A peer-reviewed research article from Engage Aotearoa’s service director was advance-released online at Taylor and Francis last week and is planned for print publication in Psychosis next year.
The research was conducted for Larsen-Barr’s Master’s Degree research, supervised by Owens at the University of Auckland.
| Does Budget 2012 deliver?
Thursday, 24 May 2012, 4:51 pm |
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
24 May 2012
Does Budget 2012 deliver?
ComVoices members, a network of community and voluntary sector organisations, were hoping to see a much greater emphasis on policies that focused on closing the gap between the wealthiest in New Zealand and the numerous families living in poverty right now.
The Government had signaled a willingness to address some ofNew Zealand’s toughest social issues with the 2012 Budget. Making sure that our young people have the skills to succeed, addressingNew Zealand’s shameful imprisonment rates and taking steps to improve fundamental services such as early childhood and primary teaching all illustrate this.
However, overall a zero budget fails to recognise the impact that inequality is having on our communities right now and the long term drag inequality creates in our sector. Dave Henderson, Coordinator for the Association of Non-Governmental Organisations of Aotearoa (ANGOA), said communities needed support to address the marginalisation of low income New Zealanders.
“This budget, combined with the welfare reforms, puts the squeeze on our most vulnerable members of society. To really get results we must tackle the critical issue of inequality, including the horrific impact of child poverty.
Ric Odom, Chair of ComVoices, says that the Government’s focus on a few distinct results was a strong start in refocusing the whole system towards delivering more for New Zealanders. However, to be successful would require a much greater focus on involving community organisations in the delivery of those results.
“The Government’s ‘results’ focus should be a chance to realign the whole system. Simply doing the same thing we have been doing is not going to create real change.”
“Sector organisations have long worked for this approach, but the Government’s results focus will only address our most intractable social issues if the public service truly involves communities and all those that serve in the action plan development and implementation.”
Vanisa Dhiru, Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand, said that to achieve the results the Government wants will require a truly collaborative effort between public organisations and communities.
“Targets and action plans will not be effective if they are developed by government agencies behind closed doors with the same people asking the same questions and giving each other the same answers.”
“The public services must be open to grassroots innovation, learning and collaborative opportunities within the community. Doing that will make successful results that much more certain,” Ms Dhiru said.
The Community and Voluntary Sector contributes more than 4.9 per cent of GDP (including volunteer hours), similar to the contribution of the construction industry. Volunteer labour in 2010 was estimated to be 270 million hours, which translates into $3.5 billion. Volunteering is not restricted to the Community Sector. A lot of core central and local government work is also actively supported by volunteers, for example: the Coastguard, Police, Prisons, and Search and Rescue. The Sector is a significant contributor to the social and economic health ofNew Zealand.
ENDS
A recent report on the suicide prevention action plan, developments in youth forensic services, and working together to keep children safe are all topics covered in the latest update from the Health and Disability NGO Email Update.
All updates are available http://www.ngo.health.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexcm/ngo-news-updates?Open&m_id=2.1.
Or to subscribe to regular email updates email ngo@moh.govt.nz
Youth Mental Health Package Unveiled by Prime Minster: Last week the Prime Minister unveiled a $62 million package of initiatives focusing on youth mental health. The package details how Government will improve services for young people with, or at risk of, mild to moderate mental health problems. The initiatives will be of interest to many people and organisations working in the community sector who deal with the consequences of unmet mental health needs, which can involve families, schools and communities as well as the young people themselves. The initiatives will include a focus on making primary health care more youth friendly with interim support for Youth One Stop Shops. The finer details are still in development and the Ministries are consulting with key people in the sector. The initiative also increases the number of youth workers in low decile schools.
Youth workers will be placed in schools in South Auckland, Porirua and Flaxmere that don’t already have Multi Agency Support Services in Secondary Schools. Youth workers will be employed by Child, Youth and Family preferred providers who will be required to go through a tendering and contracting process. There will be 9 new youth workers in 2012/13 and 10 more in 2013/14. Youth workers will be required to have a level 6 qualification.
