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Social Sector Commissioning Action Plan launched
Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced the launch of the Social Sector Commissioning Action Plan 2022-2028. A brief, executive summary for the action plan is also available.
The purpose of the Action Plan is "Transforming the way social supports and services are commissioned so that they best support people, families and whānau to live the lives they value." This change involves giving practical effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and moving towards a relational approach.
The plan outlines 9 main actions that will be implemented over 3 different phases from 2022-2028:
- Learn how a relational approach can be applied to commissioning
- Provide the social sector with guidance on how to work in a relational way
- Change the commissioning system’s rules and processes to enable the sector to work together to provide social services
- Support reform programmes to work smarter and in a joined-up way to implement relational approaches to commissioning
- Government agencies and Crown entities make operational changes to deliver the government-endorsed ‘commitments’ to commissioning practice (there are 15 commitments listed in the plan)
- Government agencies and Crown entities outline the actions and approach they will take to implement a relational approach to commissioning
- Create a stewardship group that represents people who are involved in or impacted by the social sector, so they guide, promote, and protect the transformation of the system
- Build a team that is responsible for implementing the 2022–2028 Social Sector Commissioning Action Plan
- Monitor and learn how social sector commissioning is impacting individuals, families and whānau
The plan also identifies that a Commissioning Hub will be set up, noting "The Social Sector Commissioning work programme will have a team, known as the Commissioning Hub, that will provide support and guidance, and will facilitate change to a relational approach to commissioning." In addition, the plan identifies that working groups and a stewardship group will be set up.
In announcing the plan, Minister Sepuloni said:
“For our social services, these changes mean they can be sustainable, less focused on paper work and competition for funding, and more focused on supporting their communities with more flexibility in responding to the unique and diverse needs of those accessing their services.
“And for government, it means we need to be transparent in how we commission and support social services, and work collaboratively to learn and grow in order to meet the needs of New Zealanders. It’s also about making sure our investment in the sector is going to the right people and places, as opposed to being tied up in administrative processes."
For more information see the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) information on Social Sector Commissioning Action Plan and reform and the related Social Sector Commissioning: Direction for Change cabinet papers. The Commissioning Hub was included in Budget 2022. Also see the related MSD Budget 2022 fact sheet on Social Sector Commissioning: Growing the Capability of the Social Sector.
Related news
The Auckland Co-design Lab and The Southern Initiative in collaboration with Te Puna Aonui (formerly the Joint Venture on Family Violence and Sexual Violence) published the report Activating an Ecology of Support: a Futures Visualisation Project to inform integrated community-led responses to family violence and sexual violence (2022). The report was "...developed to inform thinking and ongoing discussion about what integrated community-led responses, as a 'new approach to investment' in family violence and sexual violence, could look like."
Community Networks Aotearoa |Te Hapori Tuhononga o Aotearoa has started an initiative to improve experiences with banks for community organisations. The project is looking at how banks and changes to banking systems are affecting the work of community organisations. They have formed a collaborative working group with four of their member organisations and they are working with the Citizens Advice Bureau and FINZ (the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand). Currently they are seeking feedback on whether organisations or community members have experienced banking difficulties.
Update: Community Networks Aotearoa published the final report from this research in June 2023: Better Banking for All -Creating Ease of Banking for the Not-For-Profit Sector (2023).
Hui E! Community Aotearoa published a Community Funding White Paper | Pepa Mā mō te Whai Pūtea ā-Hapori (2022). The white paper sets out 6 recommendations for government and other funders. The paper reflects on the strengths of the community sector in response to long term funding challenges as well as challenges and impacts from COVID-19.
SociaLink published a brief on the Impact of inflation on community organisations and communities (2022). The brief includes findings from a survey of community organisations and a review of recent literature on inflation. SociaLink is the umbrella organisation for the Western Bay of Plenty social agencies. The report includes suggestions for government and other funders, as well as community organisations.
Pay equity settlement for community social workers
Update: On 24 November 2022, Minister for Women Jan Tinetti announced that the Government will extend pay equity to all community and iwi organisations who employ social workers and receive funding from the Crown. This is expected to benefit 4,600 social workers. Minister Tinetti said:
“It will also streamline the process by removing the requirement for providers to work through their own separate pay equity claim.
“This agreement from Government means that officials from the pay equity taskforce at Te Kawa Mataaho will immediately begin a significant piece of work to identify all the relevant providers in the sector and identify how many social workers they have that are covered by this extension.
“It follows work in October, when we announced a pay equity settlement for almost 500 social workers employed in five community and iwi organisations. They join the over 105,000 other working people who, since 2017, have now received a pay correction as a result of a pay equity claim.
“The extension is the first under the Framework for Oversight and Support of pay equity claims in the funded sector and will represent real and significant change for our valuable and hardworking community social workers.
“I encourage the community sector to engage with this upcoming piece of work as your voices will be critical in ensuring all providers and working people are captured to deliver pay equity for all."
For more information about next steps see the update from Te Kawa Mataaho | Public Service Commission. Also see the joint media release from PSA and SSPA.
Cabinet has agreed to a settlement for a pay equity claim related to 5 representative iwi and community social service organisations. The pay equity settlement and funding addresses pay undervaluation for community 'workers performing social work' at Barnardos, Christchurch Methodist Mission, Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services, Stand Tū Māia and Wellington Sexual Abuse Help.
The claim was lodged in August 2019 by the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (PSA) following the 2018 settlement of the Oranga Tamariki pay equity claim. PSA said the settlement would mean that almost 500 social workers across the 5 organisations would receive an average pay rise of 36%. PSA also said "It will go a long way to retaining social workers in this critical sector. We now call on the Government to extend this settlement to the rest of the NGO sector so more workers can be paid fairly."
Minister for Children Kelvin Davis said “This social work pay equity claim is an important first step towards addressing the significant gender pay gap for social workers and others who carry out substantially similar work.”
Social Service Providers Aotearoa (SSPA) has coordinated and represented the organisations since the claim was lodged. Brenda Pilott ONZM, SSPA’s Pay Equity Co-Ordinator, said:
"The PSA lodged this pay equity claim against the five employers over three years ago – so we are tremendously pleased that a settlement has finally been reached. We acknowledge the immense commitment, and the workload carried by the five representative employers, in particular their CEOs, and members of their teams who have contributed significant time and effort to work assessments and data/information gathering that have informed the claim. We also acknowledge the ongoing support of the wider SSPA membership, the open and cooperative process with the PSA, and with Oranga Tamariki as the lead funding agency."
The SSPA media release noted that a plan and process are underway to extend the benefits of the settlement to the wider sector and that Te Kawa Mataaho | the Public Service Commission is leading the work. The SSPA media release also noted that PSA has filed a separate claim covering other workers at social service agencies who are not covered under the current settlement which is specific to 'workers performing social work.'
SSPA Chief Executive Dr Claire Achmad said:
"...the ball can start rolling on that second claim now, with this first claim having reached settlement. We expect this to be another complex and time-consuming claim due to the wide range of social services roles potentially covered, and we will be working hard to achieve a good outcome. As with the social work claim, we would expect to see the representative claim extended to others in the social services sector. It is only right that those kaimahi walking alongside families and whānau are appropriately valued and paid for the hard and tireless work that they do every day, too.”
