Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

More teeth for family violence laws

Bay of Plenty Times
13 Sep, 2016 12:17 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

More powers: Prime Minister John Key today announced a raft of changes to the country's domestic violence laws. File/Photo

More powers: Prime Minister John Key today announced a raft of changes to the country's domestic violence laws. File/Photo

The government announced an overhaul of New Zealand's family violence law today, including more support for victims and new offences introduced.

Prime Minister John Key said in his announcement police responded to 110,000 family violence call-outs a year.

If each of those incidents was represented by a single person, that was getting close to the population of Tauranga which is just under 115,000.

"There are too many Kiwi households stuck in a life of fear and despair. They need help to stop the violence and repression so they can lead healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives," Mr Key said.

Mr Key said today's announcement came after a two year review of family violence laws by Justice Minister Amy Adams. It would see more than 50 changes to the current Domestic Violence Act.

Some of the measures included flagging all family violence offending on criminal records, creating new offences of non-fatal strangulation and assault on a family member with tougher sentences than common assault and tougher penalties for people who commit crimes while subject to a protection order.

"The new measures announced today are focused on faster and more effective intervention.

"We have to get better at identifying dangerous behaviour that can escalate into more serious violence much earlier."

The new measures would cost around $130 million over four years.

"One of the things that I'm proud of about this government is that we do not and we will not shy away from tackling complex problems, especially on behalf of those who most need help," Mr Key said.

"The challenge of reducing family violence lies with all of us, with the government, the police, social agencies, and with everyone who knows that violence is occurring.

"None of us should be deterred by the difficulty of the problem. Rather we should be motivated by the difference we can make. Succeeding in reducing family violence will save lives, and transform lives."

In Tauranga, the Women's Refuge handled 1012 crisis calls in the financial year up to March 31.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The refuge had 29 women need counselling and 36 children take part in the children's programme.

Ministry of Justice figures showed 947 people in the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel region breached their protection orders a total of 1176 times between 2005 and 2015.

One of the offenders clocked up 13 breaches.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Some of the new measures include:

· Making the safety of victims a principal consideration in all bail decisions, and central to parenting and property orders.

· Flagging all family violence offending on criminal records to ensure Courts and Police know when they are dealing with people with histories of family violence.

· Creating new offences of non-fatal strangulation and assault on a family member, with tougher sentences than common assault. Coercion to marry will also be criminalised.

· Enforcing tougher penalties for people who commit crimes while subject to a Protection Order.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM

The man apologised to his victim, but pleaded not guilty.

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM
Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

07 Jul 06:38 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP