Safe Communities Aotearoa New Zealand

Safe Communities Aotearoa New Zealand (SCFNZ) is a well-established local, regional, and national network that supports wellbeing, placemaking, resilience and community safety. Just over 3.3 million (68%) New Zealanders live in an accredited Safe Community. 25 cities and districts are currently engaged in the network and participation is open and accessible to any and every community within Aotearoa New Zealand.

Safe Communities concepts embody the values and philosophies of whanaungatanga (relationships), manaakitanga(respect, care and support), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination and autonomy). The Manifesto for Safe Communities states that “All human beings have an equal right to health and safety”.

Safe Communities can best be described as a Network of Networks, providing the ideal platform and channels for central and local government to improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their whanau through supporting resilient, safer and more connected communities. It is seen as a mechanism for bringing together agencies and groups that usually work in isolation or in silos to develop a collective ‘lens’ and generate a collective ‘weight’ to the process of identifying and responding to pressing community issues.