For more background information about the settled claim as well as future work in this area see the SSPA updates on pay equity including a summary of the settlement. You can also sign-up for the SSPA pay equity mailing list.
Related news
Kāhui Whakamana Tauwhiro | the Social Workers Registration Board published the report Demand for Social Workers: An insight into the number of vacant social work positions across Aotearoa (2022).
The Fair Pay Agreements Bill has passed Parliament and received Royal Assent. The legislation will provide a framework for collective bargaining for fair pay agreements across entire industries or occupations, rather than just between unions and particular employers. Media outlet The Spinoff provides an overview Fair Pay Agreements herald a new dawn for workers – but what exactly are they? article. The Beehive media release notes that more guidance for employees and employers will be available after 1 December when the Fair Pay Agreements system comes into effect. For more information see the Fair Pay Agreements information from the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
Update: Legislation to repeal the Fair Pay Agreements Act passed its third reading in December 2023. See the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment website for more information.
Between August 2021 and July 2022, the Human Rights Commission led a national inquiry into the Pacific Pay Gap to better understand why the pay gap exists and how it can be closed. The report, Voices of Pacific peoples: Eliminating pay gaps (2022), shares the findings and recommendations from the inquiry.
Related news
The Government has launched Te Korowai Whetū Social Cohesion strategic framework and community fund. The strategic framework outlines actions and outcomes to achieve a central vision of social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand. Resources are also available including information sheets, a summary of feedback, a baseline report and a measurement framework. Advocate Anjum Rahman has written article calling for the social cohesion framework to be applied to government first.
Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, Priyanca Radhakrishnan said “It is important that we have a shared understanding of what social cohesion is and take actions we know can strengthen it." Minister Radhakrishnan also announced a $2 million community fund to support local and community-based social cohesion initiatives. Te Korowai Whetū Social Cohesion community fund is being administered by the Ministry of Social Development.
For more information see the cabinet papers related to strengthening social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Related media
Care Workers Call For Fairness On Pay Equity Anniversary, Press Release: E Tū, Scoop, 18.04.2024
Government moves to support social workers workforce, Beehive media release, 10.05.2023
Pay equity deal to extend to community and iwi social workers - Minister, RNZ, 24.11.2022
Pay equity deal extended to all community social workers, One News, 24.11.2022
Recapturing a national sense of belonging, Newsroom, 10.11.2022
The 50th birthday of the Equal Pay Act is no cause for celebration, Newsroom, 19.10.2022
International resources on self-care and collective care
Dare to Care is a free self-paced online course designed for researchers, practitioners and others working to prevent and address violence against women and children. The course can be completed as an individual or as part of a group or with a support partner. The course was designed by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). SVRI is an international network on research on violence against women and violence against children, based in South Africa.
The course has 4 modules based on a metaphor of the rain forest:
- Settling into the forest floor: How to prepare and create a safe and supportive space to complete the course
- Exploring the understory: Build a shared understanding of key concepts such as burnout, vicarious trauma and stress, including what stress means in your own context, how stress can be intersectional and what collective stress looks like
- Tending to the canopy: Explore the concept of collective care, what it offers that self-care practices cannot and analyse the factors that enable and undermine collective care in the contexts of your work
- Flourishing at the emergent layer: Develop a collective care growth plan and identify your own role in collective care and prepare to take action.
The online course includes short videos with transcripts, reflective practices for individuals or groups, and meditation. It comes with a downloadable Guide and Reflection Journal, as well as guidance on how to go through the course safely as an individual or group.
The course is part of the We Care Project from SVRI on Institutionalising Accessible Staff Wellness and Resilience Policies, Tools and Practices for the GBV [gender-based violence] Field. Additional resources from the project include:
- Video recordings of webinars on Decolonising Wellness and Self-Care and Leadership, self and collective care
- A case study on creating and maintaining a culture of self and collective care at an organisation that addresses violence
- A case study on promoting wellbeing through self and collective care for staff on a research project
- An Evidence Review that explores research into how wellness and care can be institutionalised in the violence against women field.
The SVRI work highlights the opportunities and responsibility for organisations to support the wellbeing of staff and volunteers, taking into account the wider factors that affect access to wellbeing. In the SVRI blog post From Me to We: reclaiming the need for collective care (2021), the authors write:
"We are not the first group to critique dominant approaches to self-care, resilience, and wellness – largely rooted in western paradigms – which place the burden of care and coping on individuals, often in their personal capacity. The individualised focus does not acknowledge that our work spaces and work cultures themselves may be contributing to our stress and trauma nor does it highlight the role that institutions and organisations must play in preventing burnout, and promoting and nurturing wellness, care, and kindness."
Making Cents International has published the guide How to embed self- and collective care within organizations addressing gender-based violence (2022). The guide is available in English, عربى , Français and Español. The guide outlines 3 pillars to guide organisations when implementing self- and collective care:
- Values, organisational culture, and leadership
- Policies and structures
- Contextualised practices.
For each pillar, it outlines what is involved, potential barriers, needed resources and practical suggestions. The guide highlights that:
"Putting self- and collective care into practice requires courage, intentionality, resources, and a willingness to imagine a different kind of organization. Funders can play a critical role in validating and supporting this process."
Womankind Worldwide, a UK-based global women's rights organisation, published Nurturing the beating heart of feminist movements: Lessons drawn from Womankind Worldwide’s Movement Strengthening Fund (2022). The report shares lessons from nine initiatives on how to strengthen feminist organising. The lessons address wellbeing, continuous learning, building a solid movement infrastructure, leadership strengthening and ensuring diversity and inclusion. The report has recommendations, including this recommendation for funders:
"Promote self and collective care: Feminist movements need funding to ensure their work does not fragment them and they have the ability to withstand processes of rusting and erosion. They need to engage with strategies focusing on holistic development with an emphasis on intellectual, psychological, physical and spiritual stimulation and wellbeing. All this emphasises the very real need to look after themselves, ‘time out’ to nurture and look at one’s sources of inspiration."
Another SVRI blog post explored Self-Care: What’s Power Got to do With It? (2022), writing:
"Many organisations have made efforts to support their staff during enormously challenging times and given thought to how to prioritise and encourage self-care both at and outside of work. However, this commitment to inclusive approaches to care is far from the norm, even within our field, and we wanted to reflect on whose voices are included and who has limited or no access to meaningful practices around self and collective care: how do power and privilege impact on concepts of and access to self and collective care within organisations?"
The article, Self-care for gender-based violence researchers – Beyond bubble baths and chocolate pralines (2022), explores relational and collaborative ways of self-care and caring for each other for gender-based violence researchers, especially when there is lack of institutional awareness and support.
The article, The better to break and bleed with: research, violence, and trauma (2021), is one researcher's reflections on experiencing emotion and trauma in social science research, in relation to studying violence, and explores "how a trauma-informed ethics of care, grounded in a collective process of seeking and finding guidance and support, might look."
