New Zealand Police, in partnership with Stats NZ and the wider Justice sector, are rolling out a major update to how offence data is recorded and reported.
From 31 July 2025, the country will adopt the revised 2023 version of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC), marking the first major overhaul of the system since its introduction in 2011.
The updated classification is designed to “improve transparency”, make offence categories easier for the public to understand, and allow for more detailed reporting. Notable changes include simpler naming conventions—such as renaming “Acts Intended to Cause Injury” to “Assault”—and the inclusion of more offence types in published data, such as various forms of assault, sexual assault, and burglary.
Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny said the revised classification reflects both operational needs and a commitment to clearer public communication. “The ANZSOC revisions are a positive development. They aim to improve the transparency and understanding of offence-related data in New Zealand,” she said.
Police crime statistics will also be retroactively updated back to July 2014 to enable consistent comparisons and trend analysis under the new framework. The revised ANZSOC was officially adopted on 1 July 2025, with a transition period expected over the coming months as the updated classification is implemented sector-wide.
Got a classification for the potential but investigated crime of coercing people into taking experimental vaccines? Nah, of course not.
That should say un-investigated….not sure what happened there….
Makes me wonder why. Reminds me of how the government changed the definition of burglary, the stats went through the roof, and then the search and surveillance legislation was introduced to give police much broader powers, while taking other legislative requirements from other acts away completely.
Police investigate everything except for policing. And anything the corporation tell them not to (otherwise known as police policy).