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Update November 2025: Second round of consultation for RSE framework now open
Consultation is now open for the new draft New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) Years 0-10. This includes the updated relationships and sexuality education (RSE) framework under the Health and Education Curriculum.
The latest draft curriculum content can be found on the NZC website, here.
Feedback (Health and Education) can be submitted through Survey Monkey, here.
The consultation period closes on Friday, 24 April 2026. The final version of the national curriculum will be released mid-2026 and will be in use from 2027. Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education recently released a fact sheet on the April 2025 RSE consultation, which provides an overview of public feedback they received.
For commentary on the latest draft, see the following:
- An overview from Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa of weaknesses of the new curriculum.
- An overview from RNZ of criticisms of the framework from the Principals Federation and others.
- An interview on NewstalkZB with therapist and parenting education Jo Robertson discussing the delayed references to consent in the framework.
- A press release from InsideOUT raises questions about the removal of references to gender identity and sexual orientation.
- A press release from Rights Aotearoa suggests the new curriculum falls short of Aotearoa's human rights obligations.
First consultation in April 2025
Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education sought feedback on the RSE framework in April 2025. The framework will become part of the refreshed compulsory health and physical education learning curriculum available from 2026. RSE aims to equip school students with knowledge and confidence in topics like puberty and sexual health, healthy relationships, sexuality, and safety.
Consultation on the initial draft closed on 9 May 2025.
Once the consultation closes, feedback will be consolidated into key actions and incorporated into the design of the health and physical education learning area. The updated learning area will be released for consultation in Term 4, 2025.
The initial draft framework can be found here.
Key elements of the draft framework
The framework outlines proposed teaching that will be covered in RSE from Year 0 to 13.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said in a Government press release:
“Parents deserve certainty and clarity on what their children are learning, when and how in RSE at school so they can make informed decisions about their education… It aims to ensure the content is age-appropriate, evidence-informed, and detailed about what is taught and when.”
Some elements covered in the framework include:
- Years 1-4 - naming body parts, respect and friendships, bullying, digital devices, navigating feelings, and safety.
- Years 5-8 - puberty, conception basics, online risks, some stereotype discussions, different kinds of families and relationships (including first mentions of LGB relationships).
- Years 9-11 - sexual relationships, alcohol and drugs, sexual violence, contraception and STIs, online behaviour, consent, and communication.
- Years 12-13 - nuanced and complex consent scenarios, interpersonal problems, contraception, reproductive health conditions.
The 2020 RSE guidelines and Education Review Office review
The previous non-compulsory 2020 guidelines offered guidance for teaching different age groups about consensual relationships, online bullying, sexualities, gender diversity, and pornography, but were scrapped last June under the National and New Zealand First coalition deal. Schools were instructed to use the 2007 curriculum in the interim.
The 2020 guidelines can be found here:
- Relationships and sexuality education: a guide for teachers, leaders and Boards of Trustees. Years 1-8
- Relationships and sexuality education: a guide for teachers, leaders and Boards of Trustees. Years 9-13
Fiona McNamara, Director - Health Promotion at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, said that the 2020 guidelines were “age appropriate, evidence-informed, best practice guidance and it's really disappointing to see that it's disappeared before there's any new guidance issued.”
Last year the Education Review Office (ERO) reviewed the delivery of existing RSE guidelines and curriculum across the country and found significant inconsistencies between schools.
The Education Review Office’s 2024 review of RSE found:
- While RSE is widely supported, students, parents, and whānau have mixed views on when and how much RSE is taught, and whether the curriculum meets their expectations
- What students learn depends on where they go to school, as no RSE content is compulsory
- Recent school leavers report that there were significant gaps in their RSE learning – including 82% of students who didn’t learn and would like to have learned about consent
- Schools face significant challenges in consulting on what to teach in RSE, particularly rural schools and schools with a high Māori roll
- Most, but not all teachers have the capability they need to teach RSE and many find it stressful.
Reception of the new proposed framework
Unlike the 2020 guidelines, the new proposed framework has several notable omissions including references to gender diversity, pornography, and te ao Māori.
“We think that's incredibly harmful for trans young people who deserve to see themselves reflected in the curriculum.”
InsideOUT has created a submission guide to support responses to the consultation, which can be found here.
“Without adequate guidance, kaiako and school leadership may lack crucial advice on how to create positive environments in which bullying, discrimination and social exclusion can’t thrive – especially for rainbow and takatāpui tauira,” he said. “Removing the guidelines sends a harmful message to rainbow staff and tauira that they don’t deserve to be safe at school or work.”
“For a learning area that contains vital and incredibly important information for ākonga, it is vital that educators and whānau have adequate opportunity to provide feedback… It is unacceptable to have such late notice for consultation.”
She also stressed the importance of access to “culturally appropriate non-judgemental information” and schools maintaining “sufficient flexibility to teach to the needs of their communities, and instead have to follow narrower, year-by-year content based solely on the chronological age of students.”
“We need to talk about risk and that's crucial, but we also need to talk about the joy of sexuality so that in the future, young people have a positive sense of themselves, their bodies and that power to say this relationship is healthy or not healthy.”
She also questioned whether students were interviewed as part of the Ministry’s development process.
Key research
The following research highlights discussion and evidence that may be useful when writing submissions.
In September 2025, Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa published Young People’s Perspectives on Relationship and Sexuality Educations (RSE) Online Survey Report Executive Summary. This provides an overview of their survey of more than 1000 participants aged 16-20 on what they thought about RSE in schools, with results showing young people want RSE to be earlier, longer, and more inclusive.
Dixon et. al. examined common issues delivering RSE in their 2023 article, What would it take for relationships and sexuality education to be enacted meaningfully and responsively? Provocations informed by New Zealand policy and teachers’ perspectives. This groups teacher survey responses and asks policy questions under five themes: community consultation, teacher practice inconsistencies, lack of time and status for RSE, senior secondary education, and teacher capacity inconsistencies.
