Written by Amelie Lim

In an age where the boundary between attention and intrusion is increasingly blurred, stalking has become an elusive yet insidious epidemic in New Zealand (Williams, 2024). The constantly evolving nature of stalking has made it difficult to define and, subsequently, even more challenging to prosecute. In response to these concerns, the government is set to formally criminalise stalking. On 10 June, 2025, a set of legislative reforms was introduced. But what exactly do these changes entail, and why are they urgently needed?

What is stalking?

The Ministry of Justice defines stalking as repeated unwanted attention, contact, or surveillance that makes a person feel harassed or intruded upon (NZ Ministry of Justice, 2020). Unlike single isolated incidents, stalking is characterised by a persistent pattern of behaviour.

Stalking can take various forms. This often includes appearing uninvited, visiting a person’s home without permission, confrontation, repeated calls or text messages, delivering gifts, threats, and sabotaging freedom. These actions accumulate to become deeply distressing.The impacts are profound, reaching far beyond mental health to damage the victim’s employment, relational, familial, and social domains (Thorburn & Jury, 2019). As safety becomes elusive, the victim’s increased fear, hypervigilance, and hopelessness plague their freedom.

In New Zealand, stalking is an issue of grave concern. The 2021 New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey found that harassment and threats, behaviours consistent with stalking, are among the five most common crime experiences (NZ Ministry of Justice, 2022). Victims are disproportionately from vulnerable groups. This includes young people, disabled individuals, rainbow communities, and wāhine Māori, as highlighted by Leoni Morris, the project lead at Aotearoa Free from Stalking (Auckland Women’s Centre, 2023).

The initial proposal for an anti-stalking law

In June 2024, the New Zealand government responded to growing public pressure and advocacy by proposing an anti-stalking law. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith introduced the Crimes Legislation Stalking and Harassment Amendment Bill. This bill aimed to fill critical gaps in current legislation that covered stalking crimes. The Harassment Act 1997 has been long criticised as being outdated and ineffective in addressing contemporary stalking behaviours such as digital harassment.

The bill was formally introduced and passed its first reading in December 2024. During the policy development process, it was ruled that this legislation would require a threshold of three separate instances of stalking before any prosecution could occur. Once enacted, this law would make stalking a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

Criticism and concerns for the initial proposal

The initial version of the stalking bill was met with intense criticism, particularly from victims and advocacy groups. In early 2025, many argued that the proposal was a missed opportunity, as the initial threshold risked protecting stalkers rather than victims (Ternouth, 2025).

Associate Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Carrie Leonettie, voiced concern about the bill’s repeal of the existing criminal harassment offence. She argued that the new legislation would offer weaker protections than the current law (Leonettie, 2025). Under the proposed framework, a person would only be convicted of stalking if they knew their behaviour was likely to cause fear. This threshold could exclude entitled, oblivious, or delusional offenders, especially in cases involving former partners. What some perpetrators might view as romantic persistence is, in reality, deeply traumatic for victims.

Additionally, the bill raised the requirement for criminal charges from two acts of harassment to three. This change was described as perplexing as it appeared to raise the threshold for victims to receive justice (Palmer, 2025).

Furthermore, critics highlighted the bill’s failure to address the digital dimension of modern stalking. Typical tactics of online stalking include monitoring electronic communications, publishing harmful content online, and targeting a victim’s friends and family online.

What are the new changes to the anti-stalking proposal?

The proposed legislative changes aim to protect victims by imposing a more robust legal definition of stalking. Central to the reform is focusing on victim-centred justice (Nealon, 2025). Stalking is now proposed to be recognised as a criminal offence after two specified acts within a 24-month period. This change acknowledges that stalking is often premeditated, with offenders planning their offences to avoid detection. Incidents often cluster around emotionally significant dates such as anniversaries, which these new changes seek to prevent (Goldsmith, 2025).

