Vulnerable Children Bill

Regulatory impact statements have been prepared by the Ministries of Social Development, Justice and Education to accompany Cabinet papers containing proposals for the Vulnerable Children Bill. The Bill will be introduced as an omnibus bill, containing a series of measures to protect and improve the wellbeing of vulnerable children.

Joint accountability and shared responsibility

This regulatory impact statement has been prepared by the Ministry of Social Development to accompany the Cabinet paper about legislative and non-legislative measures that will help to drive the institutional and behavioural changes needed to achieve the Government’s priorities for vulnerable children.

This regulatory impact statement provides an analysis of the proposals where legislative options were considered. These proposals aim to ensure that the people and agencies responsible for protecting New Zealand’s vulnerable children, and those that work with children and their families, know what is expected of them and are accountable for their actions.

Specific care and protection legislation changes

This regulatory impact statement has been prepared by the Ministry of Social Development to accompany the Cabinet paper about legislative changes to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. 

This regulatory impact statement provides an analysis of options to amend the Act, to help improve child protection services and ensure that our most vulnerable children gain the dedicated and specialist support needed to recover and get the best from life.

Additional amendments to legislation to assist children in care (Family Court appeal process for home for life caregivers)

This regulatory impact statement has been prepared by the Ministry of Social Development to accompany the Cabinet paper proposing further legislative changes to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989, to establish an appeal process in the Family Court for Home for Life caregivers who consider that the Chief Executive of MSD has wrongly or unreasonably declined to provide support. 

This regulatory impact statement provides an analysis of options to further amend the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 to help support children leaving Child, Youth and Family care, and ensuring quality, stable, and timely permanency outcomes for these children.

Ensuring the safety of subsequent children

This regulatory impact statement has been prepared by the Ministry of Social Development to accompany the Cabinet paper proposing legislative change to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 as part of a new approach for ensuring the safety of subsequent children of adults who have previously had a child permanently removed from their care due to abuse or neglect, or who have been convicted of the murder, manslaughter or infanticide of a previous child. 

This regulatory impact statement provides an analysis of options to minimise the potentially significant risk of harm to these subsequent children.

Regulatory impact statements prepared by other agencies

A regulatory impact statement to accompany the Cabinet paper on Child Harm Prevention Orders was prepared by the Ministry of Justice, and is available on their website at: http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/r/regulatory-impact-statement-child-harm-prevention-orders

A regulatory impact statement to accompany the Cabinet paper on safeguarding the children’s workforce through standard safety checks was prepared by the Ministry of Education, and is available on their website at: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/PublicationsAndResources/RIS.aspx 

A regulatory impact statement was not required for the proposal to amend the KiwiSaver Act 2006, as it was assessed as having no, or only minor, impact on businesses, individuals or not-for-profit entities.