 |
| Pēpuere | February Our monthly newsletter serves as a platform to connect the mahi of our team with insights from our policy groups, wider membership, and sector relationships. Through this lens, we aim to highlight how these combined efforts shape policy and influence decision-making.Each issue is structured around our four primary focus areas: Tō Tātou Rāngai | Our Sector Tamariki | Children Kaumātua | Older People Ōritetanga me te whakaurunga | Equity & Inclusion In the Kaumātua, Tamariki, and Ōritetanga me te whakaurunga sections, updates will align with the following themes: Threads in Action: Current Highlights. Key updates on impactful initiatives and accomplishments relevant to our members and sector. Weaving New Patterns: What Lies Ahead. A preview of upcoming projects and areas for potential engagement. Interwoven Impacts: Reflecting on Influence. Insight into how past work has contributed to broader sector outcomes. As always, we welcome your feedback and thank you for your continued commitment to this work. We wish to take this opportunity to send our prayers to His Holiness, Pope Francis, for his return to full health following his recent illness, and for our Catholic member to find support and solace in this time. From our new Kaiwhakahaere Matua | Chief Executive Officer It is a real privilege to be able to introduce myself as the new CEO of NZCCSS and welcome you to the February issue of Te Raranga Kaupapa Here | Weaving Policy. As we look ahead for 2025, the kaupapa of NZCCSS to achieve a just and compassionate Aotearoa New Zealand feels more relevant now than ever. Not only are we seeing concerning metrics like increases in child material hardship over the last three years, rising food insecurity and higher rates of abuse for children in care, but the critical community organisations who support our vulnerable people are themselves facing cost pressures and funding insecurity. At the same time, we are seeing divisive race relations and a more politically polarised context. I do not underestimate the challenging times we are experiencing. However, I am already buoyed by the collaboration and passion that I have seen across our social services and community sector. The insights, experience and power we hold is not to be underestimated and I look forward to using our collective voice to deliver real progress for our communities together. Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi With my food basket and your food basket the people will thrive forever Ngā mihi nui, Alicia Sudden   Tax and the Not-For-Profit Sector Inland Revenue have opened a consultation reviewing the tax settings for not-for-profit organisations. Ministers had signalled that a review of these settings for charities was upcoming, with further announcements likely at Budget time in May. This consultation focuses on, among other things, the tax treatment of ‘unrelated business income’, and relates to the potential to tax the profit on business proceedings not directly related to the charitable outputs of the organisation, though these profits are likely to fund these outputs. Specific concerns are for large charity-associated businesses, such as Sanitarium, and for community op-shops. We encourage all impacted organisations to make a submission before the closing date of March 31, 2025. We will be making a submission on this topic, and we are keen to hear from you on how these possible changes may impact you. Here is our quick survey so you can let us know your thoughts on this topic to help inform the direction of our advocacy on behalf of our membership.  Threads in Action: Two Reports on our Tamariki Latest Child Poverty Results ReleasedNZCCSS CEO Alicia Sudden attended the Child Poverty Data lock up on 20 February, where Stats NZ shared the lasted child poverty results which showed no statistically significant movement on child poverty statistics across all primary measures and for populations of interest (Māori, Pacific, children impacted by disability) over the past year. Primary poverty measure 2018 (Baseline) 2022/23 Results Intermediate Targets for 2023/24 2023/24 Results Income before housing costs 16.50% 12.60% 10 12.70% 149,900 children Income after housing costs 22.80% 17.50% 15 17.70% 208,000 children Material hardship 13.30% 12.50% 9 13.40% 156,600 children  We are concerned by the loss of momentum in reducing child poverty demonstrated by the failure to meet all three targets for the third interim target period (2021-2024). While there were some positive gains since 2018 in Before housing costs and After housing costs poverty rates, both the After housing costs and Material hardship measures have had a statistically significant increase since 2021 when the intermediate targets were set. This translates to 30,900 more children living in material hardship compared to the period three years ago. One in three Pacific children are living in material hardship, and one in four Tamariki Māori and children in households with at least one disabled person are in hardship. This compares to the average of one in seven children in general. We note also that Treasury’s projections of the impact of Budget 2024 on the After Housing Costs rate of poverty have not been realised, with this sitting at 17.7% compared to the projected rate of at or below 15%. It is clear that in recent years those on the lowest incomes have not received enough support as the cost of living crisis set in. Notably, the data released today reflects the period from July 2022 to June 2024 due to the survey methodology, reflecting a combination of both the Labour and National-led Governments. Positively, Stats NZ noted a better uptake in respondent numbers for this period compared to previous years data, reducing the sampling error margins. Alongside the Child Poverty Data release was also the Household Income and Housing Stats. A noted feature of this data set by one of the attendees was a concerning low level of income amongst single parent households: 80% of sole parent households have income of less than $45999 or in the bottom two fifths of income brackets. Media coverage includes this piece by the Spinoff featuring NZCCSS Co-President Bonnie Robertson. Full child poverty results can be found here. Latest Experiences of Care report from Aroturuki Tamariki Aroturuki