The impacts we are looking to make to achieve this outcome
The impacts we are looking to make to achieve this outcome are:
- reducing harm and improving the strength of whānau, families and communities
- improving our contribution to industry and regional development
- improving the effectiveness of connections across different providers and organisations.
An important part of our role in social development is working with partners in regional communities to provide services to support vulnerable New Zealanders. Our impact on ensuring New Zealanders are resilient and live in inclusive and supportive communities is greater when we are part of a wider community.
We have an important and significant role in making sure New Zealanders get all the support they need, but we cannot do it all on our own. We worked alongside approximately 2,200 partners who provide services around prevention and response to vulnerability and harm, youth development, disability support, work readiness, skills training, and getting people into work, and contributed over $400 million to communities, iwi, non-government organisations (NGOs) and business and industry partners.
We played a lead role in the all-of-government response to the Christchurch mosque attacks of March 2019, with extra staff on the ground as part of a support hub to provide cross-agency support, and by implementing a dedicated Ministerial Welfare Programme. We paid out over $400,000 in hardship and Civil Defence payments, and we have provided services to help people with financial management, improving their English, and learning to drive.
We worked hard to improve our responsiveness to Māori and Pacific clients, through developing a new Māori Strategy and Action Plan (Te Pae Tata), and through initiatives such as Mana in Mahi, E Tū Whānau, Pasefika Proud, and our partnerships with Te Hiku o Te Ika and Ngai Tūhoe. We received funding in the 2019 Budget to develop these and other programmes further in the coming year and beyond.
This includes work to strengthen communities to be inclusive, supportive and free from violence. In 2018/19 we invested nearly $53 million in supporting victims and perpetrators of family violence (over $32 million) and sexual violence (nearly $15 million), and on family violence prevention and education (nearly $6 million – this is grant funding to approximately 50 providers and community groups). We continued to manage four significant programmes to mobilise communities and challenge the social norms that perpetuate violence: E Tū Whānau, It’s Not OK, Pasefika Proud, and a Refugees and Migrants programme. We developed, redesigned and piloted services that respond to family violence and sexual violence, including a new programme, Whānau Resilience, that will provide long-term healing and recovery support to people affected by family violence.
In April 2019 the Government announced a programme to strengthen the independent oversight of the monitoring of the Oranga Tamariki children’s care system. We are leading the policy and legislative change process in support of this, to ensure that the wellbeing and interests of children and young people are at the centre of how the state delivers care and support. Our Independent Children’s Monitor Programme team has been working closely with Oranga Tamariki, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, the Office of the Ombudsman and other government agencies on strengthening the independent oversight system.
