Child Safeguarding Week 2026: how safe are the places disabled tamariki go?
Child Safeguarding Week runs from 7 to 13 September 2026, and this year it asks one question: how safe are the places your children go? It is a national campaign run by the organisation Safeguarding Children. Its purpose is to promote individual, organisation and community action to prevent child abuse and neglect in Aotearoa New Zealand.
For disabled tamariki, that question carries more weight. Research here and overseas consistently finds they are harmed at higher rates than non-disabled children.
This article sets out what the evidence shows, what we do about it in our everyday work, and how you can answer that question about the places in a disabled child's life.
The question the week is asking
Child Safeguarding Week was launched by Safeguarding Children, a Nelson-based organisation, and has run each September since 2021. Each year it takes a different theme. In 2025 it was Parenting in the Digital World, on children's safety online. This year the focus moves to the physical and organisational settings children spend their time in.
The campaign says its purpose is to help people understand how child abuse and neglect happens, and what they can do to stop it. Safeguarding Children asks organisations and communities to learn the signs of harm, talk about prevention, and act on concerns. You can find campaign resources, posters and this year's activities at childsafeguardingweek.org.nz.
Prevention is not only the job of social workers and police. Most harm is noticed by someone already in a child's life, in one of those places. That is why the week is aimed at all of us.
The places disabled tamariki go
Ask a parent of a non-disabled child to list where their child goes and you get might get a relatively short list. School, a friend's house, sport, a grandparent's place.
For a disabled child the list is often much longer. School, and sometimes a satellite class or specialist unit. Therapy and clinic appointments. Respite care. A day programme. A holiday programme with a support worker. Transport arranged by someone else. Home, with support workers coming into it.
Each of those places brings more adults into a child's life, and more of them provide intimate personal care. Many of those settings are ones a parent does not see inside. Some are places the child cannot easily describe afterwards, and some are places a child goes because there was no alternative rather than because it was chosen.
What the evidence shows about disability and abuse
Disabled children are harmed more often than non-disabled children in almost every published dataset. A 2025 scoping review of the past decade of international research was published in the journal Children. It found much higher risk for children with learning disabilities, Autistic children and children with sensory impairments. The review cited one study in which disabled children were 6.2 times more likely to be flagged as a suspected victim of abuse or neglect.
New Zealand research points the same way. A study of social workers and health practitioners was published in the Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work journal. It reports that children with learning disabilities are three to four times more likely to be abused and neglected than their peers.
The Human Rights Commission's report Acting now for a violence and abuse free future estimates disabled people here face violence and abuse at least twice the rate of non-disabled people. For disabled women and disabled children, the report puts the rate at four to five times higher.
There is no single cause. Children who rely on adults for intimate daily care have more people in that role. Communication barriers make disclosure harder, especially for tamariki who are nonspeaking or who use a device or other tools to communicate. Social isolation reduces the number of trusted adults a child can tell. The 2025 review also identifies caregiver stress, poverty and a lack of respite as contributing factors. It notes that gaps in disability training among frontline staff mean concerns get missed.
What the care system data shows
Some of the places children go are run by the state, and that is where our clearest evidence sits. The Independent Children's Monitor, Aroturuki Tamariki, recorded 896 findings of abuse or neglect affecting 530 tamariki and rangatahi in Oranga Tamariki care in 2024/25. That is around one in 10 children in care, up from 507 the year before.
The Monitor reports that Oranga Tamariki estimates tamariki and rangatahi with diagnosed disabilities made up 30% of the care population. Almost half of the children in care found to have been abused or neglected are disabled. Findings of abuse involving disabled tamariki rose from 216 to 245 in the same year.
New Zealand ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008. Under Article 16, the Convention requires states to protect disabled people, including children, from exploitation, violence and abuse. It asks states to use laws, social support and education to do that, and to make protection services sensitive to disability, age and gender.
Our role in child protection
CCS Disability Action works with disabled tamariki and their whānau every day, including working with children in care. It places our kaimahi among the adults most likely to notice when something is wrong. It also means child protection is part of core practice, not a separate specialist task.
Berne Peters, our National Manager - Kaitiaki Services, says the week is a prompt for practical change. "Most harm is noticed by an adult who is already in a child's life. A support worker, a teacher, a caregiver, a neighbour. Our job is to make sure those adults know the signs, know that disabled tamariki can be harder to hear, and know who to tell on the day they notice something."
We have also set out where we think the system falls short. In Are we failing disabled tamariki?, our National Policy Analyst Phoebe Eden-Mann identified communication barriers, learning disability, physical support needs and social isolation as the factors that make disabled children more vulnerable.
In Towards a stronger safety net for disabled tamariki in care, we highlighted the fact that concerns about disabled children are sometimes dismissed as "too hard". Or they get put down to a child's impairment instead of being investigated as possible abuse.
