Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour says important family and sexual violence reduction milestones have been achieved as part of the Government's second Te Aorerekura Action Plan.
"Family violence and sexual violence are significant and deeply entrenched issues in New Zealand. We are all aware of the need to address these national shames, but the responses have sadly not always interconnected, and this led to a system that was trying to do a-lot but doing little of it very well," said Minister Chhour.
"In December, I launched the second Te Aorerekura Action Plan. This plan is about fixing what matters by prioritising fewer things and focusing more clearly on aligning communities and agencies around getting the right supports to victim-survivors and breaking the cycle of violence.
"I can now confirm that we have accomplished all of the plan's milestones early, resulting in safer communities," she said.
Achievements have included:
"I am proud of the achievements we have made in such a short time, I also acknowledge that we could not do this without the commitment of our communities," the Minister said.
"Every community is different, but none are immune to the tragedies of family violence and sexual violence. This is why working collectively to reduce and address harm is so important - it is a matter of life and death."
Minister Chhour said Canterbury's long running Integrated Safety Response (ISR) approach was a strong example of a locally-led and innovative multi-agency response.
There has been a 53% reduction in family violence homicides in Canterbury since the ISR approach started. It has saved lives and the lessons from ISR - including emphasis on using family violence specialists, identifying and responding quickly to high-risk event - are being applied across the country in a number of ways, said Ms Chhour.
"While (ISR) did not start under my watch, this work matters more than partisan politics, anything that makes our nation safer should be celebrated and learned from," she said.