Best interests of the child 37. The recent reforms to the Children’s Act 2014 and the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 have strengthened the legal obligations to give primary consideration to the rights, interests and welfare of children. The Children’s Act provides that a responsible Minister must have regard to child-related principles when making decisions under that legislation. The principles include “upholding and respecting” the legal rights of the child under the Convention, acknowledging the “intrinsic value and inherent dignity of the child” and viewing the child “in the context of their families, whānau, hapū, and iwi, other culturally recognised family groups, and communities.”42 38. Of additional note has been the Ministry of Social Development’s 2018 publication of a Child Impact Assessment tool for ‘’assessing whether policy proposals will improve the wellbeing of children and young people.” The tool includes templates to use for assessing proposed laws or policies for consistency with the “intent” of the Convention.43 The tool was initially developed in response to the 2011 recommendations of the Committee and certainly constitutes a notable implementation outcome in this respect. However, it is difficult to precisely ascertain the extent to which the tool is currently applied and referred to in policy and legislative design. Child and youth mortality 39. The Child Poverty Monitor 2019 Technical Report reported that child mortality rates have declined significantly since the mid-1990S. Rates for Māori children have had the steepest decline among ethnic groups. However, the report notes that mortality rates have been consistently higher for Māori and Pacific children when compared to other ethnicities.44 40. These disparities are particularly apparent in rates of suicide, where rates for Māori children and youth aged 10-24 have continued to steadily increase over time, approximately doubling between 2007/8 and 2019/19 (and increasing significantly since 2016).45 These outcomes are highly concerning and can be seen as indicative of pervasive structural discrimination and social inequity. 41. The Commission notes that a considerable amount of work on suicide prevention is going on in the health sector. The Ministry of Health has recently released the Suicide Prevention Strategy 2019– 2029 and the Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2019–2024 that includes the establishment of a Suicide Prevention Office, which is intended to carry out oversight of the implementation of the Action Plan and related work. The right to participation 42. There have been notable legislative developments since 2016. The 2018 amendments to the Children’s Act 2014 require the Minister for Children to consult with children and children’s representatives in respect of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy and any proposed changes to it.46 42 Children’s Act 2014, section 6C Ministry of Social Development, July 2018 https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publicationsresources/resources/child-impact-assessment.html 44 http://nzchildren.co.nz/, Figure 32 45 Annual provisional suicide statistics for deaths reported to the Coroner between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2019, Table 5: Provisional suicide deaths of Māori ethnicity by age group and gender between July 2007 and June 2019 46 Children’s Act 2014, section 6D 43 10