Backbone Collective manager Deborah Mackenzie says the report makes vital recommendations for change. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Politicians have little knowledge of a long-awaited report that family violence experts say the Ministry of Justice buried, which shows children are at risk in the judicial system.
The report was completed in 2022 but never publicly released, even though officials warned that not releasing it looked like it was being hidden.
It was recently released under the Official Information Act, at the request of the Backbone Collective - a national organisation for survivors of family violence.
The report was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice as a stocktake of the family judicial system and recommended sweeping changes to the way children are included in custody disputes.
Asked if he had been told about it, Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith said: "I recollect some briefing on it but I wouldn't want to answer an exam question on it, immediately right here, right now."
Labour Party spokesperson for justice Duncan Webb said he did not know about the report and would look into it.
RNZ asked the party's spokesperson for family and sexual violence Helen White if it had been buried.
"I simply don't know. I wasn't aware of the report and I'm not sure why it wasn't part of the public conversation."
White said she learned of the report from RNZ.
"Sunlight's a good thing. The report should be available to anybody who wants it. It's a thought provoking report. It's long, there's quite a few issues covered in it.
"I've got more questions as a result and I'm better informed as a result of having read the report."
The ministry commissioned the report in 2021, a stocktake required by an independent panel in response to legislation that required children and young people to be provided with opportunities to participate in decision-making which affects them.
Parts of the report, A Review of Children's Participation in the Family Justice System, were confidentially released to some stakeholders in 2022.
Ministry of Justice group manager of policy Sam Kunowski said it was not appropriate to release the full report while it was under review.
Ministry briefing documents show that shortly after it was published in 2022, then Justice Minister Kiri Allen requested that officials' recommendations - that there were other financial priorities - be discussed with Marama Davidson's office.
Davidson was the inaugural minister for the prevention of family and sexual violence.
Now co-leader of the Green Party, she said the report could have been publicly released after being reviewed.
"I genuinely don't quite understand why that report wouldn't be released because as a minister there was already evidence and advice from advocates and community organisations, these issues were not new for me as a minister. They were issues that had already been raised."
Davidson said it should now be tabled.
"I don't see why the report can't add some further impetus to pick up some specific actions and keep working towards safety for children in the justice system."
The report - written by family law expert Dr Deb Inder - is an in-depth look at current practice in the family judicial system and covers international best practice. It criticised lawyers acting as the main voice for child clients in custody disputes and highlighted the risks for children exposed to domestic violence.
The Backbone Collective co-founder Deborah Mackenzie said it was not too late for decision-makers to respond.
"What we would say to any decision maker is that the Inder report shows something is very wrong in the family court and we need to act urgently."
She wanted the Ministry of Justice to follow up on recommendations to pilot trained child consultants and screen each case for family violence.
"We know in the past that National has raised concerns about how the Family Court interacts with children so we expect they will take this opportunity to change practice, to ensure that children and their protective parents are made safer as a result of Family Court involvement."
Goldsmith said the government's primary aim is to reduce delays in the family court.
He says he would need to consider the report's recommendations regarding children's participation before commenting.
Former Family Court lawyer Emily Henderson said she agreed with the report's recommendations and it deserved to be widely read.
She was an MP for the Labour Party at the time it was published but had learned of the report from RNZ.
Henderson said Family Court lawyers and judges are highly motivated to protect children but there is a lack of sufficiently in-depth training, specifically on child development and on risk assessment.
"Dr Inder is right that there is a real conflict in the muddled way we think of the role of lawyer for child, mixing straight-up representing of a client with protecting whatever the lawyer decides are in that child's best interests," she said.
"The potential for children to be hurt by a lawyer's well-meaning but uninformed view of what's best is obvious, and that's including tikanga as well as abuse risk assessment."
Henderson said using experts in child development and communication to intercede for children with their lawyers is a promising way forward and had worked well in the UK.
"But it's hard to see where these experts would come from."
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