In 2015, the Education Review Office evaluated how well schools promoted and supported student wellbeing through sexuality education. It noted that pornography is recognised internationally as an increasingly accepted and prevalent aspect of young people’s sexuality experiences. It then highlighted concerns that pornography was one of the least well covered aspects of RSE in the curriculum pre-2020.
The Classifications Office released a report ‘Growing up with porn: insights from young New Zealanders’. It provides an in-depth understanding of young people’s experiences with porn and the impact this may have on relationships. It found that young people want information about porn to be part of sexuality education in schools as they believe education is the best way to deal with the potential negative impacts of porn.
A report from Waikato Queer Youth and Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura makes recommendations on teaching Rainbow-inclusive RSE. It emphasises that RSE must include discussion of diverse Rainbow identities and relationships. This should include a safe and welcoming teaching environment with wrap-around support for Rainbow young people, with discussions of consent, peer pressure, and healthy relationships in a Rainbow-specific context.
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa (formerly Family Planning) released a 2022 report on New Zealand secondary school teachers’ perspectives on teaching Relationships and Sexuality Education. It found teachers lack time, access to professional development, senior support, ‘status’ for RSE as a subject, and whole-of-school consistency when delivering RSE. Many teachers commented that most senior students do not study health at NCEA level and do not have meaningful RSE.
A research article by Fitzpatrick et. al. (2021): Relationships and sexuality education: Key research informing New Zealand curriculum policy summarises key thinking and research that informed the 2020 RSE guidance. It justifies the framework based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Indigenous knowledges and human rights, attention to issues of bullying and inclusion, and the responsibility of schools to address gender and sexual diversity. It stresses the importance of including mātauranga Māori in RSE:
“Research in Māori education is clear that Māori students are more successful at school when ‘being Māori’ is affirmed and Māori epistemologies and practices are visible and embedded in the work undertaken.”
Fitzpatrick et al. (2021) also summarises key points of a research article by Le Grice and Braun (2018): Indigenous (Māori) sexual health psychologies in New Zealand: delivering culturally congruent sexuality education - [abstract only]. This article was central to the development of the 2020 guidelines. It maps Māori sexual health psychologies with mātauranga Māori to demonstrate that ‘school-based sexuality education holds potential [for] decolonising notions of Māori sexuality, relationships and reproduction’. It similarly suggests that schools explore whakapapa and pūrākau, discuss contemporary issues using kaupapa Māori, and learn about the history of the word takatāpui.
An article by Cammock et. al. (2023) examines Pacific high school students’ experiences of sexual and reproductive health education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It explores how efforts to deliver culturally appropriate sexuality education to Pacific youth are hindered by lack of resources, and cultural sensitivities and taboos. It discusses lack of tailored RSE in school settings, the concept of sex before marriage, home discussions of RSE, the need for connection with peers and educators, and pornography and social media use.
Related Media
Is education being “recolonised”?, School News New Zealand, 10.11.25
'Just absolutely ridiculous' - new school curriculum unpopular with principals, RNZ, 29.10.2025
Principal ‘absolutely gobsmacked’ at new draft curriculum, The Post, 29.10.2025
Principals at odds over new relationships and sexuality framework, RNZ, 09.05.2025
Compulsory consent education proposed for schools, RNZ, 18.04.2025
Consultation starts on new draft sexuality education framework, RNZ, 15.04.2025
Schools ‘in limbo’ after removal of relationship and sexuality guidelines, The Spinoff, 14.03.2025
Sex education curriculum to be reviewed after critical report, RNZ, 10.12.2024
Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill open for submissions
Public submissions are now being called for the Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill.
The bill creates a legal framework for the provision of redress to survivors of abuse in State care. It progresses legislative changes required by decisions the Government has made when responding to redress recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions.
The bill is also intended to:
- establish the legal presumption that serious violent and sexual offenders are not eligible for financial redress under a redress scheme
- set out the process by which serious violent and sexual offenders can apply for eligibility for financial redress
- establish offences (and penalties) for failing to disclose criminal convictions that would make an applicant ineligible for financial redress under a redress scheme; and
- set out the circumstances in which an apology given by or on behalf of a person to a survivor of abuse in care is not relevant or admissible in court.
In a Beehive press release, Lead Co-ordination Minister for the Crown Response, Erica Stanford said:
“This approach, based on the Australian model, does not automatically exclude any survivor from receiving financial redress. However, it does require that the independent decision maker satisfy themselves that making such a payment would not bring the scheme into disrepute.”
In its 2021 interim report, He Purapura Ora, he Māra Tipu, the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry recommended against imitating an exclusionary model for redress as Australia (and Scotland) have done:
“However, we consider there should continue to be no exclusion for serious offenders or any extra criteria for them to meet. A large number of those in prison have been in care and the tūkino they suffered may have contributed to their offending. Most are Māori, and they and their whānau are likely to be among those most in need of help through the scheme.” (p. 280)
As detailed by Newsroom, a submission from lawyer Sonja Cooper opposes the bill, highlighting increased administrative burden, additional pressure on the courts, and the issues of double jeopardy and retroactivity:
“Justice must be inclusive. The abuse suffered by children and vulnerable adults in ‘care’ does not lose its significance because of what those individuals may do later in life. To exclude serious offenders from redress is to deny the reality of trauma, perpetuate systemic injustice, and undermine the very purpose of this redress scheme.”
Submissions are due 26 November 2025.
More information on how to submit, and the submission portal, can be found on the Parliament website.
Oranga Tamariki annual report shows children continue to be harmed in State care
An appendix to Oranga Tamariki’s 2024/25 annual report, Safety of Children in Care, provides a picture of harm against children in State care between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
As of 31 March 2024, there were 4,025 children and young people in care and protection custody and 164 in youth justice custody, a total of 4,189 children in care.
During this reporting period, 530 children experienced harm. This represents an increase of 23 children compared to the previous 12-month period.
This year, there has been a 4% increase in recorded findings of harm for children in care (896 findings). A finding refers to case file analysis of a report of concern that has led to an assessment or investigation and a finding of harm. Findings of physical harm had decreased since the previous year, while emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect findings had increased.
