Basic health and welfare - UNCROC - Sixth Periodic Report by the Government of New Zealand 2021
On this Page:
Reply to Health, including mental health, and health services - 22(a)
The National Immunisation Register enables health professionals to improve immunisation rates in New Zealand. The Register also provides a record of immunisation coverage rates – regionally and nationally. Funding has recently been approved to redevelop the register as a National Immunisation Solution to support a potential COVID-19 vaccination programme and the ongoing maintenance of National Immunisation Programme going forward. Improvements will support more equitable delivery of immunisation programmes across the lifespan.
The COVID-19 outbreak and response has placed pressure on immunisation services, resulting in a modest decrease in immunisation rates in recent months that has disproportionately affected Māori. However, a change to the delivery of both doses of MMR vaccine in the second year of life, and a campaign to vaccinate an under-immunised cohort of teenagers and young adults, will protect against future outbreaks.
Rheumatic fever is particularly prevalent for children living in poverty. MOH works with 11 DHBs across New Zealand with high incidences of rheumatic fever to reduce the transmission rate of this disease among children. This includes measuring immunisation coverage to identify groups at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases and to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes designed to increase immunisation coverage.
The introduction of the Healthy Homes Standards in 2019 outline required standards under tenancy law for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping in rental properties.
During the winter months, MSD pays the Winter Energy Payment to all households receiving a main benefit or New Zealand Superannuation/Veteran’s Pension. This payment was introduced as part of the Families Package. It helps families meet the cost of heating in winter, and thereby prevent diseases caused by cold and damp homes.
Reply to Health, including mental health, and health services - 22(b)
In 2011, the Government adopted the Smokefree 2025 goal for New Zealand. The intention is to achieve this smokefree status by:
- protecting children from exposure to tobacco marketing and promotion
- reducing the supply of, and demand for tobacco
- providing the best possible support for quitting smoking.
A decision was made in 2019 to amend the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990 to prohibit smoking in vehicles carrying children under the age of 18. This will reduce children’s exposure to second-hand smoke.
The amendment to the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990 also included that schools must display ‘no smoking or vaping’ notices and retailers must not display smoking or vaping products.
Healthy Active Learning is a Wellbeing Budget 19 initiative promoting and improving healthy eating and physical activity in schools and early learning services across New Zealand. This is a joint initiative from the MOH, MOE, and Sport New Zealand.
School Based Health Services (SBHS) provide holistic healthcare and mental wellbeing support including promoting healthy choices to young people.
Reply to - Health, including mental health, and health services 22(c)
MOH funds a broad range of sexual and reproductive health services, programmes and initiatives. Services are delivered through general practice, hospitals, and other community-based service providers such as New Zealand Family Planning, laboratories, specialist fertility services, and health promotion providers. Schools and other government agencies also undertake work in this area.
Read information and resources on sexual and reproductive health
Relationships and Sexuality Education is compulsory learning in The New Zealand Curriculum from years 1–10 (ages 5–15) and covers education on sexual and reproductive health, including contraception and sexually transmitted infections. MOE recently released refreshed Relationships and Sexuality Education resources for both primary and secondary schools to ensure Boards of Trustees, principals and teachers have clear and up to date guidance for expected learning in this area and information on how to create safe, healthy, and inclusive school environments.
Reply to Health, including mental health, and health services - 22(d)
New Zealand Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Infants and Toddlers (0-2 years) recommend to exclusively breastfeed babies until they are ready for and needs extra food – this will be at around six months of age.
Breastfeeding data is collected by lead maternity carers and Well Child providers, such as Plunket. These groups also provide education and support in promotion of breastfeeding.
In July 2020, the duration of parental leave payment was extended to 26 weeks, from 18 weeks in 2018. This policy aims to support child and maternal health and welfare, including the recommended period of six months breastfeeding, by providing a period of absence from work of at least six months after the birth of a child.
Reply to Health, including mental health, and health services - 22(e)
Mana Ake – Stronger for tomorrow is an initiative led by the Canterbury Clinical Network that provides mental health and wellbeing support for children in the Canterbury region. Mana Ake was launched by the Government in February 2018, with funding for three years (to June 2021) to deliver dedicated mental health support for children aged 5–13 in school.
Mana Ake enabled a quick response to emerging wellbeing concerns in the aftermath of the 2019 Mosque Attacks and worked remotely to provide support for children during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Mana Ake practitioners deliver group or individual interventions to address emotional regulation, social relationships and/or wellbeing concerns, that are evidence-informed, culturally relevant, suitable for their local contexts at low cost.
MOH published a National response and recovery plan to support people affected by the Christchurch Mosque attacks. Supporting and treating mental distress, including that of children, is one of the expected outcomes outlined in the recovery plan. Key counselling services include:
- Umed, a virtual counselling service created in response to the mosque attacks. The model allows clients to choose a mental health professional with specific language and cultural capacity for their mental health needs.
- National Telehealth Service 1737.