Tamariki has recently released their fourth Experiences of Care report covering the 2023/24 year. This report monitors compliance with the National Care Standards (NCS). Key findings include: The overall finding that tamariki and rangatahi are still not receiving adequate care, with only 37% of children and young people receiving the minimum standard of care required under the NCS. There continues to be inconstency of care with financial pressures, workforce constraints and low-trust systems impacting social workers’ ability to perform their roles well. Children and young people in care are not sufficiently prioritised for government services, with Aroturuki noting that “we are yet to see evidence that the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan is making a difference on the ground” (p.3) Funding for children is siloed resulting in stand offs over who pays for what and children and young people not receiving the support they need in a timely manner. There is concern about the erosion of collaboration and innovation in the system. Abuse in care has increased despite the number of tamariki and rangatahi in care reducing, with children in residences or return home placements more likely to experience abuse than those in whānau or non-whānau placements. Mana Mokopuna have commented on this and the need for government agencies to work together in their press release on the report’s findings. Positively there has been some improvement in the rate of caregivers who are approved or provisionally approved before tamariki and rangatahi are placed with them. This figure increased from 67% (2022/23) to 80%. This relates to Recommendation 60e of the Whanaketia report. There is concern about the ability of Oranga Tamariki to respond to the report’s findings given recent funding cuts and resourcing constraints. We are interested in hearing from members who can provide insight into how the following issues noted in the report are impacting tamariki, rangatahi, caregivers and whānau on the ground. Assessment and planning: The report indicates that less than half of the care population have had their needs assessed and plans developed in accordance with the NCS. Return home placements and social worker visits: The report highlighted that only 15% of young people in return home placements, particularly where these are unexpected transitions, are receiving social worker visits in line with the frequency indicated in the Care Standards. Do you have thoughts on the Aroturuki Tamariki Report? If you have thoughts on the questions above, please be in contact with Senior Analyst Melanie Wilson by emailing m[email protected]. Our members voices are valuable to us. Recent submissions relating to children and families: We advocated for strengthening the accessibility of postnatal care through our submission on the Pae Ora Healthy Futures 3 Day Postnatal Stay Amendment Bill. Our oral and written submissions on the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill advocated for greater focus on the determinants of youth offending and early intervention, recognising that most young offenders are already known to government through prior concerns for their wellbeing. Weaving New Patterns: Children’s Right to a Good Life symposium, February 2025 Senior Policy Analyst Melanie Wilson attended this symposium hosted by AUT Child and Youth Health Research Centre. The symposium focused on supporting the health and well-being of all tamariki, rangatahi, and their whānau. It was wonderful to hear from a variety of sector leaders, researchers and practitioners who shared research and insights aimed at enhancing child wellbeing in Aotearoa. Highlights included: Hearing from Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad about the work of Mana Mokopuna in upholding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and insights from engagements with children and young people that highlight what is important to them. Learning about the kiwiASQ – a new developmental assessment tool currently being validated by Dr Allison Laversha and team. You can find out more here. Learning more about supporting successful school reintegration for young people with school refusal through research shared by Dorothy Cosmos. Building on our report Te Kōrero mō ngā Tamariki, we are particularly interested in exploring children’s right to a good life through the lens of middle childhood, noting that this age stage is often given less attention in relation to children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child than other stages of childhood. Interwoven Impacts: Ram Raids Amendment Bill In 2023 NZCCSS submitted in opposition to the Ram Raid Offending and Related Measures Amendment Bill. We, along with many others, recommended a complete withdrawal of this legislation out of concern for the harm it would cause to tamariki and rangatahi. We were pleased to see the final report on the bill released this month and the decision by the government to discharge the bill. We celebrate this win but recognise that elements of this bill have been included in other legislation such as the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to serious youth offending) Amendment Bill, which we have also opposed. We will continue to advocate against punitive approaches and for the rights of children and young people to be upheld within our justice system.  