Researchers who reviewed studies of interventions to address vicarious trauma for service providers working with traumatised clients found that most interventions were self-care based and often focused on general stress management rather than addressing the specific effects of vicarious trauma. While the interventions generally showed positive benefits, researchers call for interventions tailored to address vicarious trauma for different service settings and participant characteristics. For more information see the article A scoping review of vicarious trauma interventions for service providers working with people who have experienced traumatic events (2021).
See our related news stories below for additional resources related to wellbeing and collective care.
Update: Safe and Equal, based in Australia, has created resources to support wellbeing for people who work in primary prevention of family violence. The 'How We Thrive' Video Series (2023) includes 4 brief videos and tip sheets. These resources are designed to help managers and organisational leaders understand what prevention practitioners need to feel supported and valued in their organisations, as well as helping prevention practitioners to advocate for their own projects and wellbeing.
Update: The report How Can We Ground Ourselves in Care and Dance Our Revolution? (2023) explore actions to prioritise collective care to mitigate risks and promote the wellbeing and sustainability of feminist movements. It draws on interviews with 141 activists in 63 countries speaking on how they integrate care into their activism and work. In announcing their report, Urgent Action Funds consortium said:
"The report also calls on funders to provide more resources to fund collective care practices among feminist movements, directly providing recommendations, and next steps from activists on the frontlines. The perspectives shared in our report offer a unique and diverse understanding of collective care, highlighting the experiences of women, trans, and non-binary feminist activists who have been historically marginalized within social justice movements worldwide.
We’ve asked those who compiled the research to provide a deeper understanding of the importance of collective care in the feminist space."
Update: In the Collective Care and Kindness (2023, SE212) podcast, SVRI explores the concept of collective care - the practice of taking responsibility for the wellbeing of each other, as individuals and as a community. It looks at the dangers faced by women and children globally in the sphere of activism, and how collective care can support and heal those who are vulnerable to attacks. It also looks at the importance of integrating collective care into our organisations and what this can look like.
Update: UK-reseacher Malaka Shwaikh explores the limits of resilience by drawing on hundreds of interviews with global survivors of wars and violence in the article Beyond Expectations of Resilience: Towards a Language of Care (2023).
Related news
InsideOUT Kōaro and researchers from the University of Otago documented the development of a culture of care to support the wellbeing of Rainbow activists involved with InsideOUT Kōaro in the article Creating a culture of care to support rainbow activists’ well-being: an exemplar from Aotearoa | New Zealand (2022).
Housing First Auckland shared a video recording of a presentation on Maramataka - a deeper connection to te ao Māori to support self-care (2022) from Ayla Hoeta and Vikki ham. The presentation slides and a downloadable Maramataka Dial are also available.
Advocates and researchers have continued to document the impacts of the COVID pandemic on advocates and organisations working in gender-based violence. Some of the recent resources include:
- Video recording of the webinar on Helping from home: Domestic and family violence worker wellbeing during the ‘shadow pandemic (2022) from the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre [Australia]
- The articles The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Staff in Violence Against Women Services (2022) and “There's no amount of tea in the world that is going to fix the patriarchy right now”: The gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for women in the gender-based violence sector (2022) share findings from interviews and focus groups with staff about their experiences during the pandemic in Canada
Find more research and resources related to COVID-19 and violence in our library under the quick topic search on COVID-19.
Related media
The Waikato kaimahi kapa haka competition is connecting to a tool for healing, NZ Herald, 27.10.2023
Mātauranga on app for mental health mindfulness, Waatea News, 11.10.2022
Changes to national mortality review committees
The Health Quality & Safety Commission (HQSC) announced significant changes to the mortality review committees following an independent review. HQSC announced that a single national mortality review committee would be established next year to carry out the national mortality review function.
It also stated that the current mortality review committees would continue for now as expert groups, under the oversight of the new single National Mortality Review Committee.
Currently, there are five mortality review committees:
- Family Violence Death Review Committee (FVDRC)
- Perioperative Mortality Review Committee
- Perinatal & Maternal Mortality Review Committee
- Suicide Mortality Review Committee
- Child & Youth Mortality Review Committee.
HQSC has provided initial details about the planned changes, noting:
- a single National Mortality Review Committee will be established
- current mortality review committee members will be invited to become 'subject matter and representative experts' within the overall national mortality review function (NMRF)
- all current secretariat staff will transition to form part of the NMRF business unit
- data will be brought together under the NMRF
- statutory powers under Schedule 5 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 will be transferred from the committees to the National Mortality Review Committee
- the single National Mortality Review Committee will be able to focus on 'current and emerging priority areas, informed by an all-mortality prioritisation process.'
HQSC outlined next steps:
"An interim National Mortality Review Committee will be stood up in early 2023 to provide expertise in the development of these core frameworks and identify emerging areas of mortality review.
The NMRF will continue to uphold key functions and activities of the existing MRCs, with a dual focus on reporting key mortality trends as well as assessing and prioritising areas of greatest need.
The interim National Mortality Review Committee and the Commission will work closely with the existing MRCs to transition institutional knowledge, and to ensure current members are well positioned to continue to provide an important voice as subject matter and representative experts.
Mortality review workstreams across child and youth, perinatal and maternal, and suicide will continue in the 2023/24 financial year under the transformed NMRF. A national expert group will continue to provide oversight and advice on national trends in perioperative deaths. Family violence death review will remain in place for the long term." [emphasis added]
In the media release, HQSC board chair Dr Dale Bramley said
"All current committees will continue to exist until 30 June 2023, throughout the transition to the refreshed model, and members will be invited to become subject matter and representative experts within these priority workstreams of the National Mortality Review Committee. I can assure current committee members that their areas of focus will continue to be a priority throughout the transition."
Dr Bramley also said "One of the main reasons for the transformation is to address inequities in Māori mortality rates."
The changes are based on an independent review of the national mortality review function completed by Francis Health in April 2022.
The Final report: Review of the national mortality review function (March 2022) summarises the review findings and recommendations. The report highlighted "the vital importance and value of a mortality review function" but also highlighted areas to improve function and impact. Key areas of change included Te Tiriti compliance, expansion of scope, and increased attention on cross-sector engagement, among others.
Update: Two appendices from the final review report are available: Appendix A: Current state critical review and Appendix B: Literature review.
Further details are not yet available about what the changes will mean for the function, statutory powers, and committee members of the Family Violence Death Review Committee.
For questions about the independent review or the new National Mortality Review Function email: mrcsecretariat@hqsc.govt.nz.
Update: The changes to the national mortality review function came into effect on 1 July 2023. Details about the new National Mortality Review Committee, committee member bios, and subject matter experts are available on the Te Tāhū Hauora Health | Quality & Safety Commission website. Fiona Cram, current chair of the Family Violence Death Review Committee and Ngā Pou Arawhenua (Māori caucus of the current mortality review committees), is one of 8 members on the new National Committee. There are 5 initial workstreams for the new National Mortality Review Committee - this includes a Family violence death review workstream to build on the work of the previous Family Violence Death Review Committee.
Background on the Family Violence Death Review Committee
The Family Violence Death Review Committee (FVDRC) was established in 2008 as an interagency, multi-disciplinary committee to systematically review all family violence deaths, as an initiative launched by the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families.