All Right? is a health-promoting social marketing campaign based in Ōtautahi, Christchurch. Since its launch in 2013, All Right? has become a powerful champion for wellbeing in Canterbury, helping normalise conversations around wellbeing and mental health.
Reply to Climate change - 23
The Ministry for the Environment (MFE) does not have any climate change policies or programmes that are specifically aimed at addressing the special vulnerabilities and needs and views of children. However, in the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019;
- Clause 5ZG(3)(c) states that a strategy to mitigate the impacts that reducing emissions and increasing removals will have on employees and employers, regions, iwi and Māori, and wider communities, including the funding for any mitigation action must be included in preparing an emissions reduction plan.
- Clause 5ZQ(3)(b) states that in carrying out a National Climate Change Risk Assessment the Climate Change Commission must consider the distribution of the effects of climate change across society, taking particular account of vulnerable groups or sectors.
- Clause 5ZQ(4)(b) states that in preparing the National Adaptation Plan, the Minister must take into account the distribution of the effects of climate change across society, taking particular account of vulnerable groups or sectors.
MFE is currently developing New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan. The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019 requires that the plan is released by 31 December 2021. The plan will include policies and actions to transition New Zealand to a low emissions economy, as well as analysis of the distributional impacts that the transition will have and a strategy to mitigate those as required in Clause 5ZG(3)(c).
Climate change and caring for the environment is vital to whānau Māori (Māori families), including tamariki Māori, as reflected in the Whānau Ora outcomes and is intrinsic to how Māori conceive of wellbeing. This view informs how TPK influences government policy and is a key focus of its community investment through the Whenua Māori fund.
Reply to Standard of living - 24(a)
The understanding of poverty that informed the development of the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 was, ‘exclusion from a minimum acceptable standard of living in one’s own society due to a lack of resources’. The New Zealand Government’s position is that a multi-measure approach is required for monitoring levels of poverty.
The Child Poverty Reduction Act uses ten measures to monitor child poverty, including both income measures (before and after housing costs) and measures of material deprivation — measuring poverty from different perspectives and at different depths. The Act identifies a smaller subset of ‘primary’ measures for target setting over three-year and ten-year periods, with the selection of measures intended to ensure genuine progress is being made for children.
More information on the child poverty measures can be found in the Data Annex.
Reply to Standard of living - 24(b)
During the passage of the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, the Public Finance Act 1989 was amended in order to require the Government to publish a report on child poverty as part of the annual Budget process. This report must discuss the latest progress made in reducing child poverty and indicate how initiatives in the Budget will affect child poverty.
As outlined in the child poverty reports for Budgets 2019 and 2020, the New Zealand Government has implemented a number of policies to reduce child poverty – see reply to paragraph 24(d) below.
The Government also acted quickly to reduce the economic impact of COVID-19 on New Zealanders (see reply to paragraph 5(c)).
Reply to Standard of living - 24(c)
The annual Government report on child poverty provides transparency on how the measures in that Budget will affect child poverty.
The Budget 2020 report shows the wide range of measures focused on addressing child poverty, including swift action to protect children from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Further initiatives were also funded through a dedicated COVID Relief and Recovery Fund, including a number of initiatives aimed at supporting families facing additional pressure as a result of COVID-19. [1]
Reply to Standard of living - 24(d)
The Families Package, implemented from July 2018, increased the incomes of around 384,000 low to middle-income families with children – by, on average, $75 a week (in total, $5.5 billion over four years). There were also numerous changes to income support through Budget 2019, including the indexation of main social welfare benefits to average wage growth, and increasing the amount that beneficiaries can earn before their benefit reduces.
Modelling by Treasury estimated that the combined impact of the Families Package and Budget 2019 income support changes would reduce the number of children in poverty on the primary measure of low income by:
- between 41,000 (24%) and 66,000 (37%) children (before housing costs)
- between 50,000 (22%) and 74,000 (30%) children (after housing costs).
Changes to income support were also announced in April 2020, including an increase to benefits, temporarily doubling payments to support low-income families with energy costs during the winter months, and broadening eligibility for the In-Work Tax Credit. Taking all income support changes together, the combined impact is expected to increase income support for beneficiary families with children by, on average, around $100 per week.
Given the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Treasury did not provide a single estimate of the impact of the Budget 2020 changes on child poverty – instead, they modelled a number of scenarios. These scenarios highlight the sensitivity of the modelling to different economic outcomes.
Measures to address food security
The New Zealand Government has also taken a range of measures that specifically address food security.
The KickStart Breakfast Programme currently provides Sanitarium Weetbix and Anchor milk in over 1,000 schools (approximately 40% of all schools) across New Zealand, reaching 30,000 children. In addition, KidsCan provides support to children in low-decile (1–4) schools with Food for Kids, as well as essential clothing such as raincoats, socks and shoes, and hygiene products. Budget 19 provided $3.2 million to extend funding for this programme for a further two years.
