Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Fix for scourge a 10-20 year process

Anna Leask
By Anna Leask
Senior Journalist - crime and justice·Rotorua Daily Post·
12 May, 2016 09:01 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

There is no silver bullet, quick fix, single piece of legislation or police action that can tackle the problem. Photo / Thinkstock

There is no silver bullet, quick fix, single piece of legislation or police action that can tackle the problem. Photo / Thinkstock

Family violence is the biggest crime type in New Zealand and costs us between $4 and $7 billion each year. Our front line police spend more than 40 per cent of their time responding to family violence incidents and every few minutes someone calls a crisis line asking for help.

Police attended 105,000 family violence incidents last year, and that's only the 20 or so per cent that were reported.

Family violence is an epidemic in New Zealand. So what is the solution?

There is no easy answer to that question. There is no silver bullet, quick fix, single piece of legislation or police action that can tackle the problem.

Whatever we do will take time - experts suggest up to 20 years - and a lot of hard work until we see a real difference.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We've got to be really bold, we have to acknowledge the truths of this and be brave. We have to try new things. The harsh reality is that we are already getting things wrong and people are getting hurt. We can do better," said Superintendent Tusha Penny, national crime prevention manager for the police.

"Our challenge is to make people as safe in their homes as they are on the street. All New Zealanders have a fundamental right to live in their homes and be safe.

"Family violence is predictable, it's stoppable. We can make a difference. There are groups of people doing really good stuff, but there is no national framework. We have a pile of information, but we don't know what to do with it."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The "good stuff" included, but is not limited to, changes to the way police responded to and dealt with family violence; a government review and overhaul relevant legislation; a proposal to new family violence-specific offences and the introduction of the Integrated Safety Response model, which allows government and NGOs to respond collectively.

Part of the ISR model is an "intensive case management process" for high-risk cases meaning police and agencies can work on the same page to respond to situations.

"I really believe if we get this right, we are on the cusp of a huge transformation," Ms Penny said.

"If we miss this opportunity, it's a big deal. There's no silver bullet, this is a 10-20 year commitment.

Discover more

New Zealand

Family violence: Church mentors help local men man up

11 May 03:22 AM

Empowering young people (+video)

11 May 09:12 PM

Violence: Locals urged to act

12 May 08:30 PM

$14.6m worth of cannabis seized

30 May 08:39 PM

"We've got to commit to making a long-term change and changing the entire landscape around family violence."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

TUT withdraws appeal over unlawful removal of Te Urewera huts

03 Jul 05:00 PM
live
Rotorua Daily Post

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

New Rotorua police beat team to tackle 'big' retail crime issues

03 Jul 07:03 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Premium
TUT withdraws appeal over unlawful removal of Te Urewera huts

TUT withdraws appeal over unlawful removal of Te Urewera huts

03 Jul 05:00 PM

Te Uru Taumatua has withdrawn its appeal against the High Court ruling.

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas
live

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
New Rotorua police beat team to tackle 'big' retail crime issues

New Rotorua police beat team to tackle 'big' retail crime issues

03 Jul 07:03 AM
Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP