The Children Act 2014 and the associated agency Oranga Tamariki–Ministry for Children aims to improve the life outcomes of vulnerable children in our society. The Act tasks children’s agencies, of which Police is one, with being responsive to and accountable for Government priorities with respect to children. This includes protecting children from abuse and neglect and identifying and helping vulnerable children before the greatest harm happens.
The Act also places significant focus on the workforce that works with children. It aims to ensure that the children’s workforce is safe to work with children, is competent for the work they undertake, and is aware of how child abuse and neglect presents and what to do when they recognise it.
Police child protection-related policies, procedures and guidelines are detailed in a variety of documents.
The Police ‘Child Protection overarching policy' chapter outlines the various documents that together comprise Police's ‘child protection’ policy, and provides an overview of the Police obligations under the Children Act 2014 including the safety checking of staff who are children’s workers.
The ‘Child Protection Investigation Policy and Procedures’ chapter details procedures for responding to and investigating reports to Police about child safety concerns, including child abuse, neglect, and abuse arising from children being present in unsafe environments. Some parts of this chapter have been considered not appropriate for release and, if requested, would be withheld under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). In this chapter, the relevant sections of the Act that would apply have been identified.