Takamua a Te Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive’s foreword
Takamua a Te Tumu Whakarae
Tēnā koutou katoa,
I urupare anō Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora (MSD) i te pane o te tau 2023, i te pānga o ngā āhuatanga huarere taikaha i Te Ika-a-Māui, otirā i tūkinohia ai ō tātou hapori huhua. Mai i te tīmatanga ake, i reira ā mātou rōpū mahi, e mahi tahi ana ki ngā tari kāwanatanga, ngā hoa rangapū ā-hapori, ngā kaunihera me ngā iwi ki te whakarato tautoko waiwai ki ngā whānau i pā kinotia, tae atu ki te āwhina ā-pūtea ki te hoko kai, ngā wāhi whakamaru, kākahu, paraikete me ētahi atu āhuatanga whaitake.
I te wā o te urupare, i whakaratoa e mātou te āwhina ā-pūtea ki te 105,000 tāngata, mā ngā Utu Rākau Whakamarumaru me te whakahaere i te tahua tautoko hapori $21 miriona a te Kāwanatanga mō ētahi rōpū hapori whānui, ngā iwi me ētahi atu whakahaere e whai wāhi nui ana ki ngā mahi whakarauora. E haere tonu ana ngā mahi a MSD ki te urupare ki ngā āhuatanga huarere, te mahi ki ētahi atu tari hoki hei āwhina i ngā hapori i pā kinotia, ki te whakatū anō, ki te whakaora anō.
I haere tonu ā mātou mahi KOWHEORI-19 mō te roanga o te tau, me te whakahaeretanga o ā mātou pūtea āwhina utu kaimahi, utu tamō me ētahi atu momo āwhinatanga mā ngā whānau, mā te urupare tokoora a te kāwanatanga a Care in the Community.
Engari ahakoa ēnei wero katoa, i kawea tonu ā mātou mahi puta noa i te tau pūtea 2022/23. Ko ētahi o ā mātou whakatutukitanga:
- he āwhina i te 84,100 kainoho o Aotearoa ki te kimi mahi
- te whakarato tonu i ngā ratonga hapori i te taha o ētahi atu kaiwhakarato ā-kirimana
- te tukatuka i ngā tono Pūtea Taurewa me ngā Whiwhinga Pūtea ā-Ākonga 244,400
- te whakautu i te 3,917,000 waea i ngā kiritaki
- te tuku ratonga ki te 883,200 tāngata kei runga i te Penihana Kāwanatanga
- te whakapakari ake i ā mātou tautoko ki ngā whānau e noho tonu ana ki ō rātou ake whare, otirā kāore i te hiahia wāhi noho ohotata
- te kawe tonu i te tūārere hoahoa me te whakatinanatanga o tā mātou hōtaka whakaumu a Te Pae Tawhiti.
Puta noa i te 2022/23, i mau tonu te aronga kaha o MSD ki ngā tūranga mahi. I haere tonu te mahi ngātahi ki ngā kaiwhakarato tūranga mahi kei te hapori, e matatau ana ki te āwhina i te tangata ki te tūraki i ngā tauārai rapu mahi, i te wā hoki e whakaawe ana i ā mātou ake hōtaka whiwhi mahi – te Training Incentive Allowance, te Flexi-wage, te Apprenticeship Boost, a He Poutama Rangatahi me ētahi atu.
I whakatinanahia hoki e mātou ētahi panoni ā-ture hei āwhina i ngā tāngata o Aotearoa kei te hiahia tautoko moniwhiwhi. Ka uru ki ēnei te whakapiki i ngā utu penihana me ngā pūtea tautoko ākonga kia rite ai ki te pikiutu tukipū me te whakamana i te Whakahounga Pire Child Support (Pass On) Acts, otirā neke atu i te 41,000 ngā whānau mātua takitahi ka whai hua, me te hiki i te 14,000 tamariki ki waho ake o te rawakoretanga.
I te mea ko mātou tētahi o ngā tari kāwanatanga horapa nui i te motu, kei tua noa ā mātou haepapa i te whakarato tokoora me ngā ratonga whiwhi mahi; engari ka toro hoki ki te whakarite i te tomopai o ā mātou ratonga waiwai ki ō mātou hapori katoa – ina koa ngā mea e tino whirinaki ana ki a mātou.
