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Good practice Imported

New Zealand's Ministry of Justice Non-Violence Programme Network

New Zealand · Wellington · See the New Zealand profile · See the Wellington profile

Evidence: Quasi-experimental Top 42% 74/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

New Zealand's Ministry of Justice has funded ~48 non-violence programme providers since 2014, handling 6,000+ referrals yearly. A 2018 study found 46-49% fewer reoffences after non-mandated referrals; 2023 reporting found serious outcome-tracking gaps.

up to 46% fewer offences
Family-violence reoffending reduction, non-mandated referral pathway (12 months)
up to 49% fewer offences
Non-family-violence reoffending reduction, non-mandated referral pathway (12 months)
434 treatment vs 434 control
Matched cohort size
85%
Programme completion, matched cohort
6,000+
Annual court referrals

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
New Zealand Ministry of Justice
Period
2014–present
Keywords
gender-based violence, domestic violence, criminal justice, perpetrator intervention

Context

Since October 2014, New Zealand's Ministry of Justice has funded a network of around 48 approved providers delivering non-violence, adult safety and Kaupapa Māori programmes for people involved in family violence, with courts referring more than 6,000 people a year.

Results

A 2018 evaluation matching 434 offenders who attended a programme after a non-mandated referral with 434 comparable non-attenders found up to 46% fewer family-violence and 49% fewer non-family-violence reoffences over the following 12 months, with 85% programme completion in this cohort; a 2023 investigation found inconsistent, largely completion-based outcome measures across the 48 providers.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
~48 Ministry-approved programme providers, Kaupapa Māori programme facilitators

Conditions for success

  • integrating the referral pathway with court processes
  • tracking programme completion as a measurable, comparable outcome across providers

Common failure modes

  • common 8-week programmes fall well short of the roughly 20 weeks research suggests is needed
  • no mechanism exists to track longer-term behaviour once a court mandate ends
  • a 2023 investigation found programme completers among perpetrators of subsequent fatal violence

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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