Te Aorerekura launches second Action Plan to eliminate family and sexual violence in Aotearoa.
The government has launched the second stage of Te Aorerekura, Action Plan, 2025-2030. Te Aorerekura is a 25-year national strategy to eliminate family and sexual violence in Aotearoa through coordinated government and community action. The strategy was launched in December 2021 along with the first Action Plan, which concluded in December 2023.
The second Te Aorerekura Action Plan 2025 - 2030, Breaking the Cycle, will focus on seven key areas over the next five years:
- Investing and commissioning well, through a social investment approach and better contracting
- Keeping people safe, by strengthening multi-agency responses in communities
- Stopping violence through accountability and behaviour change
- Protecting children and young people
- Strengthening our workforce
- Acting on sexual violence, and
- Preventing violence before it starts.
The Action Plan will be divided into two sections, with the first two years focused on the first three points below. Progress will then be assessed and focus refreshed for the remaining three years.
Investing and commissioning well
This includes taking a social investment approach to better map the impact of spending; reviewing current spending for future investment; and improving how contracts in the sector are managed, including reducing duplication and increasing coordination.
Keeping people safe
This comprises: strengthening multi-agency responses by bringing providers together to deliver sustainable safety services to victim-survivors; and using the recently released multi-agency response report from Te Puna Aonui as an important baseline to identify opportunities for improvement.
Stopping violence
Importantly to Te Whare, this includes continuing to develop kaupapa Māori sexual violence services. It also includes: introducing new anti-stalking legislation; reviewing mandatory non-violence programmes for those subject to protection orders; rolling out a new family violence service for men called Te Huringa ō te Ao; extending rehabilitation services; and creating a single ACC/MSD platform for sexual violence services.
During the launch of the five-year plan, Minister for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour stated: “[That] is what this Action Plan is all about: delivering practical improvements in key parts of the system, with a focus on families and whānau who we are here to serve. We want to do more of what works to break the cycle of violence. This Plan takes a different approach to the first Action Plan and is centred on government doing fewer things, more comprehensively.”
Here at Te Whare, we are pleased to see that the government is taking steps to address Aotearoa’s horrifying family harm and sexual violence statistics. While this Action Plan will certainly not solve all of these problems, it will go a long way towards strengthening and improving critical aspects of the system.
"The journey to eliminate family violence requires both strategic vision and practical action—this plan offers both. While the path ahead remains challenging, we stand ready to contribute our expertise and cultural knowledge toward a future where all whānau can thrive free from violence," says Natalie Vincent, Chair of Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust.
“I orea te tuatara ka puta ki waho.”
“A problem is solved by continuing to find solutions.”
