Government agencies aren't working together for victims of sexual and family violence and it must be addressed, urgently.
That's according to a report from the Auditor-General's office, which says the strategy to eliminate all violence of this nature within 25 years is not on track.
The shocking statistics are that one in three New Zealand women will experience violence at the hands of an intimate partner in their lifetime.
"It's incredibly common, as we say in the report, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders are affected in some way by family violence or sexual violence so it's a massive issue," said report author Richard Towers.
A new report from the office of the Auditor-General found there's an urgent need for the 10 major Government agencies - including Police, ACC and Oranga Tamariki - to work together to better address sexual and family violence.
"What we've seen is that hasn't been a focus from the agencies that we'd expect," Towers told Newshub.
The Government already has a strategy to eliminate sexual and family violence in 25 years, but it's not a track to achieve that.
The report has made six recommendations to Parliament which include better learning from abuse survivors, many of who now don't trust those agencies.
"Taking sure agencies are including the voice of people with lived experience of violence and to learn what they need to better meet their needs," Towers said.
Newshub contacted some of the key agencies at the centre of this report who replied:
"Committed to working together with our partner agencies," said New Zealand Police.
"Developing safe ways for people affected by violence to be involved in our work," said Oranga Tamariki.
Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand said: "Goals of Te Aorerekura National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence."
But not one has said how they are going to better work together as they attempt to curb the abuse from within.