In this reporting period, 10% of all children in care had a recorded finding of abuse.
In a joint response to the report, Aroturuki Tamariki | Independent Children’s Monitor Chief Executive Arran Jones and Mana Mokopuna | Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad called for continued focus on the safety of children in State care. While they welcomed a small reduction in the recorded instances of harm in secure residences, they noted that the numbers were largely the same (115 young people compared to 118 the previous year).
“All children and young people, including those in the care of the State, have the right to live free from all forms of harm and violence. We must pay attention to the fact that 10 percent of all children in State care were abused or neglected over the last 12 months. While the reduction in physical harm, and in some types of care, is encouraging and shows that making progress is possible, there continues to be a disproportionate level of abuse occurring in return home care and in secure residences,” Dr Achmad said.
Their statement notes that despite the reported level of repeated harm for children and young people in residences decreasing, much more work is needed to make care and protection and youth justice residences safe spaces:
“Many of the residences we visit are not safe therapeutic places for children and young people. Young people tell us they ask to go into secure units to keep themselves safe from harm by other young people. We hear from staff who tell us they don’t have the training, time or spaces to take a more therapeutic approach to managing behaviour,” Mr Jones said.
In October 2025, RNZ published data obtained under the Official Information Act, which showed that between August 18, 2024 and August 18, 2025 there were 254 instances where a young person was held in secure care for more than three consecutive days.
State of Care 2025 report released
VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai have released their inaugural biennial state of care report - Kei te rongo koe? Are you listening? Co-written by VOYCE and care experienced advocates Ihorangi Reweti Peters and Lisa McLaren, it highlights there is still significant room for improvement in the care system.
“This is the state of care according to young people, but it was obvious we didn’t need to ask them to retell their stories in care, and it was important that we didn’t because retelling them is so painful. Those stories were already out there for the world to see and they should have been properly heard from the beginning” Reweti Peters said in a press release.
Some key findings include:
- Tamariki are still being harmed in care, with over 500 children hurt in state custody last year alone
- Some rangatahi are living in cars, garages or motels instead of homes
- Over 1,000 young people in care don’t have a social worker
- Many are being turned away from schools, denied mental health care, or left without stable housing after leaving care; and,
- In too many cases, their voices are still not being heard.
The report issues three urgent calls on behalf of all care-experienced rangatahi to those in power:
- Put us ahead of politics – commit to cross-party, long-term care reform that doesn’t change with the government of the day.
- Make us a priority – all agencies, not just Oranga Tamariki, must take responsibility for outcomes for tamariki in care.
- Tell us how you’re going to do better – respond publicly, with specific plans for action, before the next report and scorecard in 2027.
Lisa McLaren said in a press release: “Tamariki in care need to know they belong, that they are loved, and that Aotearoa believes in them.”
Experiences of Care in Aotearoa 2023/2024 report
Aroturuki Tamariki | Independent Children’s Monitor released their report – Experiences of Care in Aotearoa 2023/2024 – in February 2025, which reports annually on whether agencies with care and custody responsibilities are complying with the National Care Standards (NCS) Regulations. It found tamariki and rangatahi are still not receiving the minimum standard of care required by the NCS Regulations.
Other key conclusions include:
- Social workers are not always able to work effectively due to workload and resourcing, a lack of care options, workforce shortages, administrative burdens, and low trust expenditure models
- Tamariki and rangatahi in care are not prioritised for government services and funding does not follow the child, which means funding can be delayed, inconsistent, or reliant on goodwill and established relationships
- More tamariki and rangatahi are being abused in care in the 2023/2024 year, including high levels in secure residences and when children return to their parents’ care
In a press release responding to the report, Save the Children New Zealand's Advocacy Director Jacqui Southey said:
"It is unacceptable that funding cuts are impacting the delivery of care and protection of children in vulnerable situations. Adequate investment is required to ensure our care system is working effectively and cohesively, protecting and improving the lives of children that have already experienced significant harm or neglect. Enduring failures to meet the minimum standards required by the National Care Standard Regulations are not good enough."
Minister admits comments on state care abuse stats may have misled public, One News, 02.11.25
Youth in state care still not getting enough support, survey finds, RNZ, 30.10.2025
Abuse of children in care jumps in year after Royal Commission, The Post, 28.10.25
Children's Minister accepts state care harm statistics didn't provide full picture, RNZ, 24.10.2025
Fewer children being abused in government facilities, RNZ Morning Report, 24.10.25
State abuse redress carve out for criminals decried by opposition, RNZ, 21.10.2025
Govt to make it harder for some abuse survivors to get redress, Tautoko Tāne, 15.10.2025
Dr Claire Achmad | Chief Children’s Commissioner, Waatea News [audio], 27.02.2025
Oranga Tamariki not meeting minimum care standards five years on, Newsroom, 27.02.2025
Number of children being abused in state care has increased, report finds, RNZ, 26.02.2025
More children abused in care, report finds, The Post, 26.02.2025
The team at Vine are delighted to announce the publication of a new Issues Paper, Mobilising Aotearoa New Zealand to prevent sexual violence: a Te Tiriti approach.
This issues paper is the result of a collaboration between tāngata whenua and tāngata Tiriti sexual violence experts. The collaboration arose out of a recognition of the need to develop evidence-based and culturally informed approaches to guide sexual violence primary prevention in Aotearoa. This mahi aligns with the shifts outlined in Aotearoa’s national strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence, Te Aorerekura.
Alongside the Issues Paper, Vine has also published two evidence summaries that outline the key evidence bases underpinning sexual violence prevention:
- Primary prevention of sexual violence: Tāngata whenua evidence summary report
Authors: Terry Dobbs (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi), Logan Hamley (Ngāti Rangi, Whanganui), Jade Le Grice (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi), Charlotte Moore (Rangitāne o Wairau).
