Common terms

Referring to children and their families

We use:

• tamariki (plural) and te tamaiti (singular) when referring to children
• rangatahi when we need to refer specifically to a teenager or young adult
• whānau or family when referring to a group of relatives for te tamaiti or rangatahi
• family, whānau, hapū, iwi and family group when referring to a wider family group.

When we're referring to children in the context of Va'aifetū, we use 'child' or 'children' rather than 'te tamaiti' or 'tamariki'. This is because 'tamaiti' has different meanings in some Pacific languages.

Grammar and punctuation

Talking about our tools and frameworks

We capitalise:

• Va'aifetū — in full: Working with Pacific peoples: Va'aifetū
• Te Toka Tūmoana — in full: Working with Māori: Te Toka Tūmoana
• the Tuituia framework
• the Tuituia recording tool
• the Tuituia report
• Child Protection Protocol (CPP).

We don't capitalise:

• gateway assessment
• safety and risk screen
• child/young person and family consult
• three houses
• child and family assessment or investigation
• the names of our practice standards.

Other common terms

We use:

• casenote (one word)
• decision-making (hyphenated)
• section 396 (for example) when referencing legislation – not s396 or s.396.