I te Maehe 2023, i whakarewaina e mātou a Love Better – he kaupapa whakatairanga, otirā he ratonga pātuhi, waea me te īmēra hei āwhina i te rangatahi i te wā o ngā wehenga o te tokorua me te whāinga tauroa o te aukati i te riri ā-whānau. I tukuna hoki e mātou tētahi mahere taiohi i whakahoutia, i whakawhanaketia hoki i muri i ngā whakawhiti kōrero ki ngā taiohi 1,400, hei whakapakari i te reo o ngā taiohi hei whakaawe i ngā whakataunga e whai pānga ana ki a rātou me ō rātou anamata.
Hei tāpiri ake, ko MSD tētahi o ngā tari o Te Puna Aonui e mahi ana ki te whakatinana i te Mahere Mahi o Te Aorerekura – he rautaki 25 tau e whai ana ki te whakarato tautoko me ngā ratonga tāpiri hei whakatau me te whakakore i te riri ā-whānau me te taitōkai. Hei te mutunga o te 2022, i nui te whakapai a MSD i ā mātou ratonga matihiko mā te hunga i pā kinotia e te riri ā-whānau, otirā he pae tukutuku hou hei tautoko i te panoni ā-whanonga mā te hunga mahi tūkino, he ratonga waea 24/7 mā ngā pārurenga o te riri ā-whānau, me ētahi atu.
I te wā o ngā matapae o ngā whakarerekētanga āhuatanga ōhanga, i whakawhānuitia e mātou ā mātou ratonga Whakapiki Āheinga Ahumoni hei hiki i te mātau ahumoni me te oranga o te tangata me ngā whānau. I whakapiki hoki mātou i te tautoko ki ngā hapori tuawhenua mā te pūtea Kaiwhakarato, Āheinga ā-Hapori hoki, me te hoahoa hou o ngā Ratonga Heartland.
Kei te mahi ngātahi ki ētahi atu tari me ngā kaiwhakarato hapori ki te whakaiti i te popono nui a Aotearoa ki ngā whare ohotata, otirā ka noho hei aronga matua mā MSD. Ko ētahi panoni ko te whakapiki i te nui o te pūtea e wātea ana mā ngā Takuhe Tautoko Whare Noho me te whakapiki i te pūtea hei utu i ngā utu tūtahi (pēnei i te monihere, rēti rānei) mā te hunga kei ngā rēti tūmataiti e noho ana. He mea hoahoa ēnei panoni hei āwhina i ngā whānau ki te noho ki ngā whare tūmataiti, kia kore ai e eke ki te wā e hiahiatia ai he whare ohotata.
Tūturu kua nui ake te aronga ki te whakapakari i te pūnaha tokoora mō te anamata o ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa. I te mutunga o 2022/23, i whakaae te Rūnanga Minita kia tīmataria te whakaputanga o Te Pae Tawhiti, he hōtaka whakaumu tau-maha hei whakapai ake i te tere, te reretahi me te tomopai o ngā ratonga a MSD mā ngā kiritaki katoa. Ko ngā panoni tuatahi ka tīmata hei ēnei tau e rua.
Kua miramiratia ngā kōrero mō ā mātou mahi me ngā whakatutukitanga matua, atu ki ngā putanga e toru, me ngā tauākī pānga 10 kei roto i tēnei pūrongo. Koinei tā mātou tau tuatahi o te pūrongo atu ki ngā whakaritenga whakatutukitanga matua (KPI) 15 ka whakamahia ki te whaiwhai me te aromatawai i te kokenga hei ngā tau e tū mai nei.
Kei te hiahia au ki te mihi atu ki ā mātou kaimahi me ngā hoa rangapū mō ā rātou mahi inati me te whai wāhitanga nui ki te tautoko i ngā tāngata o Aotearoa.
Kei roto hoki i tēnei tau ko te pūrongo ā-tau a Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People i whakatūria ai i te 1 o Hūrae 2022 hei umanga ā-tari i raro i te maru o MSD.
