Our People

Jane started her career as a barrister and solicitor, before joining the New Zealand Police. After qualifying as a detective, Jane worked on child abuse teams for several years. Jane has also worked as a counter fraud specialist in the United Kingdom, where she led a team responsible for fraud detection and investigation in the National Health Service. After returning to New Zealand, Jane worked as a trainer and investigator for local government, financial institutions, insurance companies and the health sector, before joining Child Matters in 2015.

Helen has 18 years’ experience working with perpetrators of abuse, their victims, and their children. She spent 10 years working with victims and children experiencing or surviving the effects of domestic violence with Te Whakaruruhau Maori Women’s Refuge and Hamilton Refuge and Support Services as an advocate for change, as well as finance and funding manager for both refuges. Helen worked for six years with Family Works Waikato as the family/whānau victim’s advocate on the NZ Police Family Safety Team. She also spent two years with the Department of Corrections as a Reintegration Co-ordinator for Tai Aroha Intensive Treatment Unit for high risk violent offenders, and as a Waikato Probation Officers specialising in PAC (Providing Advice to the Courts) report writing. Helen’s passion is working with families/whānau experiencing domestic violence issues and abuse, with a focus on education and tailored holistic interventions, programme design, and programme evaluation. Helen joined Child Matters in January 2018 and draws on her immense experience working with both perpetrators and victims of abuse when developing and delivering her training.