In 2010, the Health Quality & Safety Commission was set up as a Crown entity and took responsibility for national mortality review committees, including the FVDRC. The FVDRC became a statutory committee under Section 59E of the amended New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act in April 2011. Currently, the FVDRC reports to the Health Quality & Safety Commission Board, and through the Board, to the Associate Minister of Health.
The final report from the review of the national mortality review function highlighted that:
"The methodology and review model developed and applied by the current FVDRC provides a benchmark for taking a holistic and whole of system approach. This model takes a life course approach and allows an intensive and multi sectoral review which yields insights with broad applicability and relevance."
The report also highlighted that "the FVDRC is the only MRC [mortality review committee] which has been able to build a critical mass of Māori expertise."
See the article, Getting the Story Right: Reflecting on an Indigenous Rubric to Guide the Interpretation of Mortality Data, for information about how the FVDRC addresses tikanga-based principles in their reviews and reports.
The FVDRC's seventh report, A duty to care | Me manaaki te tangata, has more information about the FVDRC and how the committee functions.
Update: Also see the recently published article Te Pou: An Indigenous Framework to Evaluate the Inclusion of Family Voice in Family Violence Homicide Reviews (2022). The article evaluates the inclusion of family and whānau voice in the indepth review process of the Family Violence Death Review Committee in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Also see the HQSC website for information on the Family Violence Death Review Committee.
Related media
Mortality review shake-up allows Māori focus, Waatea News, 03.07.2023
National Fijian Wellbeing Plan launched
Pasefika Proud announced the launch of Lalawa Ni Tiko Vinaka: the National Fijian Wellbeing Plan 2022 - 2025 (2022). In the introduction to Lalawa Ni Tiko Vinaka, it explains that
"...Lalawa, means having a sense of direction to realise community goals and working together as a collective to embrace the challenge and work towards that end. It succinctly speaks to the Plan and its content as providing a roadmap for Fijians in Aotearoa to realise and achieve their wellbeing aspirations. To this end, Lalawa outlines:
• Background information about Fijians in Aotearoa
• The context for developing Lalawa
• The underlying vision, mission, values and principles of Lalawa
• Wellbeing priorities, with the targeted outcomes and the actions to achieve them, and the indicators
• A governance arrangement for connecting with government and for national coordination
• A risk assessment to account for future challenges impacting the wellbeing aspirations of Fijians
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Information about Fijian community services."
Fijian Community groups from around the country in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development began meeting in June 2021 to talanoa about wellbeing and the priorities for Fijian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Plan outlines five priorities:
- "Embrace and be confident in our cultural identity and language
- Develop and build a community of financially stable Fijian people
- Strengthen social connections between our Fijian communities and individuals in the community
- Improve and enhance mental health and the overall health of our Fijian people
- Encourage our Fijian people to further enhance their knowledge, learning and development for greater future outcomes."
The Pasefika Proud announcement launching the Plan noted that the next step would be the appointment of a Trust from the working groups to oversee the implementation of the plan.
Lalawa Ni Tiko Vinaka: the Fijian National Wellbeing Plan is one of the national wellbeing plans for ethnic specific Pacific groups being developed as part of the Pasefika Proud work programme set out in the Pasefika Proud Pathways for Change Framework launched in 2019. Learn more about this work programme from Pasefika Proud on achieving wellbeing.
Training on Addressing Family Violence through Pacific Cultural Frameworks
Pasefika Proud and the Pathways for Change framework are underpinned by Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu. Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu is a community developed, community owned and community mandated conceptual framework for addressing family violence in eight Pacific communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is informed by, and aligned with, 8 ethnic specific conceptual frameworks to prevent and address family violence. Nga Vaka o Kāiga informs the ethnic-specific training on Addressing Family Violence through Pacific Cultural Frameworks. Sessions for this training are open for registration.
In August of this year, Cause Collective announced an online programme for family violence practitioners who work with Pacific families. Programme Lead, Akesa Filimoehala-Burling said developing the programme was about responding to the need to offer online training and meet the needs of participants. She also said “This is a one-off Introductory training programme that practitioners must complete before choosing to participate in one or more of the ethnic specific one-day face to face workshops.”
To learn more, listen to radio interviews on 531pi with Akesa Filimoehala-Burling and Cultural Lead Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu Faámatuainu Tino Pereira. For future plans related to the training see the latest update from Pasefika Proud on Championing Change in Our Communities.
All-of-Government Pacific Wellbeing Strategy
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio announced the launch of the Pacific Wellbeing Strategy | Weaving of All-of-Government | Progressing Lalanga Fou.
The strategy identifies 4 key priorities to guide how the Government will work with Pacific communities towards reducing social and economic disadvantages and improving Pacific wellbeing. The 4 priorities from the Lalanga Fou strategy are:
- "Pacific values and principles – Lalaga Potu: that form the foundations of the Strategy.
- Partnership and governance – Fale Fono: to strengthen system leadership and establish genuine partnerships with Pacific communities to support Pacific wellbeing.
- Performance and improvement – Vaka Moana: to measure and monitor the impact of investment in Pacific communities through the All-of-Government Pacific Wellbeing Outcomes Framework that includes a set of Pacific wellbeing indicators and measures.
- Capability – Te Kupega: to build and strengthen cultural capability and engagement approaches across government."
The Pacific Wellbeing Strategy progresses the aspirations of Pacific peoples captured in the Lalanga Fou report published in 2018. This report set out the shared vision and goals for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.
A number of related resources are available from the Ministry for Pacific Peoples. This includes tools to support inclusion and engagement with Pacific Peoples including:
- Kapasa - The Pacific Policy Analysis Tool (2021) and Kapasa eLearning Module for policy managers, advisors and analysts in government agencies to incorporate the perspectives of Pacific peoples in the wider policy development process. The framework sets out ways to include information about Pacific peoples, take account of Pacific peoples values and diversity, and ensure effective consultation with Pacific peoples in the policy development process.
- Yavu - Foundations of Pacific engagement tool (2022) and Yavu eLearning Module Yavu to support anyone who works in local and central government, and the private sector to engage with Pacific communities. Yavu can be used to support a range of initiatives, policies and decision-making where Pacific people will be affected directly or indirectly.
In announcing the strategy, Minister Sio said “This values-based approach recognises Pacific communities as the owners of their cultures, identities and languages, the cornerstone of Pacific Wellbeing, and that they must lead in decisions that affect their lives.”
Related news
Pacific Languages Strategy launched
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio announced the Pacific Languages Strategy 2022-2032 in September 2022. When announcing the Strategy, Minister Sio said:
“The cornerstone of our Pacific cultures, identities and place in Aotearoa, New Zealand are our Pacific languages. They are at the heart of our wellbeing.”
He also said:
“This Strategy demonstrates the Government’s commitment to reverse the declining use of Pacific languages in Aotearoa New Zealand, and ensures Pacific languages thrive and prosper for the sake of future generations’ wellbeing.”