- Primary prevention of sexual violence: Tāngata Tiriti evidence summary report
Authors: Melanie Beres, Jordan Dougherty, Kris Taylor
The Issues Paper articulates key concepts and ideas necessary to end sexual violence in Aotearoa, discusses the development of these approaches and provides guidelines to support their implementation. It also provides questions to guide organisations and communities to develop their own initiatives for the prevention of sexual violence.
Lead authors Dr Terry Dobbs and Associate Professor Melanie Beres comment:
“We used Te Tiriti o Waitangi as our foundation for writing this paper and its content. Te Tiriti-led primary prevention of sexual violence gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by enabling actions from te ao Māori and tāngata Tiriti knowledge systems. This is critical recognition of te ao Māori as the first knowledge system in this place, while also creating space for multiple knowledge systems to come together to innovate.
Te Tiriti-led primary prevention enables transformation and healing from sexual violence by recognising the impacts of colonisation, intergenerational trauma, and the oppression of te ao Māori. It also centres Māori knowledge, expertise and tikanga for preventing sexual violence and supporting toiora whakapapa.”
Key messages:
- Strategies for primary prevention require a clear logic for how any activities contribute to the broader project of ending sexual violence.
- When designing sexual violence prevention initiatives, engaging with the origins of sexual violence must be at the centre.
- Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi means acknowledging Māori knowledge systems and self-determination.
- Kaupapa Māori primary prevention services are an essential part of the primary prevention system within Aotearoa – working with and within our communities.
- To avoid the dangers of appropriation in the primary prevention system, it is crucial to attribute and situate Indigenous knowledge in relation to the people and places it originates, and by whom this is held and innovated.
- Understanding and addressing imposter tikanga within sexual violence primary prevention initiatives, and the impact of its ongoing use, is essential to prevent sexual violence.
- Effective primary prevention requires time, openness and resilience. Short and quick fixes are not enough to solve this complex problem, and in some cases can further entrench the very structures they aim to challenge.
- A one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Prevention needs to resonate with and be embedded within communities.
- Working with communities means understanding the diversity within the community and listening to their hopes and dreams for ending sexual violence. Primary prevention systems need to meet communities where they are, as well as act as enablers to grow successful prevention initiatives and build capacity.
- Funding structures need to resource locally-driven community partnerships.
- Change requires collective courage – to be courageous, bold, and unapologetic. It cannot be achieved by doing what we have always done.
Researchers
- Dr Terry Dobbs
- Associate Professor Melanie Beres
- Dr Logan Hamley
- Jordan Dougherty
- Dr Jade Le Grice
- Dr Charlotte Moore
- Dr Kris Taylor
Related news
Netsafe survey findings on sextortion
A recent survey conducted by Netsafe has found that 8% of Kiwis have experienced sextortion directly (which they define as when someone threatens to leak sexually explicit material of a person as a means of coercion) and 13% have experienced it through someone they knew. The survey did not include people under the age of 18, however, Netsafe Chief Executive Brent Carey commented that “when we look at the reports of harm we receive at Netsafe, we find teenagers are also targeted through sextortion”.
Bill to criminalise explicit 'deepfakes' pulled from ballot
A bill to criminalise sexually explicit 'deepfake' images has been drawn from the biscuit tin. The Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill, developed by ACT MP Laura McClure, would amend existing laws to expand the definition of an 'intimate visual recording'.
It would widen what a 'recording' is to include images or videos that are created, synthesised, or altered to depict a person's likeness in intimate contexts without their consent.
Related media
First ‘deepfake porn’ prosecution in New Zealand, One News, 16.10.2025
Funding cuts a 'devastating blow' to sexual support services, RNZ, 23.09.2025
ACC halts rollout of second stage of sexual violence prevention plan, The Press, 16.07.2025
The Kei roto tō tātou rongoā project was led by Professor Denise Wilson at AUT's Taupua Waiora Research Centre and funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. The aim of the research was:
"To produce a uniquely Māori, holistic prevention approach that optimises oranga whānau with a focus on harm elimination, acknowledging that whānau have aspirational and successful futures."
The project team worked in partnership with whānau and communities in seven locations across Aotearoa, to design a prevention approach to improve whānau ora and reduce whānau harm from violence and the unnecessary removal of mokopuna from whānau. They conducted wānanga in Kaikohe, Tāmaki Makaurau, Kirikiriroa, Taranaki, Te Oranganui, Te Tari o Heretaunga and Ōtautahi. From these wānaga the researchers gathered insights into the lived experiences of whānau and kaimahi, their needs and and their aspirations for the future. These insights were then used to co-create a series of rauemi | resources for whānau, service providers, policymakers and the media. They include:
- Advocacy plans for service providers, government and policy makers and media;
- Journey maps designed to help whānau understand the legal processes around protection orders and navigating interactions with Oranga Tamariki;
- A cards-based resource designed to support taitamariki and their understanding of healthy relationships;
- A glossary of everyday and sacred terms in te reo Māori to help whānau and providers speak to experiences of violence, resilience, and healing;
- Ahi - The Fire Within: A retelling of Mahuika’s pūrākau, honouring her fire, sacrifice, and enduring gift of transformation as a guide for resilience and change;
- ‘Shifting Perspectives: Whānau Violence’ - three sets of cards that outline the journey of Marama and Jack, a wahine Māori and tane Māori experiencing whānau violence;
- Illustrated spreads drawn from wānanga kōrero that give form to whānau voices, celebrating hidden strengths and ensuring mana is acknowledged and uplifted;
- A narrative-based project that revisits a traditional whānau framework and makes it visible to promote whānau ora; and
- Aroha' - a storytelling resource which communicates the complex layers of whānau violence reimagined as a flat pack set that whānau and kaimahi can build for themselves to use as a learning tool and healing taonga.
These resources and the summary of research findings can be downloaded from the Kei roto tō tātou rongoā website. A limited number of printed resources are available through an expression of interest process.
