A media kit containing questions and answers on the issues surrounding the Section 59 law change is now available to download. This kit is written in an easy-to-read style and is a useful resource for understanding the current and ongoing debates around the law change. Download the media kit (PDF, 133.6Kb)

Unreasonable Force: New Zealand’s journey towards banning the physical punishment of children.

This new book tells the story of New Zealand’s journey towards banning physical punishment of children with the passing of the “Crimes (Amended Section 59) Act” in Parliament last year. The book’s purposes are to record the history of New Zealand’s reform, enhance understanding of the need for reform and provide advocates working for law change in other countries with a case study.

It explores key aspects of the intense debate that gripped the nation for some years including the growing recognition of children’s rights, tensions within our laws, the impact of religious convictions, shifting public attitudes, the work of child advocates, the influential role of the media and the political story. It also looks to the future and building on the new law for children.

In publishing the book Save the Children New Zealand is contributing to worldwide efforts to reduce violence to children.

The authors:
Beth Wood is co-founder of EPOCH New Zealand and activist in the campaign for repeal of section 59.
Ian Hassall was New Zealand’s First Children’s Commissioner and repeal advocate.
George Hook is an author, freelance editor and independent lobbyist for repeal
Robert Ludbrook is a children’s lawyer and long term advocate for children’s rights.

Read the speeches from the Book Launch

Download the order form for Unreasonable Force. [Adobe PDF,188 Kb]

Insights: Children and young people speak out about family discipline

Insights is a Save the Children commissioned study into children’s perspectives on family discipline. The findings of the study have been published as a book: a publication that represents the voice of children often missing from the debate around the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961.

This research, conducted by child advocate Terry Dobbs, shows an alarming rate of physical punishment used in ordinary Kiwi families.

Click here to read more and to order a copy of the research

Click here to view our Positive Parenting with tips from Dr Joan Durrant

The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007

New law on child discipline in New Zealand

On May 2nd 2007 the major parties in the New Zealand Parliament reached an historic Repeal Section59 agreement in support of a bill to ban corporal punishment of children in New Zealand.

On 16th May 2007 New Zealand became the first English-speaking country to ban the “use of force for correction” of children. The Governor-General of New Zealand granted the Bill Royal Assent to the bill on the 21st May 2007, it came into force on the 21st June 2007.

The legislation that previously allowed “use of force” for correction of children was section 59 Crimes Act 1961. It read:
Domestic discipline
Every parent or person in place of a parent of a child is justified in using force by way of correction towards a child if that force is reasonable in the circumstances .

The new law (The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 achieves:
- Full repeal of the old section 59 defence.
- The removal of any common law rule having the same effect.
- A specific ban on the use of force for correction.
- Prohibition on parents administering physical punishment for schools.
- Protection for parents who restrain their children for purposes of care or safety.
- A provision for review of the new law in two years time, primarily to ensure that parents are not being prosecuted indiscriminately for minor infringements of the law
- Advice to the Police that they may use discretion about whether prosecution is necessary or not when cases of minor assaults on children come to their notice.

Child advocates had worked since before the 1990s for a law change and opposition had been vocal. Save the Children New Zealand, believed that repeal of section 59 was an important children’s rights issue and took a very active part in working for repeal through gaining the support of its membership, lobbying Members of Parliament and working collaboratively with other organisations supporting repeal. In
2005 Save the Children New Zealand published the report Insights; Children and young people speak out about family discipline by Terry Dobbs . This covers research into the views of children on family discipline and included their views on physical punishment.

For further information visit: www.epochnz.org.nz/

Related materials

Global Initiative Save the Children Sweden Global Report 2008 - End Violence Towards Children [Adobe PDF, 1.89MB]
The Global Initiative was launched in Geneva in 2001. It aims to act as a catalyst to encourage more action and progress towards ending all corporal punishment in all continents; to encourage governments and other organisations to “own” the issue and work actively on it; and to support national campaigns with relevant information and assistance. The context for all its work is implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 [Adobe PDF, 14 Kb]
This Bill and Statutory Order Papers were debated by the Committee as a whole. The bill has been fully debated and it will have it’s third reading and be voted on on the 16th of May 2007.

Peter Dunne's Statuatory Order Paper [Adobe PDF, 100 Kb]
This is the amendment that was passed on the 2nd of May 2007

Chester Burrow's proposed amendment [Adobe PDF, 56 Kb]
This has been dropped as a consuquence of Peter Dunne's amendment

Read Sue Bradford's original bill for section 59 of the Crimes Act here [Adobe PDF, 7 Kb]

Read Save the Children's submission on Section 59 here [Adobe PDF, 69 Kb]
Save the Children's written subsmission to the Justice and Electoral Committee on changing Section 59 of the Crimes Act with the Crimes (Abolition of Force as Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill - Thursday 25.05.06 -

View the presentation that accompanied Save the Children's oral submission on Section 59 [Adobe PDF, 239 Kb]

Supporting materials

The Swedish Experience - Mali Nilsson
Mali Nilsson from Save the Children Sweden explains how their laws and codes work to protect children in the face of much misinformation on this issue. [Adobe PDF, 63 Kb]

Joan Durrant research from Sweden: A generation without smacking
Joan Durrant's research paper on the Swedish experience of encouraging parents not to use corporal punishment. Please note that this article may take a while to download. [Adobe PDF, 1902 Kb]

Why the Child Discipline Bill should become law
[Adobe PDF, 81 Kb]

Ten Positive Parenting Hints
[Adobe PDF, 8 Kb]