Such cases, involving concern for the care and protection of the child or youth, peaked in 2013, at 4287 cases. Last year, there were 3369 cases involving care and protection concerns.
Instances where evidence of abuse was found also peaked in 2013, at 1563 cases. Last year, Child, Youth and Family found substantiated abuse in 1192 cases.
Child, Youth and Family's Te Tai Tokerau has offices in Whangarei, Kaitaia, Kaikohe and Dargaville.
Stacey Pepene, trainer/educator with Te Puna O Te Aroha Maori Women's Refuge in Whangarei, said it was clear more people were reporting abuse.
"An increase in notifications doesn't mean that there's more violence," she said. "A trend we have noticed, however, is that violence is being reported earlier than it used to be. There's also more people reporting low level abuse, members of the public reporting when they see a child being smacked and so on, because they think it's better to report when they think there could be something going on, than do nothing."
Ms Pepene said it was great to have more reporting. "Reporting earlier in the process is very positive as we're able to intervene and work towards outcomes a lot earlier."
Whangarei Salvation Army Minister Peter Koia also thought the increase was partially due to more reporting.
"There's been a lot of promotion around family violence not being acceptable," he said. "I'm thinking of the likes of the 'Family Violence is not Okay' campaign."
Nationally, more than 700,000 notifications of abuse were made to Child, Youth and Family in the past five financial years.
The service found evidence of abuse in more than 100,000 of the cases. An additional 180,000 cases highlighted concern for the care and protection of the child and required further action.
Referrals also came from court, education and health officials, as well as other police and family members.
Child, Youth and Family deputy chief executive Bernadine Mackenzie said it was focused on creating communities where abuse and neglect of children and young people was not tolerated.
"Child, Youth and Family always works with the best interests of the child or young person in mind," she said.
The passing of the Vulnerable Children Bill in July last year meant agencies that worked with children now had to have policies around how to recognise suspected child abuse and neglect, she said.
"This is supported by a code of practice that makes it clear that everyone working with children has a responsibility to report suspected abuse or neglect."