Reflecting on the project, lead researcher Professor Denise Wilson says that:
"it has been a privilege and honour to sit with whānau and kaimahi over a period of three years, to engage in whakarongo and kōrero, and take back findings to discuss and develop these resources. I have learnt that whānau affected by violence have aspirations for their tamariki – they have incredible potential but need support and tools in their kete. This project provides a koha to whānau, kaimahi, and communities to support whānau journeys to recovery."
Researchers:
- Professor Denise Wilson
- Huri Campbell
- Dr Tanya Allport
- Dr Leland Ruwhiu
- Associate Professor Alayne Mikahaere-Hall
- Dr Nicole Coup
- Professor Tania Ka’ai
- Rolinda Karapu
- Professor Stephen Reay
- Dr Moana Eruera
- Dr Te Wai Barbarich-Unasa
- Jordan Tane
- Cassie Khoo
- Bryre Dowling
- Emma Marie Buitenhek
The 2025 Gender Attitudes Survey, led by Te Kaunihera Wāhine o Aotearoa | The National Council of Women of NZ, has been released. This is the fifth survey measuring attitudes around gender in Aotearoa and is conducted with Rangahau Aotearoa | Research NZ. It follows on from surveys in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
The 2025 Gender Attitudes Survey report can be found here.
The survey explores three key questions from the perspective of the general public of Aotearoa New Zealand and monitors how attitudes and beliefs change over time:
- What importance do New Zealanders place on gender equality?
- How is this reflected in their opinions about the genders?
- How well are we doing in terms of achieving gender equality?
The survey achieved a sample of 1,250 respondents aged 18 and over and was selected to be representative of all New Zealanders in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and geographic location.
Results from the 2025 survey are also available through a reporting ‘e-tool’, which allows users to sort the survey results by other variables including ethnicity, age, region and household status.
The e-tool can be found here along with instructions on how to use it. The username for the e-tool is Gender and the password is Equality.
Key insights
Key findings in the survey report are grouped into four sections.
- Gender equality in Aotearoa New Zealand – the status quo.
- Current opinion about gender, sexual diversity and the teaching of these subjects in schools.
- Progress in achieving gender equality in Aotearoa New Zealand.
- Specific issues relating to gender equality and inequality.
Gender equality and gender-based violence
A significant minority of respondents believe that we no longer need to work towards gender equality:
- 21% do not believe gender equality is a fundamental right
- 46% of New Zealanders think that gender equality has already been achieved for the most part
- 40% don’t believe that sexism is still a significant issue
- 21% of respondents believe gender equality has gone too far
These results are underscored by concerning attitudes towards violence and violence against women.
Men were more likely than women to agree with two statements about gender-based violence e.g., 37% of men agreed that a man who doesn’t fight back when he’s pushed around will lose respect as a man compared with 20% of women.
Over time, agreement with “hitting out is an understandable response for a man when his wife or girlfriend tries to end a relationship” has increased from 8% in 2017 to 14% in 2025.
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa chief executive Jackie Edmond said in a press release that the survey results showed Aotearoa was backsliding on opinions related to gender, equality, sexual violence, and sexual and reproductive health:
“Just this week, we’ve had a former politician make some startling comments about women – reducing them simply to body parts. Comments of this kind embolden others. Our leaders – in politics, in culture, in all aspects of society – need to step up, condemn this kind of rhetoric, take the lead and say these attitudes have no place in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2025.”
Similar results are being observed in other countries including Australia. For example, data released in April 2025 by Our Watch demonstrated that work was still needed to overcome myths about gender discrimination, showing that twice as many men employees (54%) than women employees (25%) believe women have the same opportunities in Australia today.
Rape myths
Men were more likely to agree with common rape myths than women e.g., 40% of men agreed that false rape accusations are common compared with 27% of women.
Over time, agreement with “rape happens when a man’s sex drive is out of control” has increased from 25% in 2017 to 36% in 2025.
Suzanne Manning, president of the NCWNZ, told The Press [paywalled] that the statistics about rape attitudes were particularly concerning. In NCWNZ’s press release, she said a mistaken belief that gender equality had already been achieved revealed worrying complacency:
“Our survey is telling us that having equality for all genders is important to us, but some attitudes Kiwis have are holding us back – and pushback from smaller groups is reversing our forward progress in some key areas… If we believe gender equality has been achieved, we’re unlikely to prioritise actions that must be sustained to make true progress.”
A key research report from ANROWS in 2021 examines the persistence of rape myths Australia. It found that as many as four in ten Australians have mistrust of women's reports of sexual violence.
The right to choose
Men were less likely than women to agree that a woman should have the right to choose whether or not she has an abortion (70% compared to 78% for women).
Overall agreement has significantly decreased from 78% in 2023 to 73% in 2025.
For further reading, see journal article: ‘I had no control over my body’: women’s experiences of reproductive coercion in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Young men
In general, men were more optimistic than women about gender equality having been achieved. There were significant differences by age, with younger men most likely to agree with negative statements and the least likely to agree with positive statements about gender equality.
33% of young men (aged 18-34) agreed that gender equality has gone too far in Aotearoa New Zealand compared with 15% for young women. Young men were also less likely to agree that gender equality is a fundamental right (67% compared with 78% young women), and less likely to agree that sexism is still a significant issue in Aotearoa (55% compared with 64% for young women).
This divide is reflected in international research carried out by Ipsos UK and King's College London in the 2025 International Women's Day Survey. It found that Gen Z men were more likely than Gen Z women to agree men are being expected to do too much to support equality, to say we have gone so far in promoting women's equality that we are discriminating against men, and to say a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man. In a King's College London press release, Kelly Beaver, Chief Executive of Ipsos, said:
“Particularly when considered against the backdrop of recent elections in the US and Germany, where young men were significantly more likely than young women to back right-wing political parties, our data underscores the urgent need for nuanced conversations and inclusive solutions that address the concerns of all genders. We must find ways to bridge this divide and ensure that progress towards gender equality benefits everyone, without leaving anyone behind.”
Michael Flood's 2024 report, Effective practice in violence prevention education with boys and young men, further examines violence prevention education with boys and young men including the prevalence of violence-supportive attitudes and norms among young people online and offline.
