Te Huringa ō Te Ao – Supporting Men’s Behaviour Change
Te Huringa ō Te Ao is an initiative that supports sustainable behaviour change for men to restore whānau wellbeing.
Men often need help at different times in their lives, so Te Huringa ō Te Ao will offer a wide variety of culturally responsive, flexible support, through the journey of change and into the potential of healing.
Te Huringa ō Te Ao aims to create opportunities for communities to reimagine support for men harming others by centering whānau voice. Through this initiative, providers will deliver services to men and their whānau.
The name, Te Huringa ō Te Ao, was gifted from MSD’s E Tū Whānau, Māori Partnerships and Programmes team. It references the fact that there are profound moments in the life of tāne and men. The name captures the moment of change and transformation for individuals, their whānau and whakapapa. It represents the limitless potential of change and transformation.
About Te Huringa ō Te Ao
Te Huringa ō Te Ao aims to strengthen and expand responses for men who use violence by supporting locally led responses, reflective of the needs and aspirations of whānau. This initiative will increase access to services for men using violence across Aotearoa, by increasing geographical coverage, expanding the range of responses available, investing in the specialist family violence workforce, and increasing support for Māori, Pacific and ethnically diverse communities.
Te Huringa ō Te Ao is underpinned by the voices of men and their whānau.
My idea of manhood comes from the men in my family and in my community... You didn’t talk much, you just needed to harden… up. We got tough love at times, kicks up the bum, that sort of thing. – Participant
The opportunity
Providers who are successful for Te Huringa ō Te Ao will receive long-term contracts up to 9.5 years, with FTE based funding. The first two and a half years of the contract will be flexible for providers to do both service development and/or service delivery. This will be community-led and MSD-supported.
MSD will work directly in partnership with providers by coming alongside communities to support their aspirations.
Te Huringa ō Te Ao will apply a ‘test, learn and improve’ approach to prioritise continuous development based on whānau voice.
It’s like I'm sitting in the bath. And I’ve got all these taps, they’re all on at the same time. I don’t know which problem to fix first. What tap do I turn off? – Participant
Te Huringa ō Te Ao development and procurement
Read more about the development and procurement of Te Huringa ō Te Ao, including the formative research, road shows across Aotearoa, the procurement process, and key changes for MSD.
How it works
Te Huringa ō Te Ao provides an opportunity for communities to reimagine support for men by focusing on whānau voice. Through Te Huringa ō Te Ao, providers can undertake service development as well as service delivery.
Te Huringa ō Te Ao framework
The Te Huringa ō Te Ao framework reflects essential information from a literature review, the voices of men using violence and sector engagement. All service development, service delivery and project stewardship must algin to these.
The framework includes seven service aspirations, which are key focus areas based on evidence that will act as a catalyst to illicit outcomes that are whānau led:
- Strengthening cultural identity, language and whakapapa.
- Supporting tāne and men as fathers.
- Supporting whānau wellbeing.
- Healthy relationships.
- Safe and healthy masculinity.
- Responsibility and accountability.
- Supporting healing and connection with whānau.
The framework includes the following underpinning principles are essential elements that providers and services must commit to and demonstrate at all levels of the organisation:
- Free and accessible services.
- Enacting Te Tiriti in practice.
- Whānau-led and whānau-centred.
- Actively address collusion (condoning or encouraging abuse).
- Prioritise the safety and wellbeing of whānau and family impacted by the violence.
- Collaboration and integration with specialist services, iwi and hapū to support holistic responses for tāne and their whānau and family.
- Take an intersectional approach that is responsive to tāne and men.
- Culturally, spiritually and physically safe and responsive to tāne and men.
- Continuous improvement through ongoing evaluation and reflective learning.
These align to the Te Puna Aonui Entry to Expert Framework and Specialist Organisational Standards and contributes towards our collective vision from Te Aorerekura where: whānau can thrive; their wellbeing enhanced and sustained because they are safe and supported to live their lives free from family violence and sexual violence.
Violence is spiritual, we need a spiritual solution too – Provider
This can be seen in the following graphic. Click the image to open a larger image. You can also view this as an accessible pdf.
Contact us
Have any pātai? Check here first. Then contact your Regional Relationship Manager. Then email us at TeHuringaoTeAo@msd.govt.nz if you have any questions.
