A young person was assaulted by his peers at a youth justice residence in a ritual attack known as 'walking the line', RNZ can reveal.

Official documents from Oranga Tamariki (OT) and seen by RNZ show a young person was slapped and hit by other youths, as he was discharged from Korowai Manaaki in March.

CCTV footage reviewed after the incident was raised by a young person "confirmed that a 'walking the line' incident had occurred".

The document described it as an "assault" and "known" to the agency as 'walk the line'.

That was explained as a situation where young people stand either side of the internal door of the main entrance to the unit and wait to farewell the young person being discharged.

In this instance, three young people stood on one side and two on the other.

The document described the young person being discharged as standing at the top of the line. It said "he appeared nervous and was hesitant to walk towards the door".

Youth Justice Services and Residential Care deputy chief executive Dean Winter told RNZ the incident "involved forming two lines and slapping/hitting the rangatahi as they walked past them".

The incident briefing was shared to various staff members on 22 July.

It stated the assault occurred in March, but was only brought to the attention of the resident manager on 14 July through an email from a team leader, "hence the delay in escalation".

Since OT became aware of the incident in mid-July, wellbeing checks have been undertaken for the young people.

A Report of Concern was made and is being assessed, including a referral to the police. An employment investigation has also commenced.

Oranga Tamariki reviewed CCTV footage of all discharges through April, May, June and July to see if there were any further instances where this behaviour may have occurred, and confirmed "no further incidents have been identified".

People within OT were aware of the incident, including the employment relations team, members of the executive leadership and residences leadership teams, and the chief executive.

"I can confirm that the Minister for Children and her office have also been informed of the incident," Winter said.

The incident briefing included a section labelled 'media coverage/ risks', which specified there had been no media coverage.

"We are not aware of anyone outside a small group of people that are aware of this incident."

Political reaction

RNZ approached Children Minister Karen Chhour, who said she was made aware of the incident on 21 July - the same day her office requested a formal briefing from Oranga Tamariki.

"Any harm occurring in youth justice residences is unacceptable and I expect Oranga Tamariki to take all appropriate steps to investigate any incidents," Chhour told RNZ.

She also thanked the staff who escalated concerns about the "completely unacceptable" incident.

"Their speaking up will make sure our young people are safe and ensure that any actions which need to be taken are."

Chhour said Oranga Tamariki confirmed it was undertaking an incident management process and she'd told officials she was to be kept informed of any developments.

Labour spokesperson for children Willow-Jean Prime told RNZ it was an "awful incident" and yet another in a series of "harmful situations" to occur at Korowai Manaaki.

Prime referred to Chhour saying during Scrutiny Week in June she was "absolutely" satisfied with the management of the facility.

At the time, Chhour shot back, saying: "If that member wants to say that the previous government had this perfect little system of youth justice that never did anything wrong, then I'm sure she'd be the last one to be throwing the stones that she's throwing right now.

"I'm absolutely proud of the work they've done. Not saying it's perfect, not saying that some things don't go wrong, but I'm proud of the hard work and effort that the youth justice team has put in place."

Following the 'walk the line' incident, Prime said, if the minister couldn't ensure rangatahi were safe in existing youth justice facilities, "in what world does it make sense to turn the government's failed boot camp experiments into law?"

She asked Chhour if she was aware of "recent staff-encouraged violence towards a young person at Korowai Manaaki".

Chhour replied that she wasn't sure what incident she was referring to.

Prime then asked if Chhour could confirm whether Korowai Manaaki staff had young people line up in two rows, before a young person was leaving the unit was required to "walk through two lines, and be punched and hit by other young people".

"I'm not going to speak to an incident that may be before the courts or any other issue like that," said Chhour.

Prime sought more information through a Written Parliamentary Question, asking what had been ascertained regarding staff involvement, if any, in the incident.

The reply from Chhour on 10 August stated: "I am advised that employment processes are ongoing."

RNZ has sought further information from Oranga Tamariki on the incident, whether charges have been laid and whether any staff members have been disciplined following the incident.