ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some elements of traditional Maori systems and models, provide a history of Maori involvement with state welfare and justice institutions. It examines the operations of family group conferences within state child and family, care and protection, and youth justice institutions. Tikanga is the central platform on which Maori systems of justice, regulation, and decision-making, are based. Hui are an important part of the practice of tikanga and the maintenance of whanau, hapu, and iwi health, wholeness, and unity. Maori models of health and well-being invariably include the whanau as a central element, reinforcing the indivisibility of whanau well-being from individual well-being. In the case of care and protection issues for children, the welfare of the child will be considered in relation to his/her place within the whanau, hapu, and iwi. Maori experiences of state welfare and justice systems have historically featured negative interactions and negative outcomes.
