Waikato to be second site for Integrated Safety Response pilot

The Government has announced that Waikato will be the second site for the Integrated Safety Response pilot.

The pilot, also being run in Christchurch, brings together different agencies involved in family violence to support victims and their families in a daily safety assessment approach. 

Justice Minister Amy Adams said, “Extending the pilot to Waikato provides us with an opportunity to assess how well the model works across a diverse population, including a higher proportion of rural and Māori communities.” 

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said “Waikato was selected as a second site because of the strong Family Safe Network that operates locally, and a readiness from regional agencies to get up and running quickly. This is supported by strong leadership in the area.” 

Police Minister Judith Collins said, “Waikato Police received 10,000 family violence calls in 2015. This means we can test the pilot on a large volume and level of high-risk family violence victims.”

The Waikato pilot is planned to be up and running by early October. The multi-agency project team will be made up of Justice, Police, Corrections, Health, Child, Youth and Family and specialist family violence NGOs and Māori service providers. 

More information about the pilot is available on the New Zealand Police website.

The Christchurch pilot started on 1 July 2016. Further information is available in this previous NZFVC news story: Government announces new multi-agency family violence pilot in Christchurch (April 2016).

The Integrated Safety Response pilot is a key part of the Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence Work Programme. Further information is available on the Ministry of Justice website. 

Related research and resources

Research and resources on interagency collaboration are available in the Clearinghouse library.