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“These findings are challenging. It’s difficult to think of harm occurring to young people. These findings will be shared with agencies and groups who are working to improve the wellbeing of young people in New Zealand and will be used to inform current and future decision making”, says Rebecca Parish, Ministry of Justice General Manager Sector Insights.
Among the key findings were:
Bullying
One in four young people (26%) experienced bullying in the last year. The most common types of bullying were teasing or verbal abuse (64%) and social exclusion (51%) among those who were bullied.
“Nearly one in three young people (29%) who were bullied skipped school at least once”, Ms Parish says.
Although female and male young people experienced similar rates of bullying (27% and 25% respectively), female young people were more likely to experience exclusion (62%) and online bullying, while male young people were more likely to experience physical bullying.
Yelling and swearing
According to the findings, half of young people were yelled or sworn at by an adult in their home in the last year. A third of young people (33%) witnessed adults yelling at one another, and 29% witnessed adults yelling at another child.
Physical harm
In the last year, just over one in ten young people (11%) were exposed to physical harm by an adult in their home. Direct physical harm by an adult was the most common experience (7%) followed by seeing another child harmed (5%) or witnessing physical violence between adults (3%). Almost half of young people (49%) were hit or physically harmed by someone in the last year, with the most common perpetrator being siblings (41%), followed by another young person (23%).
Sexual harm
Around one in six young people (16%) have experienced sexual harm in their lifetime.
The most common form of sexual harm was being touched in a sexual way or being made to do sexual things they did not want to (13%), followed by harmful sexting experiences (7%). Sexual harm was higher among older age groups (20% of 15–18-year-olds), female young people (22%), rangatahi Māori (23%), young Pacific Peoples (18%), young people identified as Rainbow (29%) and disabled young people (31%).
Victimisation and screen time
More than half of bullied young people experienced bullying online in the last year. Overall, high digital engagement among young people who had been harmed reflected exposure to unsafe online environments, and attempts to cope or escape problems.
Bullied young people also reported poorer wellbeing, lower feelings of safety, disrupted sleep, and greater disengagement from school.
“These findings support approaches focused on improving online safety”, says Ms Parish.
State care and offending
Young people either currently or previously involved with state care experienced a wide range of adverse experiences. In the last 12 months, young people involved with state care experienced high levels of bullying, physical harm and verbal harm.
Higher Police contact among victims could also suggest that offending is a response to harm, rather than an isolated behavioural issue.
“Research shows that young people who have been involved with state care, and those who have experienced substantial harm, are more likely to have later contact with the justice system. This does not mean offending is inevitable, but it does suggest that earlier experiences of abuse, neglect, and other forms of victimisation can increase risk”, Ms Parish says.
“Despite this, offending is not inevitable for these young people. Protective factors such as stable adult relationships, school engagement, and early professional support can reduce risk. These findings highlight the importance of early, coordinated support across care, education, justice, and health to help disrupt pathways from victimisation to offending and break cycles of harm”.
About the Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025
The Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025 was conducted between March and September 2025 by the Ministry of Social Development.
It covers a wide range of topics including wellbeing, home experiences, mental health, social media use, harmful behaviours, and victimisation.
Around 9,400 young people, aged 13 to 19, completed digital questionnaires on tablets at their education provider (e.g. secondary school, kura) across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Because this report discusses young people’s experiences with harm, the topics and findings can be distressing. MSD has compiled some helpful resources here(external link)