Child and Family Protection Bill passes first reading

The latest step in the Government's plan to protect victims of domestic violence has passed its first reading in Parliament and has been sent to a select committee.

The Child and Family Protection Bill focuses on keeping children safe where there have been instances of family violence in the home.

"In 2007, 6,400 children were involved in applications for protection orders.  Most of these children have witnessed violence and some have been subjected to violence directly," Justice Minister Simon Power says.

The bill comes on top of the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Act, passed in October last year, which allows police to issue on-the-spot protection orders.  It also allows sentencing judges in criminal courts to issue protection orders on behalf of victims.

"The Child and Family Protection Bill is the next important step.

"There is a need to ensure court processes are effective, that the protection provided by court orders is clear, and administrative barriers are minimised," Mr Power said.

The bill will provide greater protection for child victims of domestic violence and to improve Family Court processes, including:

• Clarifying that when a protected person dies, that their children will remain protected. This will avoid any legal confusion at a time when a grieving family is already under stress.


• Amending the Care of Children Act 2004 to ensure that children who are victims of psychological violence receive greater protection.


• Ensuring a focus on the best interests of the child, by enabling the court to review parent contact arrangements within a few weeks of a temporary protection order being made.


• Avoiding any opportunity for a gap between a temporary and a final protection order that could result in protected persons having no protection.

The bill also strengthens the protection for children at risk of unlawful removal from New Zealand by:

• Protecting more children by removing the need to prove that the risk that someone will try and take them out of New Zealand is ‘imminent'.
  
• Making the orders more flexible. This could, for example, allow a child to travel overseas to attend a family wedding or funeral.

The bill also contains the last legislative amendment required for New Zealand to ratify the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Ratification of the Optional Protocol will ensure that New Zealand is meeting its international obligations to protect children from economic and sexual exploitation.