Oranga Tamariki failed to do the “bare minimum” to protect murdered boy Malachi Subecz, 5, the Chief Ombudsman says.
Malachi died in Starship Hospital in November 2021 after suffering severe injuries at the hands of his carer, Michaela Barriball.
He had been placed in the care of Barriball five months before his death at the request of his mother, who was in prison.
Barriball abused the boy for months, including beating, burning and starving him, until he eventually died of his injuries.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said concerns for Malachi’s welfare had been reported to Oranga Tamariki in June 2021. Malachi’s cousin had provided the agency with a photo of the boy with a suspected bruised eye.
However, the agency had failed to report this to the police as required under the Child Protection Protocol.
Boshier said Oranga Tamariki did not deem the case severe enough as to spark an investigation into Malachi’s wellbeing.
In July 2021, the cousin made a complaint about the agency’s decision to take no further action.
The agency never met with Malachi to investigate his living situation and neglected to carry out a safety check.
Overall, the Chief Ombudsman found Oranga Tamariki acted unreasonably and wrongly, describing its response as “a litany of failures”.
In a statement today, Oranga Tamariki accepted the Chief Ombudsman's review.
"Oranga Tamariki should have done everything within its power to mitigate harm when evidence was presented to it and did not," said chief executive Chappie Te Kani.
"Our priority now is to work with the whānau to offer apologies in a way that suits them."
Te Kani says the agency is in the final stages of an internal review of how they handled Malachi's case.
Barriball was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 17 years earlier this year.
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