Rainbow people
Men were less likely than women to feel comfortable around gay, lesbian, bisexual, non-binary, and trans people. For example, only 77% of men were comfortable with having a bisexual manager compared to 85% of women.
Overall, respondents expressed the lowest levels of comfort around trans men and trans women compared to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and non-binary people e.g., 80% of respondents were comfortable having a bisexual person as their friend, compared to 69% with a trans man.
Since the first Gender Attitudes Survey in 2017, there has been a general downward trend in comfort levels around Rainbow people across a range of indicators. For example, only 52% of respondents in 2025 said they were comfortable playing sports with trans women, compared to 67% of respondents in 2017.
These survey results reflect a wider rollback of rights and recognition of Rainbow people, particularly trans people, worldwide.
From February 2025, the US government began removing references to transgender people from national surveys that gathered key violence statistics including the national Crime Victimisation Survey, the Survey on Sexual Victimisation and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails.
In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman under the 2010 Equality Act was someone born biologically female, excluding transgender women from protection against sex discrimination.
In New Zealand, the government directed Sports NZ to withdraw guidelines for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport in July 2025.
Minister of Statistics Shane Reti has also recently announced the national census would be scrapped in favour of administrative data. This came shortly after Aotearoa's 2023 census, which was the first to collect data on gender identity and sexual orientation. As reported by RNZ, there is currently no alternative source of administrative data that includes adequate data on Rainbow demographic markers.
In August 2025, Te Aka Matua o te Ture pūrongo | the Law Commission released Ia Tangata. This report examines how the Human Rights Act 1993 protects people who are transgender, non-binary, or who have innate variations of sex characteristics. It makes 27 recommendations to the government on how the Act should be reformed.
In particular, the report highlights the need to amend section 21:
“The central recommendation we make in this review is that section 21 of the Human Rights Act should be amended to clarify that the Act covers discrimination that is due to a person being transgender or non-binary or having an innate variation of sex characteristics. We recommend there should be two new prohibited grounds of discrimination: (a) ‘gender identity or its equivalents in the cultures of the person’; 2 and (b) ‘having an innate variation of sex characteristics’.”
See Vine's 2024 news story calling for submissions during the Ia Tangata review.
Related media
Our own ‘war on woke’ is well underway, Newsroom, 08.10.25
The bleakest findings from a new survey about gender attitudes in Aotearoa, The Spinoff, 18.09.25
We say we believe in equality: The numbers tell a different story, 18.09.25 [paywall]
Stuart Nash offers crude definition of what a woman is, Stuff, 09.09.25
Watching Adolescence made me glad I don’t have kids, The Spinoff, 27.03.25
Gen Z boys’ attitudes to feminism are more nuanced than negative, The Conversation, 20.02.24
Rainbow community face high rates of homelessness, RNZ, 30.07.22
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New research from the University of Auckland finds strong links between serious health conditions and experiences of violence.
Two articles published in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health examine women’s and men’s exposure to interpersonal violence and abuse and rates of hospitalisation.
- Women’s lifetime interpersonal violence exposure and associations with hospitalization at the national level: results from a New Zealand population-based study
- Men’s lifetime interpersonal violence exposure and associations with hospitalization at the national level: results from a New Zealand population-based study
The researchers took data on New Zealand women’s exposure to violence and, with their permission, matched that group of women to their hospital records over 31 years from 1988 to 2019, then aggregated the figures.
The research found that women who have experienced interpersonal violence and abuse are 1.6 times more likely to be hospitalised for cancer and almost three times as likely to be hospitalised for respiratory diseases.
About two-thirds of New Zealand women have experienced violence or abuse over the course of their lives.
These women were also:
- twice as likely to be hospitalised for pregnancy complications
- 1.6 more likely to be hospitalised for digestive disorders, and
- 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalised for injuries (not necessarily resulting directly from the violence).
Experiences of childhood sexual abuse and multiple types of intimate partner violence were strongly associated with hospitalisation for these diseases.
Men were also surveyed, with about two-thirds of ever-partnered men experiencing some form of interpersonal violence. The majority of experiences (43 percent) came from non-partner physical violence, mainly perpetrated by other men. Men who experienced interpersonal violence were twice as likely as other men to be hospitalised for injuries or non-disease specific symptoms.
In a University of Auckland press release, lead author Professor Janet Fanslow said:
“All interpersonal violence can have health consequences. However, the fact that experience of any interpersonal violence is associated with hospitalisation for a greater range of conditions among women than men is likely because the violence perpetrated against them is more frequent and/or more severe.”
“Results also signal that we need to get serious about violence prevention, because the experience of violence is a cost to our health system. We know the country is struggling to pay for health services. So, supporting people to have healthy relationships and doing effective violence prevention up front, is going to keep people safer, help them be healthier, and save us money.”
Related research
This research is part of the He Koiora Matapopore | 2019 NZ Family Violence Study which surveyed 2887 people (1423 men and 1464 women) who completed interviews between March 2017 and March 2019. It provides a new population baseline on the prevalence of violence exposure in Aotearoa. See a summary of the study and related published articles here.
See Volume 53, Issue 6 of the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health for both new articles and more on violence as a public health issue.
For Professor Fanslow’s guest editorial, see here.
For a related article by Fanslow et. al. (2025), see Help-Seeking by Women and Men After Experiencing Any IPV, Including Physical, Sexual, and Psychological IPV, Controlling Behaviors, or Economic Abuse: A Population-Based Study From New Zealand.
For more resources on the health impacts of violence, see the Quick Topic Search on Vine’s website.
For a short video series on violence as a critical health issue featuring Aotearoa health leaders, see this YouTube playlist.
Related media
Violence increases risk of serious health conditions, Newsroom, 27.08.25
Strong links between serious health conditions and violence or abuse - study, RNZ, 27.08.25
The Government is making changes to the Crimes Act 1961 to strengthen trafficking and people smuggling laws.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said in a Beehive press release that:
“We know these laws are not fit for purpose. Prosecution in trafficking cases is currently far too difficult, and offenders are receiving lighter sentences. These laws need to be more consistent with international standards, including those in UN conventions.”
