Child Protection Reform in Aotearoa-New Zealand: Devolution or Revolution?

Drawing on historical analysis and recent research into child welfare inequalities in the Aotearoa-New Zealand context, this article considers the possible future trajectory of policy and practice. It will be argued that child protection is firmly located within the relative poverty and inequality which is endemic to the political economy of liberal capitalism. In common with other colonial settler states, social and economic suffering is disproportionately experienced by Indigenous Māori. Child protection in New Zealand underwent a prolonged process of politically driven child protection reform between 2011 and 2015. The consequences of this reform process led to a spike in the forced removal of newborn Indigenous babies into state care. This outcome sparked a political backlash which generated a series of inquiries into the child protection system. These inquiries have considered the structural reform necessary to address racially structured inequalities. The implications of proposed reforms based on the eradication of racism through the empowerment of Māori is considered in tension with the structural reproduction of inequality as a function of capitalist economic and social relations. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.