- Hon Karen Chhour
This government's ambitious target of better, and more, training to help staff support in family violence and sexual violence responses milestone has been achieved almost 6 months in advance of the due date.
10,000 frontline workers have been trained in family violence and sexual violence prevention in the past 18 months.
Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says, "this was an ambitious target, and its achievement will ensure victim/survivors receive better practice support, and will empower staff to safely recognise, refer, and respond to family and sexual violence."
"I am proud of our progress against the second Te Aorerekura Action Plan, it shows the benefits of a multi-agency response and the dedication of government departments to best supporting victim/survivors."
During 2025 and 2026, more than 10,000 workers - mainly within NZ Police, Oranga Tamariki, Department of Corrections, Ministry of Justice and ACC - have completed training that is aligned to the family violence workforce capability frameworks.
"This training is critical for our agencies' frontline workforces to have the skills and knowledge they need to recognise, respond and refer when people are experiencing family violence or sexual violence."
"We have set bold goals that will tangibly help victim/survivors of family and sexual violence," says Minister Chhour.
Other progress against the Action Plan includes:
- The Ministry of Justice has delivered training to over 800 members of its court-related workforce. Ongoing training is expected to reach up to 500 people per year.
- The Department of Corrections has given essential-level family violence training to more than 4,700 of its staff.
- In 2024, Police redesigned the course for new recruits to include two weeks' family violence training. Over 550 Police recruits received training in that first year, and over 850 recruits are expected to receive training by the end of 2026.