Changes include:
- Removing the requirement to prove that coercion or deception occurred when the trafficked victim is under 18.
- Making it explicit that consent is irrelevant when the victim is under 18 or when coercion or deception was present.
- Ensuring that migrants cannot be smuggled into New Zealand using authentic, but fraudulently obtained travel documents.
- Providing greater protection for undercover Police investigating cases of child exploitation.
These changes address issues raised by submissions on National MP Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill that is currently passing through the house.
ECPAT Child Alert Trust said in a press release [paywalled] that it welcomes the announced changes but agreed with other sector experts and advocates that more needs to be done to bring Aotearoa in alignment with international law to safeguard tamariki from sexual exploitation and trafficking.
Rebekah Armstrong, a member of the Human Trafficking Research Coalition and Head of Advocacy and Justice at World Vision New Zealand, spoke with RNZ’s Nine to Noon about the changes:
“Some of the other amendments that we are recommending bring New Zealand’s law more into line with the international definitions, but we’re also asking for some further definitions around things like forced and exploitative labour, forced services, servitude, sexual exploitation, and slavery to allow for better prosecution of this by our lawyers in New Zealand.”
World Vision said in a press release that it was grateful that the protection framework for victim-survivors of trafficking, especially children, had been strengthened and that it hoped this was just the beginning of a better and fairer system to address modern slavery.
Charl de Villiers, Professor of Accounting at the University of Auckland Business School, wrote an opinion piece on the underdeveloped and fragmented nature of current modern slavery business research around the world:
“Without clarity about what modern slavery entails, we cannot build reliable measures of its existence. And without reliable measures, we can’t test whether what we are doing to prevent it is successful.”
Related news
Unsafe international adoptions suspended
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced in September 2025 that the Government was moving with urgency to suspend recognition of unsafe international adoptions to protect children and young people from harm. The Adoption Amendment Bill will immediately and temporarily suspend New Zealand’s recognition of unsafe overseas adoptions until long-term legislation could be introduced next year. In a Beehive press release, Minister McKee said:
“There is evidence that our international adoption laws do not provide sufficient safeguards for children and young people. Adoptions that take place in overseas courts do not always access or require an adoptive parent’s criminal or child protection record… We know, for example, about instances in which people with known care and protection histories, or previous convictions for violence or sexual abuse, have been able to adopt overseas. They have then been able to bring those children and young people back to New Zealand where they have been neglected, abused, or exploited.”
ECPAT report released
In July, ECPAT released a new report, “I’m just content to them”: Children living through sexual exploitation in Aotearoa New Zealand (2025). The report seeks to better understand how sexual exploitation of children is experienced, recognised, and responded to in Aotearoa, from the perspective of those most directly affected. The report also addresses the absence of a national prevention framework in Aotearoa.
ECPAT national director Eleanor Parkes told RNZ the problem in New Zealand was not being sufficiently addressed, in large part due to a fragmented and siloed system, with no shared definitions or understanding between services in a position to intervene.
"There's a public perception that child trafficking is something that happens elsewhere, or that it's only about international movement. What this report shows is that exploitation here is often highly organised, but entirely domestic - and it's falling between the cracks because we haven't had the tools or language to name it."
Why the government is urgently halting ‘unsafe’ overseas adoptions, The Spinoff, 17.09.25
Some international adoptions halted under urgency to fight trafficking, slavery, RNZ, 16.09.25
Govt plans immediate suspension of large number of overseas adoptions, The Press, 16.09.25
Adopted teen girl issued visa to live with suspected people-traffickers, RNZ, 04.09.25
National, Labour MPs to work together to break slavery law impasse, The Press, 27.08.25 [paywalled]
Coalition making changes to Crimes Act to tighten human trafficking laws, RNZ, 13.08.25
Advisory group links migrant exploitation to organised crime, RNZ, 12.08.25
Te wiki o te reo Māori turns 50
This year Te wiki o te reo Māori (Māori language week) runs from the 14th to the 20th of September. The theme for this year is 'Ake, Ake, Ake, a Forever Language':
Born of activism, the week grew from a single ‘Māori Language Day’ set up in 1972. The seeds of a full week dedicated to te reo Māori were planted in 1974. By 1975 Te Wiki had found its footing and was off! Its growth and gains are what we celebrate 50 years on.
Te wiki o te reo Māori aligns with Mahuru Māori, a month long challenge to embrace and use te reo as much as possible. This year Mahuru began on Saturday 23 August 2025 and it ends on Monday 22 September 2025. Mahuru Māori began as a personal social experiment by Paraone Gloyne in 2014 as a way of broadcasting te reo, and normalising it in every day dealings. The Mahuru website encourages people to take up the challenge whatever their level of proficiency is. This could include:
- "greeting everyone in te reo Māori
- speaking only te reo for an hour a day
- speaking te reo for 2 hours a day every day
- speaking te reo for half the day every day
- speaking te reo every day for the whole month"
We know for many participants it will take a conscious effort to stick to your reo Māori goals. But we hope you’re encouraged that you’re not alone in this challenge and together we all help to normalise the use of te reo Māori within our many communities. Kia kaha!
Te Taura Whiri, the Maori Language Commission, has a wide range of research and resources on their website related to te reo Māori and the journey towards language revitalisation in Aotearoa . Recently, Māori Language Commissioner, Rawinia Higgins spoke at the Waves 2025 Indigenous Languages Summit, Ottawa Canada. Reflecting on her experience at the summit, Higgins commented that:
Our reo Māori narrative resonates far beyond Aotearoa. It is a story of resilience, innovation, and cultural reclamation. Time and again, I heard from fellow Indigenous delegates about how our approach to language planning and policy has inspired their own efforts. From immersion education to broadcasting, from legislative recognition to everyday usage, te reo Māori has become a blueprint for revitalisation. It is not just a language—it is a movement.