Threads in Action: Concern Growing for Older Persons’ Housing Insecurity Since its release in November, there has been noticeable interest in our report on Housing Insecurity in over 55s. Senior Analyst Rachel Mackay has been able to talk to other groups in the older persons support sector, advocates for renters and older people, local government bodies engaged in housing older people, community housing providers, and members of parliament about the worrying information outlined in the report. As a result, several of the regions where the observed numbers did not match what we would expect are being reinvestigated in an attempt to equip advocates in these areas with better data. We are also approaching the anniversary of the dataset, which looked at March 2024, and are eager to obtain some comparative analytics to see how policy settings have impact this population in the last 12 months. We are also working on the follow up reports using the same framework. One will investigate the housing insecurity in households that have children as part of the application, authored by our Child and Family Senior Analyst Melanie Wilson. The third report will be co-authored by our two senior analysts Rachel and Melanie and will look at over 55s with children as part of their application in a ‘Grandparents raising grandchildren’ lens. We look forward to sharing the outcome of this work with you. Recent submissions relating to older people: We advocated for aged care to be considered key infrastructure in our response to the Budget Policy Statement 2025 We reminded government that productivity is so much more than income earned, and the value of those who do not work in paid employment, as we as the impacts on GDP-based metrics with our ageing population in our response to MBIE’s Future Productivity Long Term Insights Briefing Weaving New Patterns: ARRC Annual Review beginning This year has already presented a barrage of opportunities to speak with government and one that we remain engaged with is the annual review of the Aged Related Residential Care (A21) contract review. The first pre-negotiation workshop took place on February 3rd, with a representative delegate from NZCCSS taking part.As ever, we will be advocating for the contracts to include allowances for capital investment for building and refurbishment to make sure that Standard Bed facilities that serve our most vulnerable older people are able to remain functioning. We will also be a constant reminder that aged care is not the same as it once was, with significantly increased acuity for new residents and more complexity than ever before.While the past few annual negotiations have not yielded the results we had hoped for, we have to remain optimistic that the constant advocacy from the sector will, at some point, convince government to fund it appropriately. Interwoven Impacts: A Year of the AACAP The Aotearoa Aged Care Action Plan is coming up on its first anniversary and we are keen to begin the analysis of what has happened since its launch. The nine objectives and twenty-eight actions were always intended to be part of an iterative and responsive process of sector assessment. If actions are completed or have been impacted by changes in policy, now is the time to assess and update. Senior Analyst Rachel Mackay is in the process of conducting a sector assessment to see who is already engaged across the actions and what gaps have been made apparent in the last year. If you have thoughts about the AACAP review, or have programmes that should be profiled under one of the action points, please also be in touch with Senior Analyst Rachel Mackay by emailing [email protected]  Threads in Action: State of the Nation Released The Salvation Army has released their State of the Nation 2025 with some sobering findings: This year …many indicators have worsened, making it harder for people to have what they need in terms of kai, kainga and whānau. Food insecurity among families with children has risen sharply, and half of all Pacific children go without food often or sometimes. Recent submissions relating to Equity and Inclusion: Honouring te Tiriti We strongly opposed the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Toitū te Tiriti! Economic equity We challenged the greater use of sanctions and punitive measures in our submission on the Social Security Amendment Bill We supported pay transparency in our submission on the Employment Relations (Employee Renumeration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. Restorative Justice We supported our justice system taking stalking seriously, and called for greater resourcing in this area in our submission on the Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Bill. We advocated for a pivot towards restorative practices in our submission on the Future of Courts and the Justice system. Health equity The Mental Health Bill aims to create a modern legislative framework for compulsory mental health care. Our submission supports the kaupapa but raises several concerns. We advocated for comprehensive, respectful and accessible healthcare for all young people in our response to The Ministry of Health’s consultation on the use of puberty blockers. Rights and Wellbeing We advocated for a significant refocus on wellbeing in our submission on the Budget Policy Statement 2025. We challenged the focus on a GDP-based approach to productivity in MBIE’s Future of Productivity consultation. We opposed the narrow focus on private rights to the exclusion of the public good in our response to the Ministry for Regulation’s consultation on the Regulatory Standards Bill. We raised concerns about our nation’s ability to meet our rights-based obligations in our response to the 5th Periodic Report from the United Nations. Remember to revisit our resource on how to write a submission when it is time to write your own. Weaving New Patterns: Fair Tax Coalition petition NZCCSS is part of the Fair Tax Coalition lead by Tax Justice Aotearoa. The coalition is preparing a campaign for fairer taxes ahead of the next election. It is seeking donors for the campaign and has a live petition Say NO to Corporate Tax Cuts.  The petition will be presented in mid-March. Please consider signing and going to Tax Justice Aotearoa‘s website to better understand the issues an the proposed solutions. Interwoven Impacts: Funding for Oranga TamarikiOur work with Te Pai Ora on Oranga Tamariki funding has had some positive news recently. Te Pai Ora Media Release – Community providers welcome pause of harmful Oranga Tamariki contracting process We will continue to advocate for funding settings that enable our members to continue their vital work of supporting whānau and tamariki in communities. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 (NIV) |
28 February, 2025
Te Raranga Kaupapa Here – Pēpuere
The February edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
Te Raranaga Kaupapa Here – Whiringa-ā-rangi
The November edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
News
Te Raranga Kaupapa Here – Paengawhāwhā
The April edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
News
Te Raranga Kaupapa Here – Poutūterangi
The March edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
News