February 19, 2026

#national: Review Finds Tamariki Still No Safer Years After Malachi Subecz Death

Matthew Tukaki Posted On February 19, 2026

Independent Children’s Monitor has found that tamariki are still no safer today than when Malachi Subecz died, despite multiple recommendations and promises of reform.

The review, Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children, assesses progress on the recommendations made by Dame Karen Poutasi following Malachi’s death. It also examines whether government agencies have implemented changes identified in their own internal reviews, how reports of concern are currently handled, and whether systemic improvement is occurring after other children die.

Eighteen months after its first review, three years after Dame Karen’s report and four years after Malachi’s death, the Monitor says work to fix the system is only just beginning. In October 2025 the Government accepted all of Dame Karen’s recommendations and initiated a cross-agency programme to implement them. In late January, a new inter-agency hub was established for children whose sole parents are in prison, and mandatory training for core children’s workers began rolling out.

While described as important first steps, the review makes clear that change has yet to translate into improved safety on the ground.

Of the 14 recommendations made by Dame Karen, only two are considered complete. One relates to the Monitor’s first review of implementation, while another required no further action. The remaining recommendations are still in progress.

The review highlights ongoing gaps in the child protection system. Between December 2021 and June 2025, 24 more tamariki were killed by someone responsible for their care. Many were babies, and most were under the age of five. Half of those children were known to Oranga Tamariki, meaning reports of concern had previously been made. Most perpetrators were also known to Police.

The Monitor found that even if all of Dame Karen’s recommendations are fully implemented, there remains uncertainty about whether Oranga Tamariki will be able to respond appropriately without broader structural change.

A key concern is frontline capacity. Social workers must be able to physically visit children when concerns are raised, yet the review heard repeatedly that resource constraints are forcing staff to prioritise cases based not solely on risk, but on who they can realistically reach. Community social workers, police, teachers and health professionals continue to raise concerns that sometimes require repeated reporting before action is taken.

The data reflects these pressures. Although reports of concern to Oranga Tamariki have increased over the past nine years, the number acted upon by local offices has remained relatively constant at around 40,000 annually. In the 2024/25 year, nearly 81,000 reports were referred by the national contact centre to local offices for further action. More than 32,000 of those referrals resulted in no further local action.

There is also significant regional variation. In some areas, more than half of the reports referred for action are not followed up locally, despite being assessed as serious enough to warrant referral.

Dame Karen called for a child protection system that is always able to respond when needed, alongside a well-resourced community sector capable of providing early intervention and support for whānau before harm escalates. While pilots and prototypes demonstrate that a coordinated response can work, the review concludes that Aotearoa is still far from having a comprehensive and consistent child protection framework.

The review also notes that other government agencies are making reports of concern and providing some training to staff, but greater cross-agency understanding of how to identify abuse is required. Frontline health professionals, in particular, often receive little or no training in interpreting childhood injuries. Clear guidance from the Privacy Commissioner affirms that information sharing to protect children is lawful and appropriate, yet uncertainty around this continues to affect practice.

The Monitor acknowledged the late Dame Karen Poutasi’s determination to address longstanding systemic gaps, noting that she was briefed on an early draft of the second review in late 2025.

The findings underscore a sobering reality: despite years of reviews, recommendations and commitments, tamariki remain vulnerable to the same systemic failures that contributed to Malachi Subecz’s death.

The full review is available online at aroturuki.govt.nz/reports/safety-net.