The Strategy will be implemented through a Pacific Languages Government Action Plan and ethnic-specific Community Language Action Plans, currently being developed. The Leo Moana o Aotearoa project is also being launched alongside the Pacific Languages Strategy. The project is a comprehensive survey of Pacific language use and attitudes across all regions, ages, and ethnic groups in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Report from Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry
Between August 2021 and July 2022, the Human Rights Commission led a national inquiry into the Pacific Pay Gap to better understand why the pay gap exists and how it can be closed. The inquiry engaged with approximately 1,200 Pacific workers. The inquiry also engaged with key employers, self–employed, unions, non-government organisations, and other community groups. The report, Voices of Pacific peoples: Eliminating pay gaps (2022), shares the findings and recommendations from the inquiry. In the preface to the report, Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo said:
"The Inquiry has exposed legislative and policy gaps, business leadership invisibility and systemic indifference to pay inequity based on ethnicity that has perpetuated inequality, unfairness, discrimination and hardship in the lives of Pacific peoples.
"The protection and realisation of basic human rights for Pacific peoples will lead to overall benefits for all New Zealanders."
For more information see the related media below.
Related media
The 50th birthday of the Equal Pay Act is no cause for celebration, Newsroom, 19.10.2022
‘My dad went on strike 20 years ago – but we’re still protesting pay gaps’, Newsroom, 18.10.2022
Loss of Vagahau Niue a real concern, Beehive media release, 16.10.2022
Melanesians in Aotearoa — a minority within a minority, E-Tangata, 15.10.2022
Report reveals vast inequality for Pasifika workers, RNZ, 12.10.2022
Vosa Vakaviti sustains generations of Fijians, Beehive media release, 02.10.2022
Pasifika leaders on a mission to normalise talanoa about sexual health, Tagata Pasifika, 19.08.2022
Updates
Legislative updates
Oranga Tamariki is looking at changes to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 and the Residential Care Regulations 1996. These changes will be contained in an amendment Bill called the Oranga Tamariki (Residential Care and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. Oranga Tamariki has published a series of issues papers outlining potential changes. Feedback is being invited on these issues in October, with the first closing date of 14 October 2022.
The Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill would amend the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 by partially repealing the subsequent-child provisions, repealing a redundant information-sharing provision, and amending technical errors and ambiguities. The Final Report of the Social Services and Community Committee was published in June 2022, recommending the bill be passed.
The Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Bill and the Children and Young People’s Commission Bill both received Royal Assent in August 2022. Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said “We’re retaining a Chief Children’s Commissioner, we’ve strengthened the independence of the monitor, and we’ve reduced the review period to three years instead of five." The legislation shifts the responsibility for monitoring Oranga Tamariki to the Independent Children’s Monitor, which will come under the Education Review Office and the Ombudsman, both government agencies.
Advocates, state care survivors, community groups and organisations, and academic experts have criticised this approach and raised concerns that independence of the monitoring and the failure to wait for the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry to be completed. We highlight some of responses below
- Children’s Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers was interviewed by Te Ao Māori news, E-Tangata printed an excerpt from evidence given by the Office of the Children's Commissioner to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, also see Commissioner Eivers media release Lost opportunity, but a clear mandate remains
- Chief executive Tracie Shipton of VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai, the national advocacy organisation for young people in care, was interviewed by RNZ, Voyce - Whakarongo Mai previously outlined the reasons they oppose the bill and published a media release Oranga Tamariki Oversight Bill Must Go
- Dr Fleur Te Aho (Ngāti Mutunga) and Claire Mason, legal researchers from the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law, highlighted in the University of Auckland media release Time to hit pause on flawed Oranga Tamariki Bill, referring to their recently published brief Time to taihoa: the need to pause on the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill and give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi and Indigenous rights (July 2022)
- David King and Jonathan Boston, academics in public policy, published the report Improving a system when young lives are at stake: A Public Policy Analysis of the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill (July 2022); see the related media release New Report Says Oranga Tamariki Oversight Bill Risks A ‘Vicious Cycle’ Of Increasing Harm To Children And Young People and listen to an interview with RNZ in Government urged to pause Oranga Tamariki bill
- Marama Davidson, Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence interviewed by Waatea News in the article Oranga Tamariki oversight watered down says Davidson.
Update: VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai has published an additional statement saying "VOYCE supports the oversight legislation being updated to include the recommendations of the Royal Commission’s final report due next year. The legislation also needs to align with the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan, to ensure young people don’t fall through any further systemic gaps."
See further responses and commentary to the legislation in the related media below. The Independent Children's Monitor has provided updates on the expansion of their monitoring role on their website and in previous newsletters. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has also outlined how his office will respond to the increased monitoring responsibility.
New reports
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has publicly released the final report from his investigation into the death of Malachi Subecz at the request of his cousin and uncle. In releasing the report, the Chief Ombudsman said Oranga Tamariki failed to take the ‘‘bare minimum’’ action over safety concerns about Malachi Subecz and described Oranga Tamariki’s response as a "litany of failures.” In relation to this case, Oranga Tamariki is reviewing its practice and Dame Karen Poutasi is conducting an independent review looking at the roles and responsibilities of the different agencies involved in Malachi’s care.
Care to Custody: Incarceration Rates Research Report (2022) published by the Abuse in Care - Royal Commission of Inquiry looked at interagency records of more than 30,000 children and young people over five decades. The data shows that between 1950-1999, one out of every three children and young people placed in residential care by the State went on to serve a prison sentence later in life. For Māori children and young people who had been in State residential care over that time, up to 42% went on to receive a prison sentence later in life. The report was tabled during the Inquiry’s State Institutional Response public hearing. See related media below for updates from the State Institutional Response public hearing.
Oranga Tamariki published their annual Safety of Children in Care (2022) report drawing on data from July 2020 to July 2021. The data shows an increase in the number of children experiencing harm while in care.
The Independent Children's Monitor published Experiences of Care in Aotearoa: Agency Compliance with the National Care Standards and Related Matters Regulations – Reporting period 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021. Media outlet Newsroom highlighted key points from the report in the article Children’s monitor hits milestone in scrutiny of Oranga Tamariki.
How we fail children who offend and what to do about it: ‘A breakdown across the whole system’ – Research and recommendations (2022) was written by Professor Ian Lambie, Dr Jerome Reil, Judge Andrew Becroft and Dr Ruth Allen. This report summarises findings from research that looked at risk and protective factors for children (under age 14 years) who offend in order to improve early identification and intervention. Also see the brief summary of the report.
Oranga Tamariki commissioned six reports drawing on data from the Adolescent Health Research Group’s Youth19 Rangatahi Smart Survey. The reports highlight key findings for young people involved with Oranga Tamariki and number of areas including: Takatāpui and rainbow young people, Identity and cultural connectedness, Housing and home life, Mental and physical health and healthcare access, Community and contexts and Youth Voices. A video recording is available from a webinar featuring researchers from the Adolescent Health Research Group presenting the findings from these reports.
Several agencies and non-government organisations have publicly released their alternative reports to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on Aotearoa New Zealand's progress on children's rights. This includes reports from the Children's Alliance, the Children's Commissioner, and the Backbone Collective.
