Eleven troubled Christchurch teens are being tailed at school by government-funded minders because of concerns about their aggressive and sexually inappropriate behaviour. The minders are paid by Child, Youth and Family (CYF) to accompany the students to school each day, sit next to them in class and follow them around the playground to ensure that […]

By TARA ROSS The father of slain six-year-old schoolgirl Coral-Ellen Burrows believes mandatory reporting – repeatedly ruled out by successive governments – could have saved his daughter… Under mandatory reporting regimes overseas, teachers and doctors must report instances of suspected child abuse, but efforts to introduce that here have been rejected by both National and […]

By HANK SCHOUTEN A ministry of men’s affairs could be set up to deal with serious men’s issues, says Youth Affairs Minister John Tamihere. He was commenting on a call to set up a ministry made by organisers of a men’s rights picnic that marked Father’s Day with a protest at Parliament yesterday. “I think […]

Plunket is celebrating Father’s Day by congratulating the men who are making their children a priority in their lives. “When we consider the short and long-term benefits to children of having both parents fully involved in their care and upbringing, it is clear that society will also ultimately benefit,” says Erin Beatson, clinical advisor with […]

Dr Muriel Newman – Press Releases – Social Welfare If Youth Affairs Minister John Tamihere is so concerned with Kiwi boys lacking adequate role models, then why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is, ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader and Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman challenged today. “Mr Tamihere is right: many […]

ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader and Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman today urged Chief Family Court Judge Peter Boshier to continue his push for more openness in the Family Court. “The Care of Children Bill currently before Parliament is a step in the right direction towards greater openness, but it does not go far […]

A pilot programme aimed at reducing domestic violence will see Family Safety Teams established in Wairarapa/Hutt Valley, Auckland/Hamilton, Christchurch, and Counties Manukau, Justice Minister Phil Goff said today… “While family violence reports may initially increase with greater awareness of effective services, the initiative is expected to reduce family violence. “The new services will focus on […]

The select committee report on the Care of Children Bill is now available (as a pdf).

Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier says the Care of Children Bill before Parliament will see more children being heard directly in court and their views given more weight. Judges had traditionally not welcomed directly interviewing children in Family Court cases, preferring to learn their wishes through psychologists’ reports, Judge Boshier said yesterday. But many […]

Politician and Official agree, so called Child Support is a Tax On 15 August 2004 the Hon Paul Swain,Associate Minister of Revenue and John Wright, Under-Secretary to the Minister of Revenue, issued a media statement. Fairer tax treatment proposed by discussion document. I would suggest that you read the statement. In summary it’s a media […]

Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington Judge to address Family Court seminar The role of the Family Court will be the focus of debate at a one-day seminar on Monday 30 August, organised in association with Victoria University’s Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families and hosted by the New Zealand Psychological Association. Issues […]

Quotes on the New Zealand Child Support Act 1991 collected from public websites on the Internet via a search engine. Suggested Search Terms : Child Support Act 1991, Child Support Theory, Men’s Convoy 2004, Child Support Reform. “In light of that is can be easy to forget the basic truth that in child support I […]

Police in Whakatane have detected an upsurge in family violence as a flow-on effect of the region’s floods. Community Sergeant Neil Peterson said yesterday that reported family violence had doubled during the weeks since the July flooding. “We average five to six incidents each week but there is obviously a lot of stress and frustration […]

Judicial activism creates a vicious cycle that undermines confidence in court decisions, says a long-serving United States federal appellate judge, Diarmuid O’Scannlain, brought to New Zealand by the US State Department. Judge O’Scannlain referred to the present “conversation” between New Zealand politicians and the judiciary on the question of judicial activism – when judgments reflect […]

On July 28 David Cunliff delivered an address to the Child Support National Worksop. My response to David Cunliff’s speech is in italics What is clear is that the advice Mr Cunliff receives is very different from the reality of the experiences of Parents and Children subjected to the Chilod Support Act 1991. Hon David […]

New Zealand First social services spokesperson Bill Gudgeon has called for a review of protection order provisions and police responses to domestic incidents under the Domestic Violence Act. “Domestic violence is a major problem for New Zealand women. It has been blamed for up to 27 deaths each year,” Mr Gudgeon said. “Evidence suggests that […]

The man … leaped from the bridge on August 6, just hours after he had quit his job with the department’s child support team in Takapuna. Staff told the Weekend Herald that the man had complained to management that he could not cope with the stress and demands of working at night. They said he […]

Men’s health issues will get special attention from National, says the party’s new health spokeswoman, Judith Collins. She has asked associate health spokesman Paul Hutchison to take responsibility for promoting men’s and children’s health, and pharmaceuticals. There had been no specific men’s health initiatives in the past five years, Judith Collins claimed. Sitting on Parliament’s […]

Nobody is even certain how many teen fathers are out there. The meagre statistics available (commissioned by the former Ministry of Youth Affairs and dating back to 1997) indicate that just over half the babies born to teenaged girls are fathered by teenaged boys. Given New Zealand has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates […]

Hon Rick Barker There is a real mood of willingness for the Family Court system to be brought into the 21st Century. As family changes involve step parents and children, single parents and extended family – the role of the family court changes. The government is listening to what practitioners envisage for the court. We […]

Press Release: New Zealand First Party New Zealand First social services spokesperson Bill Gudgeon has praised the new domestic violence investigation system initiated by the Wairarapa police. “Every two weeks, a team from the Police, Child Youth and Family, Courts, Women’s Refuge and Stopping Violence services meet to discuss the cases of domestic violence reported […]

By Professor Stephen Baskerville, Ph.D The result of three decades of unrestrained divorce is that huge numbers of people — many of them government officials — now have a vested professional and financial interest in encouraging it. Divorce today is not simply a phenomenon; it is a regime — a vast bureaucratic empire that permeates […]

Stepparents and non-resident parents play just as important role in the behaviour and well-being of their children as the parent they live with, Victoria University researchers have found. Centre Director, Associate Professor Jan Pryor, says the study found children’s relationships with their stepparents and non-resident parents are much more important than previously thought and not […]

Women left to fight on their own By TARA ROSS Sunday Star-Times investigations reveal it is getting harder for women to win protection orders against violent partners, and judges are increasingly granting orders only in deferred, defended court hearings – rather than straight away. The National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges, expected to release a […]

A Christchurch man who wrongly spent three years in jail on sex charges after a judge made a procedural error is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation. Mervyn Finlayson, 60 — a stroke victim with a serious heart condition — was jailed for six years in 2000 on charges of indecently assaulting a […]