However, this movement is not without resistance. I spoke candidly about the antiquated views that still linger—those that suggest our Indigenous languages are irrelevant, not modern, or of no value outside our respective communities. These attitudes are relics of colonisation, where languages are often the first casualty. To this, I offered a simple but powerful phrase: “Not today, coloniser!” It became a rallying cry throughout the summit, emboldening others to push back against dismissive narratives and reclaim the dignity of their languages.
Higgins noted the Minister for Education's recent decision to remove kupu Māori from the Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series, designed to teach children to read. She commented that:
There is a contradiction of todayʻs experience—global admiration versus domestic erasure—which must be addressed. We cannot allow the progress of te reo Māori revitalisation to be undone by political short-sightedness. Our language is not a threat; it is a treasure. And as I saw at Waves 2025, it is a treasure that others around the world are eager to learn from.
This year Tukutuku Kōrero | Education Gazette have released a special edition in celebration of Te wiki o te reo Māori. Issue 9 ‘Reo in action – From poi to pūrākau to pepeha, ākonga and kaiako connect to culture and identity’ features a range of stories from schools and kura across Aotearoa:
Auahatanga and whakawhanaungatanga breathe life and colour into these pages. From pūrākau shared through tākaro in Marton, to ākonga in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Taranaki designing and exhibiting their own korowai, each story offers grounded, practical examples of how te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori are being woven into learning in ways that connect all ākonga to their identity and their place in Aotearoa.
Using te reo Māori to search our Vine library
There are two ways to search our library using te reo Māori. You can search for te reo Māori words or phrases. You can search using te reo Māori topic terms. The terms we use for our topic searches come from two Māori-led projects supporting te reo and mātauranga Māori, Ngā Upoko Tukutuku and Te Reo Hāpai.
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku is a growing list of te reo Māori topic terms “that enables quality access and findability for te Reo Māori language users and Te Ao Māori thinkers”. Vine uses a subset of these specific to our scope. The full set of terms is hosted by the National Library.
Vine uses Te Reo Hāpai for terms relating to mental health, addiction and disability. Te Reo Hāpai is a glossary of te reo Māori terms developed for those sectors: “Te Reo Hāpai is about enriching language, including ‘words of great power’ in te reo from a strengths base and a mana enhancing Māori worldview for the benefit of tāngata whai ora. Wherever possible, Te Reo Hāpai combines the lived experience of tāngata whai ora and tāngata whaikaha with clinician and practitioner input."
Updates
State of te reo Māori report
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Board Chair, Rawinia Higgins launched the first State of te reo Māori report in September 2025. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of te reo Māori in Aotearoa over the past two decades. Trends and insights are explored in four key language themes: status, acquisition, proficiency, and use. Drawing on a wide range of datasets, the report presents progress made, identifies areas of concern, and outlines opportunities for future research to support the ongoing revitalisation of te reo Māori.
The report highlights that while support for te reo Māori continues to grow, actual usage remains low - threatening the pipeline of future speakers. The need for more reo-speaking teachers to support learners was noted, as well as enduring policy to support a multi-generational strategy for language revitalisation.
Waitangi Tribunal report regarding te reo Māori released
The Waitangi Tribunal has released its report, Taku Reo Kura, Taku Reo Kahurangi, on their inquiry into claims concerning the Crown’s policies, practices, actions and omissions regarding the use of te reo Māori in the public service. The focus of the claims was on whether the policies of the coalition Government to limit the status and use of te reo Māori in the public sector are in breach of te Tiriti / the Treaty and its principles. The claim was heard under urgency in June 2024. The report finds that the coalition Government has breached several principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its actions have undermined the status of te reo Māori as a taonga.
Related media
Tending the garden of te reo Māori, The Spinoff, 17.09.2025
Māori Language Week: Celebrating 50 years of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, NZ Herald, 16.09.2025
Demand for kōhanga reo leaves thousands waiting, Stuff, 16.09.2025
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrates 50 years, RNZ, 15.09.2025
Violence beat te reo Māori out of my whakapapa. Aroha brought it back, E-Tangata, 14.09.2025
Full interview: Māori Language Commissioner speaks to Q+A, One News, 14.09.2025
Removing te reo Māori from children's books 'damaging step backwards' - academic, RNZ, 14.08.2025
Te reo Māori teacher training cut by $30m to fund maths resources, RNZ, 26.09.2024
We are seeking a new Research Co-Director (Tauiwi)
After four very busy years at Vine, our wonderful Research Co-Director, Professor Nicola Gavey, is stepping back to focus more fully on her significant research projects. We are hugely grateful for the expert guidance Nicola has provided to the team during her tenure with Vine.
We are now seeking a new Research Co-Director to work alongside our Co-Director Māori, Dr Terry Dobbs, and to contribute to the ongoing development of Vine. The Research Co-Directors work collaboratively with our Vine Advisory Groups and the Vine Kaiwhakahaere, with the overall goal of building and communicating strong evidence-based insights for the prevention and effective response to family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa.
The purpose of this position is to strategically advise on direction and priorities for Vine and bring credibility and mana to discussions about family violence and sexual violence.
This includes:
- Being a strong ambassador to ensure the success of Vine, influencing policy, practice and behaviour change.
- Drawing attention to current research and identifying where insights need to be developed further around aspects of family violence and sexual violence;
- Supporting knowledge mobilisation activities that are effective in influencing various levels of policy development, practice change and transformation of individual behaviours and attitudes;
- Identifying key priorities for Vine including developing implementation plans with the Vine Kaiwhakahaere and Research Co-Director Māori.
This is a paid advisory appointment for either a senior academic (likely at Senior Lecturer level or above but negotiable depending on the candidate) or a suitably qualified and experienced professional research entity candidate with key leadership responsibility.
Expressions of interest should be emailed to Charlotte.Moore@auckland.ac.nz, before 5pm Monday 15th of September. Please include an up-to-date CV and cover letter outlining what strengths you will bring to this role.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Charlotte at the email above for a confidential conversation.
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