New Zealanders are resilient and live in inclusive and supportive communities

Communities

Measuring our performance

On page 17, we describe our outcomes framework and impact statements.

The following impact statements describe the outcomes we are aiming to achieve in our communities:

Improve how we connect and partner
Improve the safety and strength of people, whānau, families and communities.

The following KPIs measure progress towards those impact statements:

Partnering for youth development
Satisfaction with services addressing family violence
Effectiveness of services addressing sexual violence.

We also have two overarching impact statements, which we deliver to across all our work. These are:

Improve equity of outcomes, particularly for Māori
Improve people’s trust and confidence in the welfare system.

The following KPIs measure progress towards those impact statements:

Ethnicity cohort data across our KPIs (Māori and Pacific peoples initially)
Client trust: Net trust score
Client experience: Overall service score.

See pages 72 to 79 for more information on how we are performing against our KPIs.

We continued to support recovery from severe weather events

Following Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods in early 2023, the Social Sector Recovery Plan was developed to guide longer-term investment for social recovery.

The Social Sector Recovery Plan was locally led, regionally enabled and nationally supported. MSD co-ordinated the Social Sector Recovery Plan following Ministerial approval for the shift from the National Emergency Management Agency.

MSD led the Employment Recovery Response, a Budget 2023 initiative. This initiative funds programmes and services to support people affected by the severe weather events to stay in or find employment, or upskill and train. This funding is flexible by design and contributes to reducing the long-term economic, health and wellbeing impacts of extreme weather events.

MSD’s regional commissioners facilitated the investment of this funding in regions by supporting decision-making based on local priorities and need.

MSD also supported recovery efforts through the following programmes:

Food Secure Communities: This programme is transitioning from a focus on emergency response to longer-term resilience. In 2023/24, our providers delivered 594,743 food parcels and our community food hubs distributed 8,137,969 kg of essential food supplies.
Community Connectors: In 2023/24, time-limited funding was provided to temporarily increase the number of Community Connectors to provide targeted support for individuals and whānau in regions affected by the severe weather events. Connectors support and advocate for those they work with, helping people access a range of services, including welfare and food support, social and mental health services, and employment. In 2023/24, Community Connectors supported 44,916 households.

We are resolving more historic claims than ever

MSD is working hard to help the survivors of abuse and neglect in state care. This year we completed over 1,000 claims assessments, and the vast majority of claimants who opted for a rapid payment received a settlement offer within three months.

New funding was approved in Budget 2024 to assess another 2,000 claims and contribute to the Crown’s response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, while Ministers consider options for improving existing redress systems.

We supported people experiencing family violence and sexual violence

MSD continues to support people experiencing family violence and sexual violence. This work supports delivery to Te Aorerekura – the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence and the Government target of 20,000 fewer people who are victims of an assault, robbery or sexual assault.

This year we:

continued to run Love Better (an internationally recognised campaign to foster safe, positive and equal relationships among young people). This campaign reached over 95 percent of the target audience in its first 12 months, received various media industry awards and was selected as a finalist in the 2024 Spirit of Service Awards in the Innovation Award | Te Tohu Auaha Hou category
expanded services for men who use violence through the phased rollout of the Supporting Men’s Behaviour Change – Te Huringa ō Te Ao initiative
continued to provide greater stability in the family violence prevention sector by ensuring that more providers receive long-term, sustainable and transparent funding
implemented an Accessibility Fund that supports MSD-funded providers of services addressing family violence and sexual violence to improve service accessibility for disabled people.

We achieved outcomes through iwi partnerships

Tākai Here Relationship Agreement between MSD, Te Rūnanganui o te Āti Awa and Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira was signed in September 2023. The central focus of this relationship agreement is the wellbeing of whānau, including a commitment to improving the overall quality of life and social conditions for whānau and communities. In particular, MSD is working with iwi partners to create employment and training opportunities to reduce the number of people receiving Jobseeker Support benefits in the region.

Our Tūhoe-Crown relationship was picked as joint winner for The Māori Crown Relationships Award | Te Tohu mō te Tūhonotanga a Ngāi Māori me te Karauna at the 2023 Spirit of Service Awards. The Tūhoe Service Management Plan is a 40-year plan forming part of the mana motuhake redress in the Tūhoe Deed of Settlement. MSD leads the Tūhoe Service Management Plan on behalf of the Crown. Tūhoe and the Crown work together to improve the housing, health, education, social support and development of Tūhoe.

We supported young people to thrive

This year, the Ministry of Youth Development funded 139 providers to deliver a total of 55,371 youth development and youth enterprise opportunities for young people aged 12–24 years. This included:

the Ākonga Youth Development Community Fund, which supports at-risk ākonga (learners) to stay engaged in their education journey or to transition to employment. In January 2024, 31 community-based providers across New Zealand started delivering services, with 52 percent of funding allocated to providers in regions affected by severe weather events.
He Kākano, a collaboration with the King's Trust Aotearoa New Zealand. He Kākano provides seed funding, mentoring, shared support services and skill development to young entrepreneurs. As at 30 June 2024, 98 percent of supported businesses continued to operate and grow, making contributions to their communities and the economy.

Case study – Communities

In the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, the Government approved an Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) programme to help with the clean-up and recovery. Funded by MSD and Whangārei District Council and delivered by Te Iwi o Te Roroa, the ETFG programme saw 13 local jobseekers, students and workers at risk of returning to a benefit help over 135 farmers across Northland and North Auckland to restore their land.

Most of the damage included fallen trees and branches, some of which blocked vital roads and waterways and damaged fences. This presented considerable risk to both farmers and the local community. Existing expertise within the ETFG team meant they could offer tree removal and chainsaw services, which proved invaluable – helping forge strong bonds between the team and landowners.

Ongoing training, supervision and pastoral care ensured a sustainable workforce throughout the 12-month programme. A governance group, including representatives from MSD, Te Roroa, Ministry for Primary Industries, Northland Regional Council, Rural Support Trust and Federated Farmers, met regularly to monitor the scope of work, problem-solve and identify sustainable employment outcomes for the workforce.

The programme officially wrapped up on 29 April 2024 and was acknowledged nationally for its partnership with iwi, scope of work delivered and ability to mobilise quickly.

As a result of innovative partnerships, the ETFG workforce was transitioned into ongoing employment through Ngā Manga Atawhai. This multi-agency project aims to build Northland’s resilience to future adverse weather events by tackling the problem of fallen and at-risk trees.

Lessons learned from the weather event and ETFG deployment have been captured and reviewed by the governance group. This will give the region confidence that community support can be deployed quickly for future events.

Picture above shows a worker helping to clear fallen trees and branches after Cyclone Gabrielle as part of the Enhanced Taskforce Green programme.