Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill
This bill creates two new tools to deal with young people aged 14–17 who keep committing serious crimes. First, a court can officially label someone a 'young serious offender' if they have committed at least two serious crimes. This label gives police and courts extra powers to respond faster and more strictly. Second, a new 'military-style academy' programme can be ordered for some of these young people — a structured, residential programme lasting 3 to 12 months that includes routine, rehabilitation, and possibly a uniform. Both responses aim to reduce reoffending while still providing support.
What this affects
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The bill gives courts and police stronger and faster powers to deal with young people who keep committing serious crimes, including a new residential programme and stricter supervision.
The Bill establishes a young serious offender (YSO) declaration and a new military-style academy order in the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.
The eligibility criteria for a YSO declaration are— the young person is aged 14–17 years old at the time of offending: the young person has 2 or more eligible offences (punishable by at least 10 years' imprisonment or more) proven in court, where the offences are clearly 2 separate, unrelated incidents.
The military-style academy order lasts between 3 and 12 months. Young people remain in the custody of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki throughout the order.
absconding while on a supervision with residence order or when detained in custody under a military-style academy order will be considered a criminal offence of escaping from lawful custody under section 120 of the Crimes Act 1961.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
Submissions open once a bill reaches the select committee stage. In the meantime, you can write to your local MP about it.
Write to your MPBill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.