Community Housing Aotearoa, the Salvation Army, the Housing Foundation and Habitat for Humanity are working together on the KiwiBuy campaign to persuade the government to put more resources into shared ownership and progressive home ownership products that can help more kiwis own an affordable home. Using shared ownership and progressive home ownership models, community-based housing provides…

Help shape the Action Plan for 2019-2023 The Government is hosting meetings across the country in July and August to discuss what priorities it should focus on for family carers for the new Carers’ Strategy Action Plan. For the first time issues such as paid family care will be on the table for the Carers’…

Carer Support is not working and needs to be replaced as soon as possible with flexible budgets that people can use for what they, when need it. That is the main point from a report Respite in New Zealand: We Must Do Better, released in May by the Carers Alliance. Some 430,000 people in this…

The close attention now being paid to the practice of uplifting children by Oranga Tamariki (OT) is welcome.  The release of the Newsroom video “New Zealand’s Own Taken Generation” highlighting the lived reality of the removal of children by the State brought a greater clarity and understanding of this everyday practice to the attention of…

Important for NZCCSS members to note! New information sharing provisions come into force 1 July 2019.  Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Justice have released separate guidance on new information sharing provisions under the OrangaTamariki Act 1989  and the Family Violence Act 2019. The Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 [Sections 65A to 66Q] New provisions enable…

The work of the Royal Commission is progressing. The approach to abuse that occurred in faith-based settings are now in the Terms of Reference and are set out below. In the care of faith-based institutions means where a faith-based institution assumed responsibility for the care of an individual, including faith-based schools, and— for the avoidance of…

The contribution of the churches in social policy and social change is the focus of a research report published this year by the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at Otago University. The report Making a Difference: Faith-Based Organisations Contributing to Social Change in Aotearoa written by Dr Richard Davis, gives some insight into the…

Section 7AA of Oranga Tamariki Act – NZCCSS Hui Report In May Auckland social services provider VisionWest was the venue for a hui for NZCCSS members and other interested community social service organisations on how best to work alongside Iwi/Māori and to understand Section 7AA of Child Youth and Family (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Act due…

During 2019 NZCCSS is marking 50 years since the organization was established. In February we began the year with a vigil at Wellington Anglican Cathedral of St Paul. Emily Menkes, our social media coordinator, has been interviewing some of the people who have helped shape the history of NZCCSS. This interview is with NZCCSS Council…

Text supplied by IRD Over the last couple of months, we’ve told you about some of the upcoming changes to income tax via our ‘Changing for You’ campaign. In March 2019, Parliament passed legislation to make the income tax process for most individuals more straightforward. These changes will apply from 1 April 2019 and to…

On February 20th, NZCCSS Council members gathered to celebrate 50 years since the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services was formed. At Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, member churches, social service agencies and the public gathered to commemorate the ecumenical contribution made by NZCCSS since 1969. The Joint Day of Worship, as suggested by…

Community Law Centres o Aotearoa in partnership with Citizen AI has released a chatbot for people having problems with renting. “Rentbot” makes information about tenancy law more accessible to the over 2.9 million people in New Zealand who use Facebook. Rentbot is a free digital assistant to answer questions about renting, and the rights and…

Christchurch is seeing a drop in the number of people living on the streets thanks to the work of the Housing First collective impact group down there, including Christchurch Methodist Mission, Comcare, Otautahi Community Housing Trust, Emerge Aotearoa, the Anglican City Mission and Te Whare Roimata. In other cities where Housing First is operating, Hamilton…

The Child Poverty Reduction Bill has completed its journey through Parliament and will become law later this month when the Governor General signs off the Royal Assent. Just before this historic example of cross-party consensus is formalised as legislation, the release of the Child Poverty Monitor on 10th December gives the latest information on child…

The Minister of Finance Grant Robertson will be releasing the annual Budget Policy Statement in the week ending 14th December. This is an opportunity for people to comment on plans for the 2019 Budget and make a submission to the Parliament Finance and Expenditure Select Committee that considers this. NZCCSS and other groups in our…