By Willow Duffy, CEO, Safeguarding Children
Malachi was known
The Coroner’s findings into the death of Malachi Subecz are devastating. They are also tragically familiar.
Malachi was known to services.
Concerns were raised.
Warning signs were present.
Yet critical indicators were not recognised. Information was not effectively shared. Escalation pathways were unclear.
This was not only deliberate cruelty. It was a failure of capability and systems.
And we must be honest about that.
Safeguarding cannot sit with one agency
Child safeguarding cannot rest with Oranga Tamariki alone.
Children are seen every day by teachers, early learning staff, health professionals, emergency departments, sports coaches and community groups. These sectors are not peripheral to safeguarding. They are central to it.
If they are not properly trained, supported and empowered to act early, abuse continues.
The human factors we must train against
We also need to acknowledge what stops children getting help.
Optimism bias tells us it is probably nothing.
Hierarchy tells us to defer.
Workload tells us to wait.
Fear tells us not to escalate.
Unless we deliberately train against these forces, they will continue to operate.
Safeguarding is not just about policy. It is about designing systems that protect children even when people are tired, uncertain or afraid.
The uncomfortable truth about training
Here is an uncomfortable truth.
Cost is one of the biggest barriers to frontline workers receiving high quality safeguarding training.
At Safeguarding Children, we heavily subsidise our specialist training through philanthropic support. We have reduced the cost to as little as thirty dollars per person for a full day of in depth safeguarding training.
And still, many frontline professionals and the organisations they work for cannot afford it. They cannot afford the fee. They cannot afford to release staff.
We say safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Yet we do not structurally fund the capability required to do it well.
Compliance is not competence
If Government is serious about mandatory safeguarding training, it must not only require it. It must fund it. Training must be free to frontline professionals and meet robust, specialist standards so it is truly fit for purpose.
I say this respectfully to Minister Louise Upston. A one-hour online module risks creating the illusion of safety rather than the reality of it.
Safeguarding competence cannot be built in sixty minutes. It will not develop the depth of understanding required to recognise vulnerability, cumulative harm, or the complexity that underpins child abuse. It will not equip professionals to collaborate effectively, share information lawfully, prevent harm early, or act decisively when risk escalates.
Children deserve more than minimum compliance. They deserve genuine competence, properly funded and embedded across the workforce.
Every review tells us this.
Every Coroner’s report reinforces it.
This is about prevention, not blame
This is not about blame. It is about prevention. It is about leadership.
Malachi deserved protection. Every child does.
If we are serious about change, we must invest in the people and systems that see children every day. We must remove the barriers that stop professionals acting early. We must build capability that goes beyond ticking a box.
Children deserve systems designed for their safety.
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