为2万名儿童工作者提供强制培训，新西兰加强儿童安全保护体系
儿童贫困削减部长 Louise Upston 宣布，在2026年预算案中，政府将投入约 9000万纽元，用于提升儿童保护体系能力，并为约 2万名儿童相关工作者提供强制培训，以更早识别和应对儿童风险。
政策背景：强化儿童安全体系
Upston表示，政府在2025年9月已接受已故专家 Karen Poutasi 的全部建议，并承诺建立更以儿童安全为核心的系统。
她指出：
“今年预算包括9000万纽元投资，用于落实这些建议，并建立她所设想的更完善儿童安全保护网络。”
核心目标
该计划重点是：
- 更早识别儿童受伤或风险迹象
- 在问题升级前进行干预
- 强化跨机构协作体系
- 提升儿童安全整体响应能力
资金结构（9000万纽元）
1. 培训体系（1590万纽元 / 2年）
用于：
- 为核心儿童工作者提供分阶段强制培训
- 覆盖约2万人
- 每批约6500人分阶段培训
- 提升识别与应对儿童风险能力
2. Oranga Tamariki能力提升（6470万纽元 / 4年）
Oranga Tamariki 将获得额外资源：
- 增加社会工作者数量
- 应对因识别能力提升带来的案件增加
- 提供更多家庭与儿童服务支持
3. 卫生系统协作能力（970万纽元 / 4年）
Health New Zealand 将：
- 增设专门工作人员
- 与警方及儿童保护机构协作
- 参与严重虐待案件调查
- 提升跨机构风险评估能力
实施方式
该计划已经在2026年1月启动试点：
- 约500名儿童工作者参与试点培训
- 接下来两年逐步扩大规模
- 分阶段推进以避免系统压力过大
系统扩展与压力管理
政府承认：
- 培训将导致“更多风险识别报告”
- 因此需要同步扩大 Oranga Tamariki 与卫生系统能力
- 并逐步调整资源配置
与其他改革的关联
该项目还与以下改革衔接：
- 2025预算中“皇家虐待调查委员会（Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care）”相关建议
- Whanaketia
- 多机构联合儿童保护机制（multi-agency hub）
政策意义简析
这项政策体现了新西兰儿童保护体系的几个趋势：
1. 从“事后处理”转向“提前识别”
重点是预防，而不是仅在伤害发生后介入。
2. 标准化全国儿童工作者培训
让学校、福利、医疗等系统有统一风险识别标准。
3. 多机构协同
警方、医疗与儿童保护机构协同处理严重案件。
4. 系统能力扩张
随着识别能力提升，必须同步扩充社会工作与服务能力。
Budget 2026 will fund mandatory training for 20,000 core children’s workers and improve system capacity to protect children at risk of harm, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says.
“In September 2025 our Government accepted all the recommendations from the report by the late Dame Karen Poutasi and committed to an approach focused on the safety of children.
“This year’s Budget includes a $90 million investment to deliver on those recommendations and provide the improved safety net for our children Dame Karen envisioned.
“This work, which will strengthen the system’s ability to identify risk earlier and respond before harm escalates, directly supports the Child and Youth Strategy priority on preventing harm against children.”
The $90 million investment includes:
$15.9 million over two years to support a sequenced rollout of mandatory training for designated workforces, boosting the capability of core children’s workers to better identify and respond to children at risk of harm.
$64.7 million over four years to increase Oranga Tamariki’s capacity to respond to an expected increase in reports of concern arising from improved identification of risk.
$9.7 million over four years to increase Health NZ’s capacity to participate in the Child Protection Protocol, working alongside NZ Police and Oranga Tamariki to assess and respond to the most serious cases of abuse.
“This training boost will build on the testing phase which began in January 2026 and involved 500 children’s workers. Training will now shift to a phased rollout of foundational and in‑depth training, delivered in cohorts of approximately 6,500 children’s workers over the next two years to ensure manageable implementation.
“This training will ensure participants have consistent, quality training to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to identify and respond to children at risk of harm,” Louise Upston says.
“Investment in Oranga Tamariki will ensure the child protection system has the capacity to respond safely and effectively to expected higher volumes of reports of concern arising from both training and the recently established multi-agency hub.
“Funding will support an uplift in employed social workers and increase access to services for children and whānau.
“Funding for Health NZ will enable dedicated specialist staff to be employed to work with NZ Police and Oranga Tamariki when investigating the most serious cases of abuse, building on and strengthening current practice. This will improve multi-agency risk assessment, addressing gaps identified by Dame Karen.
“Due to the scale of complex change and the need to manage impacts on different parts of the system and workforces, the Government is continuing to take a phased approach to implementation.
“The initial two years of funding will also allow the Government to build a clearer picture of system impacts, informing future resourcing decisions as implementation progresses,” Louise Upston says.
Editors Notes
Funding to support training will partly draw on funding allocated through Budget 2025 to implement the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s workforce recommendations.
This reflects the overlaps between Dame Karen Poutasi’s recommendations and Whanaketia, the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
