Meet our people: Rob Thomson

Here at Family for Every Child, we feel honoured to have the support of a growing giving community, so we get to work with some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most influential, locally-led children’s rights organisations, and social sector professionals with a proven track record of creating impactful change for children and families who need support.

Over the last two years, Dr. Michelle Egan-Bitran has been leading our programme and local research with devotion and rigour, bringing expertise and leadership skills to her role. As the co-author of the “Strengthening Kinship Care in Aotearoa New Zealand”, Michelle has helped grow a movement for better care and support for thousands of children and whānau, connecting leaders, organisations and children’s rights experts to collectively call for change. The media, the government, and key leaders have all taken note of this mahi, and momentum is picking up. Our supporters make this possible!

Michelle is leaving Family for Every Child to become the new Strategic Lead at Family Violence Waitematā, and will remain a close ally and friend. Now, we feel honoured to announce our new programme advisor: Dr. Rob Thomson!

Rob has been on Family for Every Child’s Board of Trustees for two years, and brings experience in family violence prevention and in supporting caregivers and tamariki in care. He has worked across the public service, NGOs, and community groups all over New Zealand. Based in Ōtepoti Dunedin with his son and partner, he is passionate about community development and empowering people to take responsibility and action to address social issues.

We sat down to have a chat with Rob to find out more. Safe to say, our work to protect children’s rights in New Zealand is in good hands!

How would you sum up the impact you want to make in this world?

I think we all have a role to play in creating the change we want to see. I want to encourage and support people to take responsibility for creating communities that value children and youth, supporting all whānau to thrive.

Rob, tell us more about yourself. Where have you come from?

A lot of my path has revolved around working to reduce whānau violence and supporting kids in care. I strongly believe every child deserves to grow up in safety.

I grew up in Tauranga Moana (Bay of Plenty) and studied to earn a PhD in social psychology at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka / University of Otago. During this time, I worked directly with perpetrators and survivors of family violence through local services, which shaped my career early on. I’ve held senior academic positions in the UK and Aotearoa, and spent a lot of time in Ōtepoti / Dunedin working as the local family violence network coordinator.

Over the years, I’ve also worked directly with tamariki (children) and taiohi (teenagers) with care experience or who have survived trauma, sexual and family violence. I have also been a member of the Child Youth Mortality Review Committee, working to reduce child and youth deaths here in Aotearoa. There is still a lot of work to be done in this space!

Alongside my role here at Family, I am a kaiako (teacher) and researcher with Brainwave Trust, where I share knowledge of brain development to help whānau raise tamariki to be the best they can be. I’m also a Senior Grievance Panelist in Care, Protection and Youth Justice residences. In this role, I am honoured to meet with young people to make sure their voices are heard.

What about Family for Every Child’s work most interests you? How have you come to be here?

Family’s approach to creating change in this world is essential, because we need locally driven and evidence based solutions to build supportive, resilient communities to nurture our whānau and rangatahi. It takes a village to raise a family. As an organisation, we’re part of a collective movement for change. Having worked with many individuals and whānau, I recognise that one professional or one agency alone can not create the societal change we need.

It’s important that we all work together. I like how Family is able to connect local organisations here in Aotearoa with other member organisations of our alliance across the globe.

Tell us more about your role at Family for Every Child.

In this new role, I’m really excited to be working with organisations and awesome people throughout Aotearoa who, like myself, are committed to improving the lives of children and whānau. I feel privileged to take up the baton from Michelle in continuing all the good mahi promoting the importance of kinship care and strategies to prevent violence, abuse and neglect of children.

I plan to continue sharing robust evidence, so we can keep advocating for meaningful system reform. The goal is to prevent violence and enable whānau-based care so that all children are safer, culturally connected and protected in the future. As tangata tiriti, I am aware of my own privilege and am actively committed to reducing health and social inequities for Māori and Pasifika.

What has been a recent research interest? What have you found?

I have recently written papers on Child Maltreatment and Navigating the Changes of Adolescence, where I describe the effects of maltreatment on children’s brain development. I think we all have an important role to play in helping children and young people thrive.

Here are a few really important research takeaways:

• We need to shift our focus from young people’s challenging behaviours to addressing what may have happened.
• We need to consider not “what’s wrong with you?” but “what has happened to you?”
• Rather than blaming caregivers, we need to support them. We should be asking how we can help.
• We need to challenge systematic and structural inequities due to colonisation, poverty, and racism and focus on building safe, inclusive communities.
• We need to recognise that trusted adults are crucial to the development and well-being of young people.
• Strong connections with caring adults are linked to better mental and physical health, better emotional regulation, academic performance and healthier relationships.

Let’s talk about the issues. What are the most pressing challenges that vulnerable tamariki, rangatahi and whānau in New Zealand are facing at the moment?

Aotearoa has one of the highest rates of child maltreatment in the world. This is unacceptable. We are constantly learning more about the short- and long-term as well as intergenerational effects of maltreatment, impacting the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of children.

I think that many of the challenges and issues that we face stem from disconnection. Children and their caregivers, whānau and community services are struggling on their own. I strongly believe that the answer to most social issues is community. Building strong, collaborative, resilient communities won’t make challenges go away, but it will help us overcome them.

How does Family for Every Child’s work help to fight these challenges?

Family has an important role in bringing people and services together. I think this whakatauki relates to our approach quite beautifully:

“Ka whati haere te rau harakeke i tona kotahi,
Ka whakatairanga taumaha aha,
nga rau harakeke ki te taura.”

“One strand of flax is easily broken,
But many strands woven into a rope,
can lift any weight.”

Where is Family’s programme in New Zealand heading for the rest of 2026?

I plan on building on the important mahi and research into kinship care and cross-sector strategies to prevent abuse. With our growing collective, we will focus on the general election, holding political parties to account and keeping the issues of kinship care, and family violence in the public space.

What role does Family’s recent report play in ongoing advocacy?

This report can, and has already led to increased recognition of the importance of kinship care, the challenges that youth and carers face and what we can all do as a community to support them.

Kinship care plays a vital role in supporting our at most risk tamariki, but it is often unrecognised and under-resourced. Kinship carers need much better support; financially and socially.

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