Move-on orders would push homeless youth into crime, researchers say

Monday, 15 June 2026

MPs debated the Government’s move on orders bill on Thursday, with 100 people watching from the public gallery.

Otago University researchers found the Government's proposed move-on orders will push homeless youths toward crime and state dependency.

The Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill gives police powers to order rough sleepers as young as 14 to move elsewhere.

Individuals who refuse to comply with a police move-on order could face up to three months' jail or a fine of up to $2000.

The Government’s proposed move-on orders would push homeless youth towards lives of crime and state dependency, Otago University researchers have found.

Five researchers with expertise in housing and public health assessed the likely impact of the Government’s proposed law change, which would provide police with powers to order rough sleepers as young as 14 to move elsewhere.

They focused on young New Zealanders because nearly half of all people experiencing homelessness are aged under 25.

They concluded the change would “create a new pathway into the criminal justice system for young people whose presence on the street is typically the result of factors beyond their control, including unsafe home environments, poverty, family relationship breakdown, unemployment and limited support for those leaving state care”.

Professor Nevil Pierse said there is clear evidence that shows young people who experience homelessness have around 10 times more interactions with the justice system than their peers. They also feature higher rates of addiction, worse mental health and worse physical health.

“There’s really good evidence out there showing that… the more permanent housing and support we give homeless youths makes a huge difference in how much crime reduction we get,” he said.

University researchers found the Government’s proposed move-on orders will push New Zealand’s homeless youth towards lives of crime and state dependency.

For young New Zealanders offered long-term housing and support, average associations with the justice system drop by 50%. Pierse said this ends up being less expensive for society in the long run.

“It’s unfortunate that it needs to be said, but if we see a 14-year-old girl who is homeless on the street, what should our reaction be as a society? Are we going to try and help her, or are we going to tell her to move on and criminalise her if she doesn’t?”

The Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill was introduced by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith last month. It has come under fire for including begging and rough sleeping as behaviours that could warrant a move-on order being issued by police.

They could be issued to anyone as young as 14. Recipients who failed to comply may face three months’ jail or a fine up to $2000.

Goldsmith has repeatedly said that the bill would not criminalise homelessness, but instead would criminalise a refusal to follow a move-on order.

“The Government has no policy to criminalise homelessness,” Goldsmith said in a statement to Stuff.

“What we do have, is a policy to give Police the power to issue move-on orders to people displaying disorderly behaviour in public places. Only people who refuse those orders, will face prosecution. A move-on order is not a criminal charge.”

Pierse said he disagrees with that interpretation.

“[Goldsmith is] reducing people’s ability who are homeless to live. They have spoken about their desire to have move-on orders covering wide swathes of the country. At a certain point, you can’t move on,” he said.

The researchers noted that issuing move-on orders to people who are sleeping rough risks displacing them into less visible, darker and more isolated spaces, where the risk of assault, exploitation and harm is increased.

And requiring compliance with those orders even where there is nowhere safe to go will penalise them for circumstances arising from homelessness rather than addressing their housing needs.

“From a criminal justice perspective, the answer to homelessness is housing people,” Pierse said.

“Creating a new offence for failures to comply with move-on orders will simply introduce a new pathway funnelling young New Zealanders into the criminal justice system.”

The researchers recommended an extension to the Housing First programme to cover under-18s, to support young people who have experienced family breakdown or otherwise have nowhere permanent to go.