Claire Achmad: Children's Commissioner on the report that found children are no safer today than after the death of Malachi Subecz

A call for action, with urgency, to keep New Zealand children safe.  

The Independent Children's Monitor says tamariki are no safer today than when Tauranga five-year-old Malachi Subecz died in 2021. 

He was murdered by his carer in 2021, and a damning review recommended sweeping changes, but they are still yet to been implemented. 

Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad told Mike Hosking we still lose one child every five weeks, on average, to homicide.  

She says it has to galvanise New Zealand to real action, because we can't afford to keep leaving New Zealand children in environments where they can potentially be harmed. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Another depressing reminder that it doesn't matter how many reports
you right, not a lot seems to change. We've got
another report into at risk children who turns out are
no safer than they were three years ago. This all
came out of the Malachi Acerbit case, a five year
old who died. If you don't remember, back in twenty
twenty one, the Chief Children's Commissioner, Doctor Claire Kimoda is, well,
there's clear good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Do you find it depressing?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I find this findings of this report deeply, deeply concerning
because at a part, it's about how we are treating
children in our country, in the children who are the
most at need in our community.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Are we a bit useless at this?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, okay, I think we have to get better. In
this report shows that we're not moving quickly enough to
act the systems that need to draw those safety nets
tighter and stronger to keep children safe. They simply aren't
prioritizing the safety of children.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
They need to, they would tell you they are. I mean,
the same thing happens every time report comes out. Will
do better, they were working harder, report comes out and
run around we.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Go well, following this report, the children's agencies have acknowledged
that there's a lot more to do, and clearly this
report from the Independent Monitor shows that still children are
not as visible as they need to be by the
systems that are there to keep them safe. And you know,

(01:30):
in light of the Royal Commission of Inquiry, in light
of the fact that we still have one child dying
every five weeks on average homicide, this has to dealvanize
us to real action now because we can't afford to
keep leaving children in situations where they are potentially going

(01:51):
to be harmed. We have to act and we have
to do that with urgency.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, so you have a good weekend, doctor Claire Aukman,
who's the Chief Children's Commision.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
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