Their message which comes in the wake of guilty verdicts in the case of Nia Glassie, the Rotorua toddler whose brief three years of life ended in months of torment and her brutal slaying.
Hone Kaa, head of the child advocacy group Te Kahui Mana Ririki, said New Zealanders ought to be "busybodies" and report abuse.
"We've got to learn to nark. I've said this before and I'm not afraid of saying it time and time again. Drop them in it."
Five people were yesterday found guilty by a jury in the High Court of charges relating to Nia's death.
Brothers Wiremu and Michael Curtis, aged 19 and 22, were convicted of her murder.
The abuse they carried out on Nia including swinging her on a clothesline, placing her in a tumble drier and kicking her in the head -- the act likely to have eventually killed her.
Nia's mother Lisa Kuka, 35, who was Wiremu Curtis's partner at the time, was found guilty on two counts of manslaughter for not protecting or getting medical help for her daughter.
Two others charged, Nia's cousin Michael Pearson, 20, and Michael Curtis' partner Oriwa Kemp, 18, were found not guilty of manslaughter in relation to the death on August 3 last year.
They were, however, found guilty along with the Curtis brothers on various other charges relating to the ill-treatment of three-year-old Nia, who died of brain injuries in Auckland's Starship Hospital two weeks after her final bout of abuse.
Dr Kaa said New Zealand's child abuse rate was unacceptably high, and more children like Nia would die if people continued to turn a blind eye.
"We can be sure she isn't going to be the last. We might pray that she is, but in the end it's the behaviour of adults that secures the safety of children."
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said that media coverage of the four-week trial made for gruelling reading and the testimony of child witnesses painted a chilling picture of what went on in Nia's home.
"Most disturbing was that they saw this abusive behaviour as normal," Dr Kiro said.
"Through the court case it became evident that a number of adults, both family members and neighbours, were aware of the neglect and abuse Nia was subject to.
"That they didn't speak out in time is something they will have to live with."
Dr Kiro said there were too many crimes where family and friends closed rank and frustrated the ability of police to successfully prosecute people such as child killers.
Preventing Violence in the Home director Jill Proudfoot said the case highlighted the need for New Zealanders to be able to recognise signs of child abuse and safely intervene.
"People may be scared of getting involved, but simply talking about your concerns to people who are qualified to help can be done safely and a child or other family member can be protected," she said.
Dr Kiro said most communities had organisations which could offer support, including the likes of Plunket, Barnardos, Skip (Strategies for Kids, Information for Parents) and Parents Centres New Zealand.
Chief executive Tau Huirama of the Jigsaw child protection service said testimony at the trial made it clear that neighbours were witnesses to Nia's torture.
He hoped the case would prompt people to think about the safety of children and start stepping in to defend them.
Former Children's Commissioner Ian Hassall yesterday called for a public inquiry into the country's attitude and behaviour towards children.
Dr Hassall, a paediatrician who now works at Auckland University of Technology, believes the new Government should establish an inquiry that would examine New Zealanders' "harshness" and "anything goes" attitude to children.
"At least it would direct attention to the issue, and perhaps there could be more serious soul-searching among us."
A police officer involved in the case described parts of Rotorua and outlying areas as "festering sores" for child abuse and said overseas colleagues had expressed shock at the level of violence inflicted on a three-year-old.
Detective Sergeant Mark Loper of Rotorua CIB told the New Zealand Herald earlier in the year that although the community became outraged, it allowed such things to happen.
He did not believe Nia's case would be Rotorua's last child abuse incident.