Since early 2020, MOE has been piloting the Free and Healthy School Lunch Programme. The programme provides a free healthy lunch to children and young people each school day. Schools and kura (state schools where the teaching is in te reo Māori and is based on Māori culture and values) are identified for involvement in the programme using MOE’s Equity Index, which estimates where children and young people may experience socio-economic disadvantage that could affect their education.
To support food security at a whānau level for children, TPK currently offer Māra Kai grants for the establishment of kaupapa [2] Māori food gardens across Māori communities and marae.
The Government also acted quickly to ensure food was available to those who needed it in response to COVID-19. For example, the Government:
- implemented a range of measures to bolster the delivery of food and welfare assistance by local authorities and Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups, as well as providing additional support for foodbanks, food rescue and other community food services.
- made access to Special Needs Grants for food easier.
- funded the distribution of surplus produce to families and communities and is supporting innovative solutions to address supply chain issues exacerbated by COVID-19.
- is providing funding support for foodbanks, food rescue and other community food services.
- provided Free and Healthy School Lunch Programme as part of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund in June 2020. This programme was initially piloted in specific regions of New Zealand only, but will be expanded to reach approximately 200,000 children and young people across Aotearoa New Zealand during 2021.
Measures to address housing affordability and quality
Since 2018, the Government has substantially increased investment in the supply of public and transitional housing. Funding has been committed for an additional 18,000 public and transitional housing places to be delivered by 2024.
The Government has also developed a comprehensive, cross-agency action plan to prevent and reduce homelessness, including a focus on young people as one of six actions brought forward in response to COVID-19. The Government is providing assistance for families with children in emergency housing and has made changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to improve the quality of rental housing, strengthen security of tenure, and extend the minimum period between rent increases.
As part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, TPK brought forward and reprioritised its Māori housing investment programme. Support for repairs to homes owned and occupied by low income whānau Māori was prioritised against a list of criteria with the first priority being critical and essential repairs to sub-standard homes occupied by whānau with vulnerable persons (tamariki, kaumātua (elders) or others with special health and social service needs).
Another investment related to housing is the Oranga Marae programme. This programme gives support, advice and investment for marae. It gives whānau and hapū advice and support to help develop their marae and achieve their goals. This support may include building projects and activities to revitalise cultural knowledge.
School donations scheme
The donations scheme is an optional extra pool of funding available for decile 1–7 schools introduced in 2020. It provides schools with $150 for each student if they agree not to seek donations from parents and whānau. The scheme was designed to direct funding to schools that are less able to raise funds from their communities and reduce the pressure on parents to pay donations. It aims to reduce the widespread expectation that families should pay voluntary contributions to schools for their child’s education.
Figures show that 92.1% of eligible schools chose to opt into the scheme for the 2020 school year. $64.8 million in funding went to schools, benefitting 431,973 students and their families.
Access to menstrual hygiene products in schools
In June 2020, the Government announced an initiative to provide access to free menstrual hygiene products in schools nationwide, on an opt-in basis, in 2021. The initiative aims to:
- reduce barriers to accessing both education and sanitary products
- improve child and youth wellbeing
- reduce financial strain on families and whānau experiencing material hardship
- promote positive gender norms and reduce stigmatisation of menstruation.
Reply to Standard of living - 24(e)
As the key provider of benefit payments, MSD is the lead agency in benefit fraud investigations.
The process for deciding on prosecution requires that once a solicitor has confirmed that there is sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable expectation of conviction, the case is referred to the Fraud Prosecution Review Panel to determine if it is in the public interest.
In considering a case, the Panel will consider the effect a prosecution would have on any children related to the case (e.g. children in the care of the offender). Where there are children who may be impacted, this would be a factor considered. Each case is taken on its merits on a case-by-case basis and an overall assessment of all factors is required to make a final determination on whether to prosecute or not.
Reply to Standard of living - 24(f)
The Children’s Act 2014 sets out a legislative requirement to consult with children on a proposed strategy (or any changes to the strategy). In the development of the CYWS, a range of methods were used to help around 6,000 children and young people to express their views on what wellbeing means to them – namely through:
- partner agencies, skilled in working with children and young people, who were commissioned to lead the engagement process.
- interviews and focus groups to hear from 423 children and young people who were more likely to have faced, or be facing, challenges in their lives.
- a Child and Youth Engagement Toolkit developed to help community organisations organise their own focus groups
- an online survey that was completed by 5,631 children and young people.
- the ‘Postcard to the Prime Minister’ which proved an effective way for children, young people and adults to express their ‘big ideas’ directly with the Prime Minister.
- DPMC’s Child Wellbeing Unit engaging directly with children and young people through a small number of informal face-to-face engagements, as opportunities and events presented themselves.
TPK was engaged in the policy process to ensure that the voice of tamariki Māori and their whānau were clearly reflected in both the CYWS.
Footnotes
- Summary of Initiatives in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF) Foundational Package (treasury.govt.nz). Return to text
- Defined as principles and ideas which act as a base or foundation for action. Return to text
