Our organisational purpose
We’re Aotearoa New Zealand’s peak body for clinicians specialising in sexual assault and non-fatal strangulation and/or suffocation (NFSS) medicine. We lead the development and maintenance of medical, therapeutic, and forensic best practice standards to advance care for individuals affected by these forms of harm. We do this through:
national leadership
training
support, and
quality assurance.
Our role
As the national authority in this specialist field, we provide system leadership and clinical oversight in sexual assault and NFSS medicine. We support specialist clinicians and the contracted services – the Sexual Abuse Assessment and Treatment Service (SAATS) and the Non-Fatal Strangulation and Suffocation Assessment Service (NFSSAS) – by:
setting professional standards
managing key national contracts, and
delivering high-quality training grounded in adult education and best instructional design practice principles.
Through a robust accreditation framework, quality assurance processes, and an active community of practice, we foster consistent trauma-informed medical and therapeutic care, and forensic assessments, for people affected by sexual abuse and NFSS. We also:
guide service development
coordinate quality review processes for medico-legal documentation
advocate for system improvements, and
support emerging initiatives across the sector.
Our strategic priorities
Our strategic priorities for 2025-2030 focus on training and supporting the clinicians working within SAATS and NFSSAS contracted services to deliver consistent, culturally safe, expert care. We do this by:
upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi
building clinical capability, and
providing national leadership across the SAATS and NFSSAS networks through three strategic pou: Embed, Educate and Elevate.
Embed
Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Advancing culturally safe care for Māori affected by sexual assault/abuse or non-fatal strangulation and/or suffocation by embedding a Te Tiriti-informed approach across all areas of our work.
Educate
Specialist training and capability building
Building and sustaining a specialist clinical workforce equipped to deliver culturally safe, expert care to people affected by sexual assault/abuse, and non-fatal strangulation and/or suffocation through specialist education training, accreditation, and ongoing professional development.
Elevate
Clinical leadership and sector support
Providing national leadership, expert guidance, and coordinated support to strengthen nationally consistent therapeutic, medical, and forensic responses across the SAATS and NFSSAS networks.
These priorities are underpinned by strong organisational enablers, including:
robust governance
sustainable finances
effective systems, and
staff and contributor wellbeing.
Our values
Enabling leadership: We achieve more by helping others to succeed.
He whakamana kaiārahi: Ka nui ake ō mātou whakatutukinga mā te āwhina i ētahi atu ki te whakatutuki i ā rātou whāinga.
Meaningful relationships: We welcome difference and diversity, and foster caring, respectful and collaborative relationships.
He hononga whai tikanga: Ka mihi mātou ki ngā rerekētanga me te kanorautanga, ā, ka hāpai mātou i ngā hononga atawhai, kauanuanu, mahi ngātahi hoki.
Intentional community: We operate as an inclusive community with a shared intention for the future.
He hapori i āta mahia: Mahi ai mātou hei hapori ringa rauroha e tapatahi nei ngā whakaaro mō te anamata.
Our structure
Since late 2024, MEDSAC has operated as a charitable trust – previous to this we operated as an incorporated society. Operating as a charitable trust provides us with a number of benefits.
It makes our structure as an organisation clearer. This is an important step towards ensuring ongoing funding, since most government funding is directed towards organisations with clear charitable purposes.
It better serves our charitable purposes. Incorporated societies were set up to benefit members in organisations such as sports clubs or community groups. Although MEDSAC has "members" (known as affiliates and associates), the support we give them is intended only to advance our charitable purpose of helping people affected by sexual abuse and assault
It’s a structure that’s used widely by many other medical-related charities – as it's more suited to their core purpose, and is a better structure for purpose-driven organisations similar to MEDSAC.
It’s legally simpler to administer a charitable trust than an incorporated society. This frees up more time to focus on our core work.
How we work
MEDSAC is governed by a Board, who determine the policies, practices, and compliance frameworks necessary to ensure we achieve our goals as an organisation. Board members also make up the membership of our two committees – one for Clinical Governance, and one for Corporate Governance.
Getting involved
MEDSAC’s success is the result of the active involvement of our affiliates and associates in the governance and leadership of the work we do. We welcome expressions of interest from those in the MEDSAC community who would like to contribute their time and energy to any of our portfolios. If you’d like more information on how to get involved, please get in touch. We also post details of any current vacancies on our job listings page.