Justice reform survey open for victims/survivors of crime

A survey has been launched for victims/survivors of crime as part of the Government's Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata – Safe and Effective Justice programme. This is the Government's cross-agency programme focused on reforming the criminal justice system.

The deadline to complete the survey is 1 March 2019.

The Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata media release says:

"The Chief Victims Advisor, Dr Kim McGregor, wants to ensure that the needs of people who have experienced crime are at the heart of any reform of the criminal justice system. Many victims/survivors have told us they feel let down by the current system and find it difficult to navigate."

They are specifically seeking feedback from anyone who has experienced a crime or knows someone who has, and people who work to support victims/survivors. Participation in the survey is anonymous.

The survey asks questions about your experiences of the current criminal justice system, what works well and what doesn’t work well, and how it can be improved. Feedback from the survey will be summarised and inform Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata and its advice to government.

The Strengthening the Criminal Justice System for Victims survey is available in English and Te Reo Māori.

For more information about the survey see the Beehive media release Hearing victims/survivors of crime.

You can also still provide general feedback about the reforms.

Update: Chief Victim Advocate Dr Kim McGregor release preliminary findings from the survey at a workshop focused on strengthening the criminal justice system for victims.

More information

The Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata – Safe and Effective Justice programme was launched in July 2018. The programme is being supported by an Advisory Group - Te Uepū.

A Criminal Justice Summit was held in Wellington in August 2018 as part of the launch of the programme of work. The feedback gathered at this Summit has been compiled and published. Six themes were identified from the feedback:

• "The justice system needs to reflect the values of New Zealanders
• Māori want to lead solutions for Māori
• Victims need better support
• Focus on prevention and rehabilitation
• Empower whānau and communities
• System-wide transformation is urgently needed"

The Summit Playback provides a detailed summary of what was heard. 

For more information about the criminal justice reform work see the Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata – Safe and Effective Justice website.

Related media

NZ justice system is 'an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff' - MPs hear from public, Radio NZ, 19.02.2019

Views on justice system pour in from crime victims, Radion NZ, 16.02.2019

Victims of crime urged to have say on fixing 'broken' criminal justice system, Stuff, 15.02.2019