Te Aorerekura National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence
Moemoeā – Dream and vision Moemoeā: All people in Aotearoa New Zealand are thriving; their wellbeing is enhanced and sustained because they are safe and supported to live their lives free from family violence and sexual violence.All people in Aotearoa New Zealand are thriving; their wellbeing is enhanced and sustained because they are safe and supported to live their lives free from family violence and sexual violence. This Moemoeā or dream was created with tangata whenua, specialist sectors, and communities.
At the heart of this Moemoeā is ora – meaning to be well and thriving, to have mana enhanced and restored, to experience safety in all parts of life. Mana and ora are important parts of a person’s wellbeing, relationships and connections.
Te Aorerekura outlines 6 key changes or 'shifts' to eliminate family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Each of the shifts in this Strategy are interconnected, and the depend on the wider changes across Aotearoa that will help address the drivers of violence.
The Action Plan outlines the specific actions government agencies and communities will carry out to achieve these shifts:
- Shift 1: Towards strength-based wellbeing
- Shift 2: Towards mobilising communities
- Shift 3: Towards skilled, culturally competent and sustainable workforces
- Shift 4: Towards investment in primary prevention to protect against family violence and sexual violence
- Shift 5: Towards, safe, accessible and integrated responses
- Shift 6: Towards increased capacity for healing
- Learning and monitoring progress.
Whanonga pono – guiding principles
The Whanonga pono – guiding principles – help shape the way every person and organisation works as part of Te Aorerekura, and how to implement it.
- Prioritising equity and inclusion in all spaces
- Acting with aroha
- All actions are tika and pono, where people act with fairness, integrity, and are accountable for their actions
- People work together in an integrated way, reflecting kotahitanga
- People practise kaitiakitanga – people understand their roles and responsibilities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people and their families and whanau.
Te Aorerekura builds on the significant work and investment already underway in government and communities to eliminate family violence and sexual violence and explains the need for a collaborative approach to do this. It acknowledges the need to rebalance efforts towards prevention in order to support intergenerational change.
Te Aorerekura also builds on reports and research from the last 20 years to provide insights on the changes required to prevent and eliminate family violence and sexual violence.
In 2015, it was estimated that the government spends more than $1.4 billion annually(external link) on the consequences of family violence and sexual violence. That number is now estimated to be between $1.5-2 billion. More than $200 million invested over the last four years has given the family violence and sexual violence sectors more funding for services, supported by a joint approach to investment and planning.
Te Aorerekura establishes a shared view of where we have got to, what needs to be done differently, what more is required to eliminate family violence and sexual violence, and how tangata whenua, government, communities and sectors can work together to make this happen.
Learn about our progress on implementing Te Aorerekura.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi and te ao Māori values
Te Aorerekura draws on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori values to envision a different expectation of how to achieve safety and wellbeing for all people in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Te Aorerekura incorporates these Te Tiriti o Waitangi approaches:
- Article one - Kawanatanga – continuing to build relationships and partnering with iwi and Māori organisations in the delivery and governance of Te Aorerekura.
- Article two - Tino Rangatiratanga – enabling iwi, hapū, whānau, and Māori communities to have full authority (mana motuhake) over their own wellbeing.
- Article three - Oritetanga – working with tangata whenua to strengthen protective factors and achieve equitable outcomes that allow iwi, hapū, whānau, and Māori communities to realise their potential, free of family violence and sexual violence.
An ao Māori focus seeks to be inclusive of all perspectives. Māori and Pacific peoples share a special relationship or va. They are connected by whakapapa with kinship through commonalities of history, culture, oral traditions of origins. Wairuatanga is emerging as something to be considered alongside Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Wairuatanga enables iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori communities to practice ritenga (customs) framed by te ao Māori, enacted through tikanga Māori and encapsulated within mātauranga Māori.
To develop Te Aorerekura, we undertook extensive public engagement from May-June 2021. This resulted in:
- 120 tangata whenua-, sector- and community-led hui involving more than 2000 people
- 1000 online, email, written and survey-based submissions; and
- Over 260 women impacted by violence who participated in an independent survey run by The Backbone Collective(external link).
What we understood: summaries of 2020 engagement
To share the voices we heard during our engagement process, the Joint Venture produced summaries that outline key themes in the feedback we received.
The summaries below reflect careful analysis of the common themes emerging from the many different engagements. These summaries were assessed by the Joint Venture and reviewed by our Independent Advisors to make sure they accurately reflect the opinions of the people who spoke to us.
Word document
Summary 1, 12-19 May 2021 [PDF, 302 KB]
Word: Summary 1, 12-19 May 2021 [DOCX, 83 KB]
Summary 2, 19 May - 8 June 2021 [PDF, 366 KB]
Word: Summary 2, 19 May - 8 June 2021 [DOCX, 91 KB]
Summary 3, 9-30 June 2021 [PDF, 416 KB]
Word: Summary 3, 9-30 June 2021 [DOCX, 110 KB]
Summary 4, Final submissions 30 June 2021 [PDF, 449 KB]
Word: Summary 4, 30 June 2021 [DOCX, 114 KB]
View other key documents we used to invite people to contribute to our engagement process for Te Aorerekura.
- Invitation to contribute [PDF, 1.5 MB]
- Have your say - PDF [PDF, 1.3 MB]
- Have your say - Word [DOCX, 46 KB]
- Where should we focus? - PDF [PDF, 1.8 MB]
- Where should we focus? - Word [DOCX, 65 KB]
Easy Read versions
Alternative formats
Have your say Easy Read - PDF [PDF, 3.2 MB]
Have your say Easy Read - Word [DOCX, 7.5 MB]
NZ Sign Language video (6:33 minutes)(external link)
Listen to the audio file (21:42 minutes) [MP3, 5.6 MB]