New Children's Commissioner announced

Child care and protection expert John Angus has been appointed Children’s Commissioner for six months from 2 May while a permanent appointment is sought.

“I have decided to make an interim appointment to allow time to find the right permanent appointee for this important position,” Social development Minister Paula Bennett said. “I am grateful that we have someone of Mr Angus’ ability and standing available while we work to fill the role long-term.”

John Angus is a former front-line social worker, and was later a senior public servant. More recently he worked on the review of the Children Young Persons and their Families Act 1989, and he led inter-departmental work on preventing child abuse and neglect for the Taskforce for Action on Violence Within Families.

“Mr Angus has high integrity and immense respect within the sector for the policy research and academic work he has done on child care and protection over many years,” Ms Bennett said. “He is regarded as thoughtful, considered and a safe pair of hands.”

Bennett thanked outgoing commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro for her commitment to children and young people over more than five years in the position.

“Dr Kiro has been a strong advocate for the rights of children, and she has left a lasting impression.

So, who is John Angus? He was a former head boy at Bayfield High School and is currently the project manager for the MSD's child maltreatment programme which is focused on eliminating child abuse and neglect. The lead agency for this is the Office of the Children's Commissioner.

Angus is a strong advoate of putting children close to the centre of public policy and public life, believing it leads to effective policy and better outcomes for children, from swimming pool design to drug reform. If you want to know what his personal position on children's rights is, read chapter two of this document.

Angus' PhD research was an examination of children's learning through audio visual media in relation to a model of simultaneous and successive information processing.

Sounds like a safer pair of hands in the interim.