The Government has launched a Green Paper to give people and communities a say on how New Zealand can better protect abused, neglected and disadvantaged children.

Submissions on the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children closed on 28 February.

Over 9,000 submissions were received. Numbers of submissions were on behalf of groups or organisations, so the views of many more than 9,000 people have been heard. That’s in addition to the more than 2,000 people who attended meetings and had their views noted in meeting records.

All submissions are currently being read. Work will then begin on the White Paper and from that, a 10 year Children’s Action Plan will be developed for release later this year.

Click here to be directed to the childrensactionplan.govt.nz website which will be updated regularly as themes emerge and the White Paper is developed.