Debbie Power
Tumu Whakarae
Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora
Chief Executive’s foreword
Tēnā koutou katoa,
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) again responded in early 2023 when the severe weather events struck the North Island and caused damage to many of our communities. From the outset, our teams were on the ground, working with government agencies, community partners, councils and iwi to provide vital support for affected whānau with financial assistance for food, shelter, clothing, bedding and other essentials.
During the response, we provided more than 105,000 people with financial assistance through Civil Defence Payments and managed the Government's $21 million community support package for a wide range of community groups, iwi and other organisations actively involved in the recovery efforts. MSD’s role in the response to the weather events is ongoing, working with other agencies to help affected communities rebuild and recover.
Our COVID-19 work also continued for much of the year, with the operation of our wage subsidies, leave payments and other forms of assistance for whānau through the government's Care in the Community welfare response.
Yet, despite all these challenges, we continued to perform and deliver throughout the 2022/23 financial year. Some of our achievements included:
- assisting 84,100 New Zealanders to find work
- continuing to deliver community services in partnership with contracted providers
- processing 244,400 applications for Student Loans and Student Allowances
- answering 3,917,000 calls from clients
- providing services for the 883,200 people receiving New Zealand Superannuation
- strengthening our support for whānau to remain in their own homes, without needing emergency accommodation
- commencing the design and implementation phase of our transformation programme, Te Pae Tawhiti.
Throughout 2022/23, MSD maintained a strong focus on employment. We continued to collaborate closely with community-based employment providers, who specialise in helping individuals overcome barriers to employment, while leveraging our own employment programmes – the Training Incentive Allowance, Flexi-wage, Apprenticeship Boost, He Poutama Rangatahi and others.
We also implemented a number of legislative changes to help New Zealanders in need of income support. These included increases in benefit, superannuation and student support rates in line with inflation, and giving effect to the Child Support (Pass On) Acts Amendment Bill, which is expected to benefit more than 41,000 sole parent families and lift 14,000 children out of poverty.
As one of the most geographically spread government agencies in New Zealand, our responsibility goes beyond just providing welfare and employment services; it extends to ensuring our essential services are accessible to all our communities – particularly those who need us most.
In March 2023, we launched Love Better – a campaign which includes text, phone and email services to help young people get through relationship break-ups with the long-term aim of preventing family violence. We also released a refreshed youth plan, developed in consultation with more than 1,400 young people, to give our young people a stronger voice in decisions which impact them and their futures.
In addition, MSD is one of several Te Puna Aonui agencies working on the implementation of the Action Plan of Te Aorerekura – a 25-year strategy aimed at providing increased support and services to address and eliminate family violence and sexual violence. Towards the end of 2022, MSD significantly improved our digital services for people affected by family violence with a new website to support behaviour change for people who use violence, a 24/7 phone service for family violence victims, and more.
Amid forecasts of changing economic conditions, we expanded our Building Financial Capability services to improve the financial literacy and wellbeing of individuals and whānau. We also boosted support for rural communities with Provider and Community Capability funding and the redesign of Heartland Services.
Working with other agencies and community providers to reduce New Zealand’s high demand for emergency housing remains a top priority for MSD. Recent changes include increasing the amount of assistance available through our Housing Support Grants and stepping-up financial assistance for covering one-off costs (such as bond or rent) for people living in private rentals. Together these changes are designed to help whānau to stay in private accommodation, without getting to the point of needing emergency housing.
More than ever, we are focused on future-proofing our welfare system for New Zealanders. The end of 2022/23 saw Cabinet give approval to start the roll-out of Te Pae Tawhiti, a multi-year transformation programme to improve the speed, consistency and accessibility of MSD’s services for all our clients. The first changes are set to begin within the next year or two.
Our performance story and key achievements are highlighted against our three outcome areas and 10 impact statements within this report. This is our first year reporting against our 15 new key performance indicators (KPIs), which will be used to track and assess our progress in years to come.
I want to acknowledge our people and trusted partners for their amazing work and the contribution they have made in supporting New Zealanders.
Included in this year is annual reporting for Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People which was established on 1 July 2022 as a departmental agency hosted by MSD.
Debbie Power
Chief Executive
Ministry of Social Development