New resources
Te Korimako Legal Education is a Māori initiative to educate and support whānau who come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki and the Family Court. Te Korimako's website has information and videos for whānau to understand how the law relates to tamariki and whānau. It covers the following areas of law Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, Family Violence Act 2018, Care of Children Act 2004, Property (Relationships) Act 1976 and other matters including wills, succession of Māori Land, surrogacy, whāngai and adoption.
The Ministry of Justice has published new resources to help parents, guardians and whānau understand the Family Court and the options available to them when making decisions about the care of their children and tamariki after a separation or change in family situation. This includes brief information sheets on making parenting arrangements, going through the Family Court to work out parenting arrangements, what to expect at Family Court, responding to a notice of application, lawyers working with children, legal advice and support, stopping a child being taken overseas and a parenting Plan Workbook.
The prevention project at the University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo is a project to understand the contexts, resources, and relationships that contribute to the prevention of baby removal in the Aotearoa New Zealand. The project is led by Emily Keddell (Associate Professor, University of Otago, Pākehā), Kerri Cleaver (Lecturer, Social Work, Canterbury University, Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe) and Luke Fitzmaurice (University of Otago, Victoria University Wellington, Te Aupōuri), with the collaboration of the NGO and social service forum. The prevention project website lists education materials to assist with educating about the range of practices, policies and systems that can reduce the outcome of baby removal. These materials might be helpful to those lecturing in formal academic settings, as well as those running trainings or professional development for social or community workers.
Oranga Tamariki has produced resources to support workers to safely and appropriately share information across the child welfare and protection sector.
Related media
Media related to reports
Children's Minister under fire over Malachi Subecz, RNZ, 20.10.2022
Government under pressure for Malachi Subecz failures, the economy, NZ Herald, 19.10.2022
Official reviewing OT involved in failure to investigate Lake Alice, Newsroom, 13.10.2022
Children's Commissioner responds to Oranga Tamariki Ombudsman report, RNZ, 06.10.2022
Children's Minister admits Oranga Tamariki failed Malachi Subecz, RNZ, 06.10.2022
Oranga Tamariki 'systemically broken' - Lady Tureiti Moxon, RNZ, 06.10.2022
Ombudsman finds 'litany of failures' in OT treatment of Malachi Subecz case, Stuff, 05.10.2022
Ombudsman criticises Oranga Tamariki in wake of Malachi Subecz's death, RNZ, 05.10.2022
State care pipeling to prison no longer, Waatea News, 30.08.2022
We must break this cycle from care into custody, Newsroom, 30.08.2022
Nearly half of Māori rangatahi in state care have gone to prison, RNZ, 24.08.2022
Almost 500 children, teens in Oranga Tamariki care harmed during 2020-21, RNZ, 29.03.2022
Media related to legislation updates
Submissions open on Charities Amendment Bill
Update: The Charities Amendment Bill passed its third reading in June 2023.
The Social Services and Community Committee is calling for public submissions on the Charities Amendment Bill.
The closing date to make a submission is 10 November 2022 9 December 2022 (closing date extended).
The purpose of the Charities Amendment Bill is "...to make practical changes to support charities to continue their vital contribution to community well-being, while ensuring that that contribution is sufficiently transparent to interested parties and the public." It would amend the Charities Act 2005.
According to the parliamentary submission information the bill is intended to:
- enable simpler financial reporting from small charities
- improve access to justice for charities in the appeals process
- enhance regulatory decision-making requirements
- clarify the role of officers and supporting the governance of charities
- improve regulatory compliance and enforcement tools.
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan noted that “Alongside the introduction of the bill, we are also working on non-legislative changes to further improve the sector, including requirements for larger charities to report reasons for accumulating funds." This media release also includes a Full list of changes being proposed to the Charities Act (and also lists non-legislative changes). For more detailed information see Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) information on Policy decisions to modernise the Charities Act 2005.
DIA is leading the government's work to modernise the Charities Act. This work involved public consultation and targeted engagement and stakeholder feedback.
Community and advocate responses
An expert in charities law, Sue Barker has raised concerns about the proposals to modernise charities law including lack of adequate consultation on the proposals. Earlier this year Barker published the report, Focus on purpose – What Does a World-Leading Framework of Charities Law Look Like? (April 2022). The research was supported by a 2019 New Zealand Law Foundation International Research Fellowship. For more information about Barker's research and resources on charities law see her website www.charitieslawreform.nz, or listen to an interview on access radio from Collaborative Voices, an initiative from Community Networks Aotearoa.
The LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance & Leadership has also raised concerns that the proposed changes will not achieve the intended outcomes.
Update: LEAD has published an updated blog post related to the bill about the Lost Opportunity for Charities looming.
Sue Barker and lawyer Steven Moe are hosting an online meeting about the Bill on 7 October 2022. Register online to attend the meeting.
Update: The Charities Amendment Bill discussion between Steven Moe and Sue Barker was recorded. Links to the recording of the discussion and follow up information are available in the 12 October 2022 email update from Sue Barker.
Related news
DIA is also reviewing the lottery grants system. This programme of work is called Kia Tipu, He Tipua – Evolving the lottery grants system. According to the announcement of the review "The programme will undertake a review of the whole system to create a new community funding and advisory support system that is more responsive, flexible, inclusive, strategic and honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This is the first time an end-to-end review has been done since Lotto launched in New Zealand over 35 years ago." Recommendations are expected in late 2022 with changes taking effect from 2023. For more information about this work, email community.matters@dia.govt.nz. This RNZ article, Lottery grants system incoherent, biased and preserves status quo - review, highlights key points related to the need for the review.
DIA has launched a new website Granted.govt.nz to help community organisations understand who receives pokie grant funding.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) is seeking feedback on what regulations should be made under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 and what those regulations should prescribe. The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 will come fully into force in October 2023. However, regulations are required to supplement the legislation. MBIE has published a discussion document outlining proposed regulations. The Companies Office has developed a law changes hub for the latest information and updates. The closing date to submit feedback is 22 November 2022. For background information related to charities see the Charities Service blog post 5 things charities need to know about the new Incorporated Societies Act and recordings, slides and resources from their webinars on the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
Related media
New charities law little more than 'tweaks' say critics, RNZ, 07.08.2023
Putting power in the hands of whānau, E-Tangata, 11.12.2022
The Charities Amendment Bill – A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing?, Legalwise, 26.10.2022
‘Get real’: Donors must demand transparency about the impact of charities, Newsroom, 21.09.2022
Nonprofits may need to spend about one-third of their budget on overhead to thrive – contradicting a rule of thumb for donors, The Conversation, 20.09.2022 (Also see the related research article The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle: Does Overhead Spending Really Impact Program Outcomes?)
Charity reforms insult to the sector - lawyer, RNZ, 03.06.2022
Charities Act changes to benefit NZ Communities, Beehive media release, 02.06.2022
Fears charities law reform could be ‘colossal mistake’, Business Desk, 23.05.2022
Community surveys
The following surveys designed by and for communities are inviting feedback on:
- police responses to victim-survivors
- Takatāpui and Rainbow elders life experiences and needs.
