This morning we are back chatting with Dr Claire Achmed about a newly launched urgent nationwide advocacy campaign, The Dear Children campaign.

The campaign focuses on preventing all forms of child maltreatment, as international data from 2023 showed New Zealand had one of the highest rates of deaths of children under five compared with similar countries, about three times higher than Australia. Despite decades of attention, many cases of child harm go unreported or unaddressed often due to systemic gaps, stigma, a lack of support for families and parents, and people looking away.