Other key changes include:

• Addressing the publishing of statements or other material relating to the survivor or purporting to originate from that person (colloquially known as doxing)

• Adding new sections to enable the disposal of any intimate visual recordings possessed by a person convicted of the new stalking and harassment offence;

• Adding the new offence to the Firearms Prohibition Orders regime, allowing those orders to be made when a person is convicted of the new offence;

• Clarifying the new aggravating factor relating to stalking by more clearly linking the associated stalking and harassment-type behaviours to the offence the person is charged with; and

• Making it clear that restraining orders under the Harassment Act 1997 and orders under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 can be made when a person is discharged without conviction about a new offence.

Public Feedback and reactions to the New Proposal

The government’s chief victims advisor, Ruth Money, described these changes as proving the select committee has listened to lived experiences and is a positive step in the right direction (Edward, 2025).

Conversely, the advocacy group Aotearoa Free From Stalking argued that these changes still fall short. Awatea Mita criticised how police are encouraged to warn potential offenders but are not required to notify victims. This could endanger those experiencing intimate partner violence, where a police visit could risk retaliation (Edward, 2025). Proper resources and training would ensure the approach of police is victim-centred.

Some critics argue underlying causes, including pervasive sexism in tech culture, need to be addressed in order to truly prevent cyberstalking (Mudgway, 2024). Further suggestions to improve these changes include police focus on holding stalkers accountable, addressing issues of blame and attribution and adherence to stalking myths, and a focus on intimate partner stalking (Thorburn & Jury, 2019).

Key takeaways

• The new changes to New Zealand’s proposed anti-stalking bill now define stalking as a pattern of behaviour involving two specified acts over 24 months, among other criteria. 

• This change has been met with positive reactions for listening and responding to the public’s concerns, but also with negative reactions connected to the potential dangers of intimate partner violence, emphasising the need to address deeper causes and issues within New Zealand’s society.

References

2021 New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS) | New Zealand Ministry of Justice. (2022, July 11). Www.justice.govt.nz. https://www.justice.govt.nz/about/news-and-media/news/2021-new-zealand-crime-and-victims-survey-nzcvs/

Edward, G. (2025). Stuff. Stuff.co.nz. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360718977/proposed-anti-stalking-law-will-save-lives-ruth-money

Goldsmith, P. (2025). Major changes to proposed anti-stalking law. Govt.nz. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/major-changes-proposed-anti-stalking-law

Leonetti, C. (2025). Why the Government’s stalking bill could make matters worse – The University of Auckland. Auckland.ac.nz. https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025/03/07/why-the-government-s-stalking-bill-could-make-matters-worse-.html

Ministry of Justice. (2020). Addressing stalking | New Zealand Ministry of Justice. Govt.nz. https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/addressing-stalking/

Mudgway, C. (2024, November 14). NZ’s proposed anti-stalking law is good news – but it must be future-proofed against rapidly evolving technologies. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/nzs-proposed-anti-stalking-law-is-good-news-but-it-must-be-future-proofed-against-rapidly-evolving-technologies-243465

Nealon, K. (2025, June 10). Changes to toughen up new anti-stalking law – Inside Government NZ. Inside Government NZ. https://insidegovernment.co.nz/changes-to-toughen-up-new-anti-stalking-law/

NZ’s lack of stalking laws “dangerous and outdated” – Auckland Women’s Centre. (2023). Awc.org.nz. https://awc.org.nz/stalking/

Palmer, R. (2025, June 10). Stalking law changes lower threshold for jail time. RNZ. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/563694/stalking-law-changes-lower-threshold-for-jail-time

Ternouth, L. (2025, February 7). Stalking law: Victim warns new bill could protect stalkers, harm victims. RNZ. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/541248/stalking-law-victim-warns-new-bill-could-protect-stalkers-harm-victims

Thorburn, N., & Jury, A. (2019). New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse catalog › Details for: Relentless not romantic : intimate partner stalking in Aotearoa New Zealand. Nzfvc.org.nz. https://library.nzfvc.org.nz/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=6488

Williams, C. (2024, May 23). Stuff. Stuff.co.nz. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350281878/its-epidemic-calls-stalking-be-made-illegal-new-zealand