Survey on police responses to family and sexual violence
Backbone Collective is running an anonymous online survey to find out from victim-survivors how the NZ Police response to family and sexual violence can be improved. The survey is for women, trans and non-binary people, who are 16 years or older and live in Aotearoa New Zealand, and have experienced partner/family violence or sexual violence. The survey invites victim-survivors to share feedback on:
- whether they contacted the police, and why or why not they contacted police
- how police have responded to them
- ideas for how to improve the police response to partner/family and sexual violence.
Victim-survivors can participate in the survey whether or not they have had contact with the police.
The online survey is open now and closes 31 October 2022 (closing date extended).
The findings from the survey will be used to create recommendations which will be presented to NZ Police and other government agencies.
Backbone is working with Takatāpui and Rainbow organisation Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura to better understand the needs of Takatāpui, trans and non-binary people, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and asexual women. Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura is a Takatāpui and Rainbow organisation focused on building communities without violence. The survey responses will be read, analysed and written up into the final report by Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura.
As well as Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura, Backbone developed this survey with specialist advisors from Te Whakaruruhau - Waikato Women's Refuge, Shama - Supporting Ethnic Women, and other experts and advocates.
You can find out more about Backbone by visiting their webpage and Facebook page.
Survey for Takatāpui and Rainbow Elders
Elder Voices is an online survey for Takatāpui and Rainbow Elders, including Takatāpui and Rainbow Elders who may not be “out.” The survey is confidential and anonymous, and open to everyone over 55 who knows they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, non-binary, intersex or Takatāpui. People do not need to be “out” to anyone else to take part.
The survey is open now and closes 20 December 2022.
The survey is a collaboration between Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura and Rainbow Hub Waikato. The findings from this survey will be used to create a report to inform plans and services for Takatāpui and Rainbow Elders.
To learn more, see the Elder Voices survey information sheet and the following videos from the launch of the survey:
- Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence Marama Davidson talks about the importance of Elder Voices
- Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall discusses the project
- Elder Voices research team members and advisors Dr Huhana Hickey and Lexie Matheson offer their thoughts on the project
- An overview of the project from research lead Sandra Dickson and Elder Voices social work lead Kathleen Miller
- Age Concern's Professional Educator for Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention, Hanny Naus, welcomes the project.
To help promote the survey find resources and share the Rainbow Hub Waikato Facebook post.
Elder Voices is funded by Te Puna Aonui through the Te Kari Kaumātua | Office for Seniors as one of 11 projects funded from the Elder Abuse Prevention Fund.
Related news
The 2022 Counting Ourselves transgender and nonbinary health survey is open. The anonymous online survey is for all trans and non-binary people aged 14 years or older and currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand. The survey includes questions related to violence and relationships. The core research team is based at the University of Waikato and includes academic staff and students who are trans, non-binary and cisgender. The survey is also a Kaupapa Māori informed research study. The survey is open now and closes on 30 November 2022.
Related media
Transgender, non-binary abuse victims asked for experiences with police, Stuff, 19.09.2022
Funding boost for Waikato groups fighting elder abuse, Waikato Times | Stuff, 24.06.2022
Research and resources for tamariki healthy relationships
The Harmonised Healthy Relationship Project was initiated as part of a response to tamariki Māori requesting better accessible information about intimate partner relationship well-being. The Harmonised project was led by Auckland University of Technology in partnership with the University of Otago and John Hopkins University, with funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Working with a Tamariki Advisory Group (TAG) and pupils from schools and Kura across the motu, the project identified:
- tamariki definitions of an ‘intimate partner relationship’ as opposed to adult developed definitions of tamariki ‘relationships’
- tamariki definitions of what constitutes healthy and unhealthy intimate partner relationships in their own context by using an Indigenous well-being framework -Te Whare Tapa Whā (Durie, 1985) and
- explored how tamariki make decisions within their intimate partner relationships.
The research team spent 4 years talking and working with tamariki from all over Aotearoa about what is needed to support tamariki to have healthy and safe intimate partner relationships.
The team used a co-create approach involving tamariki in identifying both needs and solutions, including concepts and language, as well as creating an App and resources, also using a Māori centred approach.
The team heard from tamariki that they understand what a healthy relationship is, but sometimes it can be complicated and sometimes they don’t always know what to do. The team heard that whānau were important to tamariki within these relationships. Tamariki wanted good information and for people to listen and take their relationships seriously.
The project involved an App, called Harmonised, developed by the Tamariki Advisory Group and the tamariki focus groups. The App was only available as a pilot during the research. However, the team worked with tamariki and created resources for tamariki/rangatahi in intimate partner relationships or those thinking about what they would like in a healthy intimate partner relationship.
The resources include:
- What taitamariki value in a relationship in English and Te Reo Māori
- Taitamariki healthy relationship continuum
- Whare tapa whā as a model for healthy relationships
- How to start a conversation about your relationship with someone when you don’t know what to say
- Tips when you are worried about a friend and not sure what to say
- A brief list of who to contact when you need someone to talk to.
Background
Two of the Harmonised team members, Dr Moana Eruera and Dr Terry Dobbs, previously researched taitamariki* perspectives on intimate partner relationships. Korero mai: taitamariki Maori development of healthy relationships was funded by the Health Research Council of NZ and hosted by Te Runanga-Ā-Iwi-O-Ngāpuhi. For more information see a 2-page summary from this research about what taitamariki shared with the researchers.
A second research project, Taitamariki Māori kōrero about intimate partner relationships was funded by ACC and hosted by the Amokura Family Violence Prevention Consortium. For more information see the report from this research Taitamariki Māori kōrero about intimate partner relationships (2010).
To learn more about supporting tamariki and youth to have healthy intimate partner relationships also see:
- Building Taitamariki Māori Capacity: Reclaiming and applying Te Ao Māori principles to inform and support their intimate partner relationship well-being (2021) PhD thesis by Terry Dobbs
- Hooked Up – Te Honononga Whaiaipo: Reducing and preventing violence in taitamariki Māori intimate partner relationships (2015) PhD Dissertation by Moana Eruera
- Kaupapa Māori wellbeing framework: the basis for whānau violence prevention and intervention (2014) by Terry Dobbs and Moana Eruera, New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse Issues Paper #6.
*Taitamariki is used to denote Ngāpuhi dialect and participants in these two studies.
Related news
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) are calling for nominations of young people to have a say in the curriculum refresh. OCC and MoE are setting up 3 Youth Voices Groups to ensure young people's voices are heard during the curriculum refresh. The 3 Youth Voices Groups are Youth Voices, Rangatahi Māori Voices and Disabled Youth Voices with a focus on involving a diverse range of young people, including those who identify as part of the Rainbow community, and/or are care experienced, as well as young people living in rural communities, and/or young people with informal and non-formal education experience. Nominations are requested of young people from organisations, iwi, schools and other agencies who hold a trusting and sustained relationship with the young person they are nominating and who are prepared to support the young person throughout their involvement. Nominations can be submitted through the OCC website. For questions email educationvoices@occ.org.nz. Nominations are due by 16 October 2022.
