For this blog, we head oversees to New Zealand to shine a light on an incredible organisation, VisAble. To learn more, read the below guest blog below and see the end of this post for a downloadable report:



Kia Ora

Lee Tempest is Child to Parent Violence and Abuse lead with VisAble in Aotearoa New Zealand. The lack of awareness, knowledge and support for CPA here means that parents are often blamed and the violence in their homes minimized. Sadly, whatever country we live in this seems to be the common thread that unites us internationally as we all fiercely advocate for change. VisAble believes that this form of family violence needs to urgently be addressed through policy, research and support.

We are a disabled person-led organisation who work to strengthen national capabilities across agencies and sectors to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, and neglect affecting disabled people and their whānau. Our focus includes tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau, tagata sa’ilimalo and āiga-tele, d/Deaf, neurodivergent, and Adults at Risk. Any parent experiencing child to parent violence and abuse can be an Adult at Risk.

VisAble equips organisations and individuals to make their services inclusive and accessible for disabled people impacted by violence. This includes and family/whānau living with child to parent violence. We provide:

• Safeguarding Adults Response: Guidance and coordination for multi-agency responses to protect Adults at Risk.
• Prevention and Response Support: Tailored advice, programmes, and services to identify and respond to violence, abuse, and neglect.
• Cultural and Inclusive Safety: Strategies to ensure culturally safe, family/whānau-centred responses.

2024 was a busy year for VisAble. We published a comprehensive report Child to parent violence and abuse: New Zealand’s invisible family violence which has been shared on many platforms nationally and internationally. Booklets to support parents/caregivers and professionals were also published. A monthly peer support group was established and as our numbers grow we hope to set up further groups for parents/caregivers. We started to build a roundtable community group with professionals and of course the experts - those with lived experience where we work collaboratively together to drive for the much need change to recognise and respond supportively to families/whānau experiencing CPA.

In 2025 we will continue to develop our resources and are excited to be sending out our first CPA survey to parents/caregivers. This will begin to generate prevalence data which can then be used to advocate for changes in policy, practice and funding.

At a Government level -Te Puna Aonui is responsible for implementing Aotearoa New Zealand’s national strategy to eliminate family and sexual violence. One of their chief principal advisors recently visited the UK and Australia to explore how these countries were responding to CPA. PEGs was part of this exploration. We hope that the information from this fact finding mission signals a shift in 2025 in recognising and responding to CPA in our country.

Fostering international collaboration is important, especially when we are building the capability of services up from the ground level. Linking in with others around the globe who ‘get it’ is a huge support. Shout out to PEGS and founder Michelle John who have been inspirational in guiding us, sharing hard-won knowledge and resources and connecting for an online chat. We look forward to strengthening our connection with PEGS and sharing our own resources as we grow, learn and develop.

Ngā mihi nui

https://www.visable.co.nz/

Image on left below: Lee Tempest

Image on right below: A Pohutukawa tree fondly known as Aotearoa New Zealand’s Christmas tree as it flowers in December.