Questions you can ask about any place a child goes
You do not need to be a child protection expert to ask good questions of a school, a programme, a clinic or a support provider. Ask them.
Do you have a child protection policy, and can I read it? (You can read ours here).
Who do your staff tell if they are worried about a child, and how quickly?
What checks and training do the people who work directly with my child have?
When is my child ever alone with one adult, and why?
Who does personal care, and how do you decide that?
How would my child tell you something was wrong, in the way they communicate?
How do you support a child who uses a device, signs, or does not use words?
What do you tell parents when something goes wrong?
A good service will welcome these questions. Hesitation, vagueness or defensiveness is worth paying attention to.
What we are asking for
If the question is how safe the places children go are, then the places built for disabled tamariki have to be part of the answer. We want five changes in the child protection system.
Disability expertise embedded in child protection practice, through consistent training and specialist support, so that disability is never used to explain away harm.
Community providers funded to deliver proactive safeguarding, not only crisis responses.
National data on disabled children's experiences of abuse, neglect and family violence, so risk can be tracked.
Stronger partnerships with iwi and hapori providers, with clear roles and shared decision-making.
Consistent responses to reports of concern across all Oranga Tamariki sites.
"Disabled tamariki go to more places than other children, and are known to more adults. That is not a reason to keep them home. It is a reason for every one of those places to be able to say how a disabled child would tell them something was wrong. Inclusive communities are safer communities, and every disabled child should be able to participate and belong in ours," explains Berne.
Where to get help
If you are worried about a child's safety, contact Oranga Tamariki free on 0508 326 459, 24 hours a day, or use its online reporting form. If a child is in immediate danger, call the Police on 111.
To take part in the week, download resources or find out what is happening in your community, visit childsafeguardingweek.org.nz.
Frequently asked questions
When is Child Safeguarding Week 2026, and what is the theme?
Child Safeguarding Week runs from 7 to 13 September 2026 in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is run by the organisation Safeguarding Children. This year's theme is "How safe are the places your children go?".
How do I know if a service or school is safe for my disabled child?
Ask them. Ask for their child protection policy, who staff report concerns to and how quickly, what checks and training their people have, when your child is alone with one adult, and who does personal care. Most importantly, ask how your child would tell them something was wrong, in the way your child communicates. A good service will welcome the questions.
Are disabled children more likely to be abused?
Yes. A 2025 international review found much higher risk for children with learning disabilities, Autistic children and children with sensory impairments. It cited one study where disabled children were 6.2 times more likely to be flagged as a suspected victim of abuse or neglect. New Zealand research reports children with learning disabilities are three to four times more likely to be abused and neglected than their peers.
How many disabled tamariki are abused in state care?
Aroturuki Tamariki, the Independent Children's Monitor, recorded 245 disabled tamariki and rangatahi with a finding of abuse in Oranga Tamariki care in 2024/25. That is up from 216. Disabled children made up about 30 % of the care population, but almost half of those found to have been abused or neglected.
Who do I tell if I am worried about a disabled child?
Contact Oranga Tamariki on 0508 326 459, or the Police on 111 if the child is in immediate danger. If you work for us, report your concern to your supervisor on the same day and follow our Child Protection Policy.
What if I am not sure it is abuse?
Report it anyway, so the concern can be properly assessed. The question to ask is not "what if I am wrong" but "what if I am right".
How can I help my disabled child stay safe?
Teach them the correct names for body parts, and that secrets are not okay. Be specific about who is allowed to help with personal care and what that help should involve. Name three or four trusted adults they can go to. Most importantly, make sure they have a way to report in the way they communicate. If your child uses a device or signs, check that the words or symbols for help, stop, no, hurt, scared and tell are available to them.
What should a sports club or community group do about child safeguarding?
Four things. Have a written child protection policy, however short. Police vet anyone working with children, paid or volunteer. Name one person concerns go to, and require them to be told the same day. And be able to answer how a disabled child in your group would tell you something was wrong.
Why are disabled children more at risk in the places they go?
They go to more settings than most children, including therapy, respite, day programmes and specialist units. More adults provide them with intimate personal care. Many of those settings are ones a parent does not see inside. Communication barriers can make it harder for a child to say what happened, and signs of harm can be misread as part of an impairment.
About CCS Disability Action
CCS Disability Action is the largest pan-disability support and advocacy organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We support people with all types of impairments and have been working alongside disabled people since 1935.
We are at the forefront of service provision, advocacy and information sharing in the disability sector. We partner with disabled people, their families and whānau to enable them to have choice and control in their lives. Our vision is to see every disabled person and whānau hauā interwoven into the lives of their whānau and community.