'A risk to life': Social workers called out for no-shows on keeping kids safe

The chief victims advisor is calling out Oranga Tamariki (OT) for not sending social workers to critical meetings for keeping abused children from harm.

Ruth Money says it is infuriating and a threat to children's lives.

"I think it is devastating for the community and children at risk that Oranga Tamariki are not at the table having these discussions around the risk planning. It literally can be a risk to life."

RNZ's inquiries show Money first complained to the Children's Ministry last year about non-attendance at meetings where she, OT, police, health and education agencies make plans to safeguard specific children.

"You cannot do that well, you can't do it at all, if you're not looking at all the pieces of the puzzle and OT are the only ones that hold that information," said Money.

Gaps between agencies have been implicated again and again in the killing and harm of children. A child is killed by their caregiver on average every two months, and thousands of children and teenagers are assaulted or sexually assaulted every year.

'It is an operational matter' - minister

Documents show that in April this year the chief adviser complained again. She told RNZ it had got better but then got worse again.

Money told RNZ OT's response to her had been "underwhelming" and she would escalate it to the minister.

The minister both of children and for preventing violence Karen Chhour referred RNZ to OT saying, "It is an operational matter."

Deputy chief executive tamariki and whānau services Thomas Ronan said being at the meetings was one of the agency's priorities and it was actively working to improve attendance.

Staffing constraints was one of many factors that could be affecting attendance he said.

It did not count if social workers actually went to meetings - only whether they intended to go, as sometimes they were called away urgently to ensure the immediate safety of tamariki and whānau.

Ronan said in most cases when a social worker was unable to attend, the agency could find someone else to take their place. However, this was not always possible, especially at much smaller sites.

If they did not go they still sent in OT's information on a case - but Money said it was the roundtable discussion that produced the "gold".

The only comparable figures provided came from Waikato, where out of seven meetings a week social workers were going to just one or two. Rotorua was trialling weekly not daily attendance. South Auckland had four social workers fulltime at the meetings.

Thomas Ronan said the Waikato figures were not representative of all regions and it was actively putting in place extra roles to improve attendance.

Others worried too

But Money said no-shows were widespread.

"Up and down the country I'm getting feedback that often Oranga Tamariki are not attending these hui."

The Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention - part of the Justice Ministry - said community stakeholders had raised similar concerns, and the centre had raised them with OT.

In some places they'd been resolved, it said, adding discussions were going on across its executive board to improve multi-agency responses.

In April 2026, Money wrote to senior Oranga Tamariki leaders, saying, intended attendance clearly did not address this significant issue.

"Attendance is required and is critical to the safety of those children and whanau who come before the [meetings] - that after all is the entire point these multi-disciplinary teams exist.

"OT are the only agency that hold vital information specific to ... the tamariki, and so non-attendance (unless there is an absolute emergency) can be a risk to life - literally."

Hobbling investigators

RNZ revealed in April that the new Child Protection Investigation Unit at OT has been unable to pursue some investigations of serious harm due to agencies not sharing information.

Agencies failed to share vital information when Malachi Subecz was murdered by his caregiver in 2021.

"Malachi's interests were not given priority" by agencies, said a coroner in February this year. A 2022 investigation ordered the gaps be fixed. But the coroner this year said OT had been too slow fixing systems faulted in Subecz's murder.

Independent child watchdog Aroturuki Tamariki found shortcomings in December, saying the multi-agency setup and meetings were helping but "not yet closing the gap" identified in the 2022 Subecz investigation.

Meetings varied in regularity. "Mostly" the joint agencies decided how to act "but we were told there is significant variation ... and in some cases, the risk and action is decided by a single person in one organisation", said the watchdog.

Money told RNZ, "The government moved years ago to ensure that these agencies could share relevant information in these meetings, but Oranga Tamariki is not going up to do that."

'Engage in conversations' - police

The police did not respond on whether they had concerns about social workers not turning up.

"These issues are raised and handled at a local level," police said in a brief statement. "Police and Oranga Tamariki frequently engage in conversations on how best to handle these issues when they arise."

Oranga Tamariki said "When kaimahi can't attend meetings, they are still expected to communicate with multi-agency response table representatives and provide relevant information where possible to support interagency connection and decision-making.

"Any regions where attendance is not aligning with what is expected, we always ask our partner agencies to reach out so we can follow up with those areas."

Money said it was not just about handing in data. "It's about talking it through."

It was ridiculous not to track attendance: "They're paying these people to do a job. They must know what they are doing."

'Attendance across the board is good' - OT in 2025

When Money first raised the issue with then chief executive Andrew Bridgman in April 2025 she emailed him, "I am concerned that risk assessments are being jeopardised when the team does not have the full information regarding each situation.

"Main agencies such as OT are the major contributors, or should be, around the multi-disciplinary team's table, but it seems attendance has become compromised in recent times and I have serious concerns this is putting many of the community at risk of further serious harm."

She asked him for data on attendance and offered to help.

Emails suggest the agency took a look countrywide, then said Waikato and Bay of Plenty had a problem but, "Overall our participation/attendance across the board is good, with regular attendance."

Her meeting notes from March 2026 released under the OIA said, "Ruth & Police. OT ISR [integrated safety response] non-attendance raised e.g. spoke briefly that this is still an issue and Ruth said she would email OT again."

ISR denotes a wider response.

In April 2026 the notes said, "Ruth and the Centre for the Prevention of Sexual Violence and Family Violence. Ruth mentioned she had chased OT again because of non-attendance. Cam [Sherley] said something like "yes that is a known problem"."

Sherley, acting head of the Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention responsible for integrating a whole-of-government approach, said he had been aware participation had been "inconsistent in some parts of the country".

This was a problem in 2024 and not just with OT, maybe due to the volume of family violence episodes per week.

Canterbury's integrated safety response had meetings seven days a week, and social workers went to five of those - they had not gone at weekends "for at least 2 years", said the OIA documents. The ISR dealt with 1300 incidents in March 2025.

Taupō and Tokoroa had meetings twice a week.

'I will escalate it' - chief victims advisor

"This issue has also more recently been raised with the centre (and resolved in some areas) by community stakeholders who are part of multi-agency responses," said Sherley in a statement

"Any agency not engaging in multi-agency responses to family violence when needed is of concern ... Work to confirm agency roles and responsibilities has been prioritised."

Money said she would escalate the problem to Oranga Tamariki's new chief executive Amanda Malu and Chhour.

"I would like the Minister and the CE at Oranga Tamariki to step in and do some quality assurance around this and ensure that people are attending so that we are mitigating risk."

Earlier this month, Malu told Nine-to-Noon Oranga Tamariki was 180 social workers short and staff shortages were hampering efforts to hit targets responding to urgent concerns over children.

Malu also acknowledged significant turnover in the agency's leadership.