Oranga Tamariki staff investigated for ‘excessive’ force kept jobs

Oranga Tamariki staff members at the centre of a Newsroom investigation into the use of “excessive force” on young people at a Christchurch care and protection facility kept their jobs and did not face criminal charges.
In 2021, a Newsroom Investigates video showed staff at Oranga Tamariki’s Te Oranga care and protection facility in Christchurch putting a vulnerable young person in a headlock and throwing him to the ground. During another incident involving the same boy – aged about 13 at the time – a staff member grabbed the boy’s legs and tackled him to the ground.