New partnership to strengthen multi-agency responses to family violence in Auckland

At an event in Auckland today, Karen Chhour, the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, announced a new partnership between Te Puna Aonui, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Manawa Tītī* to strengthen the multi-agency response to family violence.

“Through this new partnership, we are investing in the development of a local system improvement plan, testing a more consistent approach to managing high-risk family violence cases, and delivering new specialist outreach support so that the families who need the most support receive it.

“This new approach will enable coordinated support and collaboration to deliver timely and effective responses to people at high risk and with complex family violence needs. This will help ensure the safety of victim/survivors and children and young people,” said Karen Chhour.

A key focus of the family violence and sexual violence Action Plan, launched in December, is strengthening multi-agency responses to family violence so that people affected by violence receive the support they need and get to safety sooner.

The Action Plan is designed to focus government agencies on parts of the system that require collaboration: including effective responses to people affected by violence, and improved ways of working with people who use violence.

“The system improvement plan will build on Manawa Tītī’s strategy and their key priority areas, including strengthening collaborative ways of working, whānau-centred responses, early intervention, and safer and effective responses to high-risk families, to strengthen their local response. This work has emerged following a local family death review,” said Karen Chhour.

“Evidence shows that having proactive, specialist outreach roles, delivered by people with the right capability, skills and knowledge, can increase safety and support for victims. Building on the recent publication of the Risk and Safety Practice Framework, the partnership will also enable a more consistent approach to identifying and responding to risk.

“This approach will help make children safer and reduce revictimisation. Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, through their tribal development arm, Whāi Maia alongside Manawa Tītī will be testing and learning about new ways of working to deliver this service so that families and whānau get to safety sooner.

“I acknowledge the importance of local leadership and innovation in the family violence system and welcome the new partnership that will make a difference to the lives of people in Auckland,” said Ms Chhour.