A Rotorua man has been sentenced for giving his 6-year-old stepson a black eye by elbowing him in the face while he was having a tantrum over being buckled into his car seat.

A mother is accused of immersing her 2-year-old son's hands in boiling water then failing to seek medical treatment for at least eight months.

Child protection officials believe New Zealand may be finally tackling its child abuse problem after the first drop in abuse cases for at least eight years.

An Education Ministry inquiry into sex abuse by Far North teacher James Parker will begin this week, but no children will be questioned.

The key events in the case of the Kahui twins' death from 2006 to today.