The eye-catching headline in RNZ News on 11 February 2026, “Family violence reaches highest levels since 2018” inspired an examination of the Salvation Army’s annual report, subtitled Foundations of Wellbeing, Poipoia te Kākanao.

While all five chapters of the report - Children and Youth, Work and Incomes, Housing, Crime and Punishment, Social Hazards – contain valuable information - the focus for the Safety, Health & Wellbeing Action Hub was on Crime and Punishment, and on family violence in particular.

Note, the report’s statistics and data are drawn largely from publicly available sources, including the Ministry of Justice’s New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey, which “measures population prevalence including unreported crime.”

Noteworthy points:

• Family violence remains a major concern for New Zealand, with police responding to a family-harm incident approximately once every three minutes.
• While violent crime has decreased, family violence has increased to its highest rate since 2018.
• The report revealed a significant increase in some offences particularly in relation to abuse of children:
  • Child procurement or grooming increased 36.5 % in the past year and 550% over five years.
  • Child abuse material offences rose 16% in the past year and 141.7% since 202.
  • “Overall, the data indicates persistent high levels of assault-related offending alongside steep increases in child exploitation and online sexual offences, underscoring growing pressure on the justice system to strengthen its response to digital sexual harm.”
• Women experience family violence at three times the rate of men.
• Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): ex-partner violence accounts for nearly half (47%) of all IPV showing that danger for IPV victims does not stop when a relationship has ended.
• In 2025 police recorded 170,478 Family Harm Incidents (FHI), a 2.5% decrease from 2024 statistics.
• The report revealed a 3.9% increase in 2025 from 2024 in charges laid for family harm and a 9.7% increase in the issuing of Police Safety Orders (PSO) over the same period.
• “Many victims of family violence and sexual violence still face barriers to reporting, including fear of retaliation, shame, and concerns about family reputation.”

NCWNZ shares the concerns of other agencies working in the field of family violence prevention with regard to the final three points listed (in bold).

Barriers to reporting of family violence and sexual violence offences must surely include the knowledge of the anticipated likely, if not, inevitable re-traumatisation of the victim survivor through the court system.

The report asserts: “For the police, the steady rise in PSOs reflects a broader shift toward proactive policing and early intervention.” However, it seems obvious these statistics – reduction in FHI numbers and increase in PSOs - must reflect the implementation of the Police’s 2024 Risk Harm Attendance Framework, aimed at a reduction of police attendance at social harm callouts.

The stated aim of the Salvation Army’s report is to “promote debate and discussion about our progress towards greater wellbeing.”

The social policy analysts who prepared the report welcome feedback at: [email protected].

To read more articles from The Circular (January-February 2026) issue 655, click on the tag below.