This is ICM\u2019s second review into what has been done about recommendations from the Director General of Health following Malachi\u2019s death. <\/p>\n
The review looked into the progress made by agencies to improve child safety and found Oranga Tamariki lacked the resources to properly respond to reports of concern. <\/p>\n
\u201cTamariki are still no safer now than when Malachi died,\u201d the report read.<\/p>\n
Malachi’s mother placed him in the care of her friend, after she was jailed in 2021. <\/p>\n
In 2021, 5-year-old Malachi Rain Subecz was tortured and murdered by his caregiver Michaela Barriball, who is serving a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.<\/p>\n
Malachi\u2019s sole parent was his mother, Jasmine Cotter, who was jailed in June 2021 for importing drugs and signed over guardianship of her son to her then-friend, Barriball. <\/p>\n
His death became one of New Zealand\u2019s most high-profile child murders and prompted multiple inquiries and reviews. <\/p>\n
The six government agencies that were in contact with Malachi, Barriball and Cotter all conducted practice reviews. <\/p>\n
These agencies were the New Zealand Police, the Department of Corrections, Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n In 2022, the agencies jointly commissioned a review of the children\u2019s sector from the Director-General of Health at the time, the late Dame Karen Poutasi. <\/p>\n Poutasi\u2019s review found children continued to fall through gaps of the safety net designed to protect them. <\/p>\n She made 14 recommendations for improving child safety and last year the Government accepted all of them. <\/p>\n As of 2026, only two of those recommendations had been implemented. <\/p>\n \u201cOur review also found that even if everything Dame Karen said was needed to close the gaps is done, we are not confident that Oranga Tamariki will be able to respond appropriately,\u201d Independent Children\u2019s Monitor chief executive Arran Jones said. <\/p>\n While the number of reports being made to Oranga Tamariki were increasing, the number of reports local offices took action on had not risen and remained at 40,000 across nine years. <\/p>\n AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n Jones said people had to make multiple reports to Oranga Tamariki before action was taken. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Oranga Tamariki staff were concerned about being unable to physically visit children because of limited resources, he said. <\/p>\n The review found some Oranga Tamariki offices took no action on more than half of the reports passed onto them from the national contact centre, despite those reports being considered serious enough to warrant a response. <\/p>\n The coroner\u2019s findings on Malachi\u2019s death were released last week, which also included recommendations for changes in Oranga Tamariki\u2019s practices.<\/a><\/p>\n The ICM also found most other Government agencies were making reports of concern to Oranga Tamariki and had \u201cput some training in place for staff in lieu of Oranga Tamariki providing this\u201d. <\/p>\n Chief Ombudsman John Allen said the review\u2019s findings raised the need for \u201ccross agency collaboration, for health, education, welfare and justice, to keep working together for a better care and protection system.\u201d<\/p>\nOranga Tamariki is still not always able to respond when it needs to keep a child safe, the review found.<\/p>\n