 of the Children’s Convention. Any law that affects young people must include their voices. Again, this is legislating about them, without them. Continuing to draft laws that are not informed by the experiences and views of the very people who they affect is a missed opportunity for positive change.

The root causes of youth offending

The root causes of youth offending cannot be ignored if we are to make real and lasting change. The evidence shows that further criminalisation of children, which this Bill would give rise to, is not the solution for safer communities.

Youth offending is a complex issue, one that cannot be reduced to a simple narrative of victim and offender. While it is important to hold mokopuna accountable, research consistently shows that the vast majority of mokopuna in the youth justice system have experienced significant hardship and have often been victims of systemic failures themselves.

93% of children who are serious and persistent offenders have previously been involved in State care. This reflects a failure to adequately support these young people before they offend. I am very concerned that in practical terms, this Bill pushes them further down a dangerous path, and that the Bill will have a disproportionately detrimental impact on mokopuna Māori, mokopuna Pasifika, mokopuna whaikaha, mokopuna with FASD and other neurodiversities, who are all over-represented in the youth justice system, reinforcing systemic inequalities rather than addressing them.

Youth offending is symptomatic of deeper issues such as poverty, housing insecurity, intergenerational trauma and unmet mental health and addiction needs. To truly reduce offending, we must address these underlying issues, and approaches that support rehabilitative accountability, not punishing children.

Now honing in on some specific aspects of the Bill…

Use of Force

We are deeply concerned that the Bill expands the use of force, allowing military-style academy staff and third-party providers to use force against young people, even outside of youth justice residences.

The provision of the Bill regarding use of force directly contravenes children’s human rights.

Expanding this power is raises serious human rights concerns, and increases the risk of further harm, particularly for mokopuna Māori and other groups who are overrepresented in the youth justice system.

We already know from the OPCAT monitoring that our Commission undertakes that use of force is still often misapplied in existing youth justice facilities.

To fulfill New Zealand’s international human rights obligations, the focus must be on minimising the use of force. Any provision that expands the use of force on children is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Military-Style Academies and the ‘Young Serious Offender’ label

There is no solid evidence that military-style academies reduce reoffending. In fact, research shows that do not work in the long-term to prevent offending and can often cause harm, given that the very mokopuna who are subjected to these already have significant unmet trauma and/or have disabilities or neurodiversities. A Military Style Academy as a sentencing option should not be written into our care and protection and youth justice law.

I also strongly warn against categorising young people as ‘serious offenders.’ Labeling them as such can stigmatise them, reinforcing criminal pathways and making it harder for them to turn their lives around. This label will have negative ripples for mokopuna into their adult lives.

If this label under the Bill proceeds, mokopuna Māori will be most impacted, given they are overrepresented in the youth justice system due to the underlying drivers that I spoke to earlier.

I am also concerned that some young people may view the ‘serious offender’ label as a ‘badge of honour,’ reinforcing rather than preventing further offending.

Finally, the data shows that we don’t need this Bill, and that alternatives exist and they work.

Official data shows a steady decline in youth offending over the past decade.

This reinforces that our existing youth justice framework already includes mechanisms for holding young people accountable while supporting their rehabilitation. Yes, I am the first to say that we need to improve how our youth justice system is working, so that all mokopuna are safe if they are involved with the system, that they are supported to rehabilitate, and so they can grow up in safe and supportive family and whānau environments.

However, we don’t need new laws – including this law – to achieve this. Instead we need to scale up and invest in the solutions we already know work to prevent and respond to youth offending.

I urge you to consider effective responses to youth offending that disrupt cycles of harm, including the provision of comprehensive prevention and early intervention policies, investments, service delivery – including by Māori for Māori approaches and strategic partnerships with iwi and community, rather than further institutionalising mokopuna.

I reinforce my earlier call to you from last year to establish a cross-party approach to youth justice. Nothing to do with children and their rights should be politcised. We need long-term, sustainable solutions in the youth justice space that all parties can stand behind.

Please: work together, don’t proceed further with this Bill. Instead, prioritise rehabilitation and support investment in evidence-based, children’s rights-centered solutions that break cycles of harm, empower whānau and help mokopuna build positive futures. This is what will ensure safer communities for all.