Increased funding for Christchurch ISR family violence pilot

The Government has announced an additional $680,000 will be allocated to the Christchurch Integrated Safety Response (ISR) pilot.

Justice Minister Amy Adams said “This funding boost will help support more frontline services, such as independent victim specialists and advocates to work with families, and create extra places in programmes to help perpetrators change their behaviour.”

The pilot launched in Christchurch in July 2016 and a second pilot launched in Waikato in November 2016. The ISR pilot is a multi-agency team including Police, Child, Youth and Family, Corrections, health, specialist family violence NGOs and Māori service providers. The team works with perpetrators and victims to provide intensive case management and specialist family violence support.

Women’s Refuge Chief Executive Dr Ang Jury welcomed the funding increase:

"While we are yet to see the details of what this means for advocacy agencies, we are pleased that the Ministers have acknowledged sector capacity concerns and are making significant moves to address these.”

“A collaborative approach is key to keeping women and children safe, however agencies, especially NGOs, must be adequately resourced if the potential of the Christchurch pilot is to be fully realised. We are heartened by their move to prioritise this need.”

More information about the ISR approach is available on the NZ Police website where you can also find the latest ISR newsletter update.

Selected additional media

Calls for trial targeting domestic violence to continue, Newstalk ZB, 29.03.2017

Family violence pilot helps over 24,000 people, Press release: NZ Government, 28.03.2017

Funding boost for family violence programme, Radio NZ, 08.02.2017