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Moving Mountains. Insights from three kaupapa Māori child protection organisations during a time of significant change Luke Fitzmaurice (12159257) Law and legal studies Decolonisation Child protection legislation Tamariki Māori In 2017, child protection legislation was passed which was intended to begin a new era of collaboration between Māori and the Crown. Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act enabled strategic partnerships to be formed between Oranga Tamariki (New Zealand’s statutory child protection agency) and iwi and Māori organisations. Section 7AA also required Oranga Tamariki to reduce disparities for tamariki Māori in contact with the child protection system, as well as to uphold the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it came into force in 2019, iwi social service providers were quick to express interest in establishing the partnerships enabled by this new provision. Ten iwi and Māori organisations subsequently did so between 2019 and 2023. The opportunity for new forms of collaboration was cause for optimism, but the story since then has not been smooth. A change in government in 2023 led to the eventual repeal of section 7AA, amidst a wider range of legislative changes widely regarded as anti-Māori and anti-te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 still retains provisions enabling co-operation between iwi and Māori organisations and the Crown, and much of the work established under while section 7AA was in force continues in some form, but the landscape relating to iwi and Māori involvement within the statutory child protection system has undoubtedly shifted once again. This report examines that shift, through a multiple case study involving three iwi-based organisations who signed a strategic partnership with Oranga Tamariki while section 7AA was in force. It forms one part of a wider research project on the decolonisation of the child protection system. The intent of this part of the project was to examine the ways in which kaupapa Māori organisations have provided services for tamariki Māori in child protection contexts, illustrate some of the successes and challenges they have experienced, and explore how the shift towards a ‘by Māori, for Māori’ child protection system could be better supported. This part of the project also sought to explore whether the term ‘decolonisation’ is a useful way of describing that shift.<p></p> 2026-09-28T00:00:00Z Text Report 10.25455/wgtn.34005378 https://figshare.com/articles/report/Moving_Mountains_Insights_from_three_kaupapa_M_ori_child_protection_organisations_during_a_time_of_significant_change/34005378 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0