Child protection reform in Aotearoa New Zealand : devolution or revolution?

Hyslop, Ian

Child protection reform in Aotearoa New Zealand : devolution or revolution? Ian Hyslop - Springer, 2021 - International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice .

International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice, 2021, First published online, 6 August 2021

Drawing on historical analysis and recent research into child welfare inequalities in the Aotearoa-New Zealand context, this article considers the possible future trajectory of policy and practice. It will be argued that child protection is firmly located within the relative poverty and inequality which is endemic to the political economy of liberal capitalism. In common with other colonial settler states, social and economic suffering is disproportionately experienced by Indigenous Māori. Child protection in New Zealand underwent a prolonged process of politically driven child protection reform between 2011 and 2015. The consequences of this reform process led to a spike in the forced removal of newborn Indigenous babies into state care. This outcome sparked a political backlash which generated a series of inquiries into the child protection system. These inquiries have considered the structural reform necessary to address racially structured inequalities. The implications of proposed reforms based on the eradication of racism through the empowerment of Māori is considered in tension with the structural reproduction of inequality as a function of capitalist economic and social relations. (Author's abstract). Record #7416


Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children


CHILD PROTECTION
CHILD WELFARE
INFANTS
CHILDREN
COLONISATION
FAMILIES
HISTORY
INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
MĀORI
RACISM
SOCIAL POLICY
YOUNG PEOPLE
PĀMAMAE HEKE IHO
PĒPĒ
TAIPŪWHENUATANGA
TAMARIKI
TOKO I TE ORA
TURE WHĀNAU
WHAKAHĀWEA IWI
WHĀNAU


NEW ZEALAND