Updated September 2020. First published July 2020

This updated report of the disparities experienced by tamariki Māori in the Care and Protection system was published in September 2020. It includes a refined methodology and regional breakdown of the results. A link to the original report published in July 2020 is still available. While Māori over-representation in the care and protection system (relative to the full population) has been known for some time, this analysis demonstrates the extent to which demographic, socioeconomic, and parent/child characteristics influence the disparities between tamariki Māori and ‘NZ European and Other’ ethnicities. [1] This paper investigates two key questions: - Is there an impact on the measure of disparity between tamariki Māori and ‘NZ European and Other’ ethnicities when considering the influence of other socioeconomic and parent/child characteristics? - Considering ethnicity without the influence of other socioeconomic and parent/child characteristics, are tamariki Māori more likely to enter and progress through the care and protection system compared to children of ‘NZ European and Other’ ethnicities? This document should be considered as an initial quantitative exploration of disparities for tamariki Māori. It is intended to generate further discussion and analysis about disparities in the care and protection system. Future work would likely include qualitative analysis into specific areas of the Oranga Tamariki operating model, including input from practice experts. There has also been a limited two year data period since the formation of Oranga Tamariki so some of the trends shown in this document are not necessarily indicative of longer-term trends, as these trends will become clearer overtime. This analysis can be repeated in the future once trends are able to be identified. (From the Overview). Record #6800