If you leave a child who is younger than 6 years old alone without proper care, or you put them in a dangerous situation, you are breaking the law. This is called abandoning or exposing a child. If you do this, you could go to prison for up to 7 years. The law wants to make sure that young children are kept safe and looked after.
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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM329295.
153: Duty of employers to provide necessaries, or
“Employers must give young workers food, clothes, and a place to stay, or they could go to jail.”
155: Duty of persons doing dangerous acts, or
“If you do something dangerous, even if it's legal, you must be careful and know what you're doing.”
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who unlawfully abandons or exposes any child under the age of 6 years.
