The Smiling Assassin: Family Group Conferencing as Cultural Genocide in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This article critically examines the Family Group Conferencing (FGC) forum in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2005-2025, drawing on my unique positioning as a state care survivor, FGC practitioner, and researcher on the forum and the wider context of Child Care and Protection policy and practice. Through Kaupapa Māori longitudinal analysis of Māori experiences with FGC, my research reveals a profound disconnect between institutional rhetoric presenting FGC as culturally responsive, and the lived experiences of whānau Māori (Māori families) who frequently encounter the forum as disempowering and culturally tokenistic. The research demonstrates how, despite superficial adaptations over two decades, the FGC forum continues to function primarily as a mechanism of state control that facilitates rather than prevents the removal of tamariki Māori (Māori children) from their cultural contexts. Through longitudinal interviews with Māori practitioners and whānau participants, the article examines the mystification process whereby Indigenous cultural elements are selectively incorporated into state processes without meaningful power-sharing or attention to Māori aims for self-determination. The findings contribute to decolonising critiques of restorative justice and call for fundamental transformation rather than incremental reform of family decision-making processes affecting Māori communities.