One in three staff at family and sexual violence taskforce to lose jobs

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

Massive restructure: One in three staff members at the Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention are set to lose their jobs under a proposal to slash the team from 78 positions to 52.

Roles impacted: The proposed job cuts at the Ministry of Justice-hosted taskforce include managers, administrators, policy advisers, and three specialist “National Trainer” positions.

Community concern: Former violence prevention minister Marama Davidson and the PSA union warned that cutting community-facing trainers degrades the response system at a time when local charities are already starved of funding.

Ministry rationale: Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite stated the restructure follows a Government review and is driven by a desire to focus resources and strengthen the system, rather than to achieve cost savings.

A third of the people who co-ordinate and lead the all-of-Government response to reduce family and sexual violence are set to lose their jobs.

The Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention has proposed a restructure which will slash its team from 78 to 52 positions, leaving one in three staff out of a job.

The Ministry of Justice, which hosts the taskforce, started consulting staff about these job losses on Wednesday. It said the restructure wasn’t being done to cut costs.

The Public Service Association (PSA), a union representing the centre’s staff, said the job cuts included three “National Trainer” positions.

These specialists work in communities and with other departments to train people to respond to, and prevent, family and sexual violence, the former minister, and Green co-leader, Marama Davidson said.

Davidson established the centre four years ago when she was the minister for violence prevention four years ago.

She said it was established to ensure departments were working together, and improving how some of those departments responded. Those trainers had worked with police and the justice system to improve how they responded to sexual and family violence, she said.

Davidson said this restructure was “just announcing cuts”, without any extra investment into community responses.

“These roles are important, but the community were clear that they needed devolution of power and resource out to community. But that is not what is happening here - there is no resourcing going to community, instead there are cuts,” she said.

Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite said the restructure was happening following a review into the work being done across Government to prevent violence.

“I am confident the proposed changes will strengthen how the system works together and help us deliver better outcomes for those experiencing family violence and sexual violence.

“It’s important to note that this proposal has not been driven by cost savings but to ensure all our resources are focused on making the biggest difference with this very important mahi,” he said.

PSA national secretary Duane Leo said the centre should be bolstered to do more public-facing community work, not less, given news that charities were struggling to do this work.

“Cutting the centre’s community-facing work at exactly the moment providers are losing funding from every direction is not a coincidence. It’s a pattern. This Government is systematically withdrawing from the work of preventing family and sexual violence,” he said.

Managers, administrators and policy advisers were also set to lose their jobs under the plan.

Karen Chhour, the minister for the prevention of family and sexual violence, said a review of the centre had concluded that it needed to have a clearer role and function.

“While founded with the best of intentions, this review and feedback from the sector pointed to a need to improve how the centre delivers,” she said.

She said this would not impact the delivery of any family and sexual violence services.

“The centre does not directly provide or fund family and sexual violence prevention services,” she said.

The centre received $20.6 million in funding per year.

According to the Ministry of Justice’s Crime and Victims Survey for 2026, there has been a decrease in victims of family violence offences since 2018, when the centre’s predecessor, a cross department “business unit”, started.

It said victimisations fell to 1.4% of the population in 2025, down from 2.3% in 2025 and 2.2% in 2018. Sexual assault was also trending down.