Waikato will be the second site for the Integrated Safety Response pilot,

The pilot, which began in Christchurch, aims to better support family violence victims by improving safety and stopping family violence escalating by intervening and identifying risks earlier.

The multi-agency Waikato project team will be made up of Justice, Police, Corrections, Health, Child, Youth and Family and specialist family violence NGOs and Māori service providers.

A government statement says the pilot will be up and running by early October 2016. It says Waikato was selected as a second site because of the strong Family Safe Network that operates locally, and a readiness from regional agencies to get up and running quickly.

The Christchurch pilot began on 4 July 2016. Further details about the pilot are available here.