Malachi died at the hands of Michaela Barriball, who became his fulltime caregiver after his mother was imprisoned in early 2021. Photo / Supplied via NZME
A review into the death of five-year-old Malachi Subecz has suggested major overhauls across Corrections, Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Health but the government won't commit to the ones deemed most important.
Malachi Subecz died at the hands of Michaela Barriball, who became his full-time caregiver after his mother was imprisoned in early 2021.
His family had repeatedly complained to Oranga Tamariki about their worries for his safety and made several attempts to get custody of him.
"At no time was the system able to penetrate and defeat Ms Barriball's consistent efforts to hide the repeated harm she was causing to Malachi that culminated in his murder," the report says.
Led by Dame Karen Poutasi, the independent panel that wrote the review recommended 14 changes, and found five holes within the system as a result of interviews across Corrections, Justice, Health, and Social development.
- The primary concern was that when sole parents were charged and prosecuted, who their tamariki were being looked after by was not properly looked into.
- 'Narrow' and one-dimensional guidelines meant children at risk weren't being properly identified and became 'invisible' in the system.
- One of the major concerns identified was that even when professionals or services thought there was a chance of a risk of abuse, they often failed to report it.
Mandatory reporting
The report recommends making reporting tamariki at risk mandatory.
Malachi became "‘invisible", according to Poutasi. She said those who tried to intervene weren’t listened to, others were uncertain and didn't act and some who knew what was going on decided not to act at all.
"It is a tragedy. He has only become the centre of attention because he was killed. He should have been noticed and his needs should have been front and centre throughout but, instead, even when he was sitting in front of adults, he was not properly seen," Poutasi said in the report.
After Oranga Tamariki looked into people who took care of children whose guardians were in jail or on bail, it needed to follow up with regular check-ins while that parent was in jail, the report's authors argue.
When a caregiver who was not the child’s legal guardian requested a sole-parent benefit, as Barriball did, the Ministry of Social Development should notify Oranga Tamariki, the report says.
Minister for Children Kelvin Davis, who oversees Oranga Tamariki, says "the majority" of the recommendations are being implemented; however, he wouldn’t commit to mandatory reporting and automatic caregiver vetting when sole parents were imprisoned, arguing that needed to go to cabinet.
"Mandatory reporting could see a potential flood of unnecessary reports,” Davis claimed.
“We need to find the right balance between reporting cases that need to be flagged and teachers and others reporting out of fear they might be penalised if they don't," he said.
"The process of vetting of caregivers for parents in jail needs to be considered carefully too but we are committed to looking closely at the options and we will take action to help ensure something like this does not happen again."
The senior staff members involved in Malachi’s case are, according to Oranga Tamariki, no longer with the organisation.