Related media
Mental health resources for young people and schools launched, Beehive media release, 28.09.2022
Pasifika leaders on a mission to normalise talanoa about sexual health, Tagata Pasifika, 19.08.2022
Rangatahi panel makes sex-ed laughing matter, Waatea News, 26.07.2022
App supports healthy relationships for teens, Otago Daily Times, 26.06.2018
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2022
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2022 celebrates 50 years since the Māori Language Petition was presented to parliament on 14 September 1972. The 14th September became Māori Language Day and later Māori Language Week. This year also marks 35 years since te reo Māori became an official language and the launch of the Māori Language Commission in 1987 through the Māori Language Act.
In the lead up to Te wiki o te reo Māori, Māori Language Commissioner, Professor Rawinia Higgins said
"For Māori New Zealanders, te reo is not just a language to revitalise, it is part of our identity. Those of us who want to ensure the language of our ancestors is also the language of our mokopuna are not just woke, we are wide awake and we always have been."
Commissioner Higgins also said:
“More New Zealanders than ever before see te reo as part of their identity as a New Zealander and that speaking te reo is something to be proud of. 35-years ago when te reo became an official language of New Zealand, many feared that te reo would divide us. But in 2022 te reo brings us together. It is the language of Aotearoa and everyone who calls Aotearoa home.”
The 50th anniversary of the Māori language petition was commemorated at Parliament this year.
Waka Huia (episode 17, season 2022) released a documentary that celebrates te reo Māori through the lens of the Māori Language Commission. The episode highlights the journey of Te Reo revitalisation. The video is available from Waka Huia's Facebook page and YouTube in te reo Māori with English captions:
Once again, Waiata Anthems week took place the week before on 5 - 11 September 2022 with 20 new waiata released. Co-founder, Dame Hinewehi Mohi said this year’s recordings build on the legacy of the 1972 Māori Language Petition.
Sharing stories of te reo Māori
Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori | Māori Language Commission has launched a campaign calling for New Zealanders to share their stories of te reo Māori. The Commission created a new website where you can read and share stories at www.storiesoftereo.nz. The Commission has tips on how to capture your stories for individuals and whānau and organisations including toolkete for Kaupapa Māori organisations, public service, Kura, Māori, Kōhanga Reo, schools and more.
Commissioner Higgins highlighted how sharing these stories can help heal the mamae saying:
“We don’t want to lose that memory. We don’t want the memories to just be of the officials like myself in these different roles telling that story. We know everyone has a story in their whānau and how do we share those stories with each other to inspire but also hopefully to heal the mamae and also think about what our future could be."
E Tū Whānau recently highlighted the mahi of Te Tai Tokerau community worker and E Tū Whānau kaupapa advocate Shirleyanne Brown. Shirleyanne worked with local film maker, Tema Kwan, on Takiwā Kōrero, an innovative online talk show series fronted by leaders of marae within Te Rūnanga a Iwi Ō Ngāpuhi Takiwā ki Whangārei. The videos encourage whānau to engage with their marae and shape the future of their tūrangawaewae. There are three videos on Economic Stability of marae, Tupuna practices and stories of Succession, Growth and Prosperity in the Marae.
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the Whānau Ora commissioning agency for Te Waipounamu (the South Island), shared the story of Te Kai a Te Rangatira, a kaupapa Māori initiative supporting Rakiura Māori to reconnect with their identity, culture and language, and the mahi of Pip Hakopa (Ngāti Mamoe, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Kahungnunu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) in this initiative.
Awanui Te Huia has written a new book, He Reo Tuku Iho: Tangata Whenua and Te Reo Māori (2022), which explores the lived experiences of tangata whenua and ways that tangata whenua can reclaim te reo. The book draws on the national research project Manawa Ū ki te Reo Māori which looked at the motivations and barriers that Māori whānau face to Māori language acquisition and use of Māori heritage language by learners and speakers. Discussing the book, Awanui Te Huia wrote:
"Many tangata whenua who are learning our ancestral language are doing so while managing a myriad of complex emotions and also juggling life as Māori in the colonial context. For Māori who have a whakapapa connection to te reo, our path towards language reclamation is part of a wider set of connections and transformations that we’re often engaging in to unpack what it means to be learning our own mother tongue as a second language. The “mother tongue”, refers to the language spoken by mother to child. We know that colonisation has impacted on this very intimate relationship, with most Māori learning (as a second language) in formal settings that are far from intimate."
Research and resources on connecting to re reo Māori
New research using a mātauranga Māori framework looked at the impact of Māori immersion early childhood education for tamariki. The researchers identified Māori child development constructs of "...tuakiri (a secure local Māori identity), whānauranga (feeling and acting as a member of whānau), manawaroa (courage despite adversity, persisting despite difficulty and a positive outlook), and piripono (integrity, commitment and responsibility for a shared kaupapa)." The researchers measured change over time and found that the tamariki experienced growth in all 4 of these areas. Lead researcher Dr Aroaro Tamati said:
"Early childhood is a vehicle for rebuilding our generations that have lost so much, it’s a vehicle for rebuilding Māori community. When you look at it that way it all makes sense. It’s got a purpose, it’s got an intent, it’s really powerful. Whānau see themselves in that picture and they make a difference for their children just by that alone."
The Growing up in New Zealand study is also exploring how Māori language is developing in children growing up in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. Study research director and kaupapa Māori epidemiologist Dr Sarah-Jane Paine (Tūhoe) spoke about the research with Te Hiku Radio.
The Harnessing the spark of life: Maximising whānau contributors to rangatahi wellbeing research explored what supports rangatahi Māori to thrive with a focus on understanding what whānau, health and social service providers could do to support whanaungatanga and ensure that rangatahi are connected, healthy and well. The project involved developing resources for rangatahi and whānau including:
- Whanaungatanga: Kia Renarena te Taukaea, a booklet that shares rangatahi Māori stories about whanaungatanga and what it means to them (also available in te reo Pākehā | English)
- Te Poipoi i te: whanaungatanga, a booklet that tells rangatahi stories about how they experience whanaungatanga. It is designed as a resource that for whānau to better understand their rangatahi (also available in te reo Pākehā | English).
A new free app gives māmā and whānau hapū access to the wisdom and knowledge that would once have been passed on from their pakeke and kaumātua, available in te reo Māori and English. The Tuku Iho App is framed from a te ao Māori perspective and linked to mātauranga Māori. When launching the app in August 2022, Selah Hart, CEO of Hāpai Te Hauora said:
"Pre-colonisation, whānau thrived by living and working on their own whenua and papa kāinga and knowledge and skills were naturally passed down in many ways. However, many factors have changed this, and the way we live now requires additional knowledge transfer options for whānau.
"The ongoing workforce shortages are impacting us particularly when it comes to having enough Māori midwives available and able to care for our own. Due to a continued lack of support for Māori midwives to practice on their own without burn-out, antenatal care and education delivered in a kaupapa Māori way is hard to come by for whānau hapū.
"We recognised this gap and developed the Tuku Iho app. It is somewhere whānau hapū, māmā hāpu and māmā hou can go to find trusted information about hauora hapūtanga, pēpi ora and SUDI prevention embedded from the world view of Māori."
The National SUDI Prevention Coordination Service (NSPCS) at Hāpai Te Hauora Māori Public Health led the development of the app in partnership with Māoriland Charitable Trust, KIWA Digital and the Hira Programme in Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand.
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