Full fact sheet information is available here:
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Youth_Mental_Health_project-School_Based_Initiatives.pdf
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Youth_Mental_Health_project-Health_Sector.pdf
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Youth_Mental_Health_project-Family_and_Community.pdf
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Youth_Mental_Health_project-Online_initiatives.pdf
Whanau Ora: A Strengths Based Approach to Youth Mental Health: The Minister for Whānau Ora, Tariana Turia, has welcomed the recognition that Whānau Ora is intimately linked to the drive to improve youth mental health. “Whānau Ora, at its heart, is about whānau, aiga or families coming together to support each other through building shared aspirations, and working together to achieve those aspirations,” said Mrs Turia. Read the media release http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/wh%C4%81nau-ora-strengths-based-approach-youth-mental-health
Youth Smoking Hits Record Low: ASH Smoking Survey shows a record drop in youth smoking – especially among Maori girls. The overall rate of youth smoking has dropped one-and-a-half percent to 4.1% (from 5.5% in 2010), the largest drop in almost a decade. Read the full report here: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/youth-smoking-hits-record-low
Public Sector Targets: The Government has announced a set of 10 new targets for the public sector over the next three to five years. These have implications for children, young people, and people working with them. For more information see http://beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/The_Prime_Minister%27s_results_for_New_Zealanders.pdf
Health of Maori Children and Young People with Chronic Conditions and Disabilities: The report provides an overview of secondary health service utilisation patterns for Māori children and young people with chronic conditions and disabilities. To read the report see http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/health-maori-children-and-young-people-chronic-conditions-and-disabilities
Families Commission – Teen Pregnancy – New Report: A recent report on teen pregnancy in New Zealand makes recommendations aimed at providing more support, choice and opportunity for young parents. To download and view the report go http://www.familiescommission.org.nz/research/parenting/teenage-pregnancy-and-parenting
Payment Rate Increases: From 1 April 2012 there will be a 1.77% increase to: rates and thresholds for main benefits, Student Allowances, Student Loan Living Costs and the Foster Care Allowance, rates and thresholds for some supplementary assistance, thresholds for the Community Services Card. A 2.65% increase will apply to rates of New Zealand Superannuation. Read more here http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/media-releases/2012/payment-changes-for-april-2012.html
Age Concern New Zealand: Media Release: 15 May 2012:
New figures show older people significant portion of society
Age Concern New Zealand says new figures show the significant portion of society older people make up.
The figures, released yesterday by Statistics New Zealand, show those over 80 are the fastest growing age-group with the age group growing at about four times the rate of 20 years ago.
There are presently more than 160,000 New Zealanders aged over 80 but Statistics New Zealand estimates this number could reach half a million by 2050.
Age Concern New Zealand Chief Executive Ann Martin says this is great news for our country.
“People living longer, healthier lives has to be a positive.
“Older people are some of our most active volunteers, as well as an invaluable source of wisdom.
“It also means more older people will be able to stay in their own homes for longer and to care for those less able.”
However, Age Concern believes planning by all sectors of society will be required to meet a range of service demands.
“For Age Concern, it means we need to plan to be able to respond to the current and future needs and demand for our services.
An older population means more people who are isolated and lonely which will require visiting services such as Age Concern Accredited Visiting Services.
“There are also likely to be more people of this 80 year old age group being abused and requiring our prevention and intervention services,” she says.
Age Concern is calling for more government research, policy and planning on matters concerning older people.
“There doesn’t appear to be a lot of positive focus on seniors right now.
“Many people over 80 have complex needs but want to remain in their own homes with support. Government is aware of this and needs to make home-based care a priority.
“Those who can’t remain at home will need good residential care and for people needing acute treatment they will continue to need access to hospital beds and good primary health.”
Martin says these statistics also mean there is likely to be more older people surviving solely on the NZS only, which is difficult with rising costs.
“It would be wise for all of us who are not yet 80 to give some thought to how we wish to spend the latter year of our lives and to begin planning for this. Develop social networks and find out about local support services.”
ENDS
Media contact: Lucy Johnston, Communications & Marketing Manager, Age Concern New Zealand – ph 04 801 9338
FYI: The Children’s Commission Experts Advisory Group on Children’s Poverty has released their terms of reference for their search for proposed solutions to child poverty in New Zealand.
Counties Manukau DHB has announced that there will be entirely no smoking in the buildings and on the grounds of their acute mental-health service, Tiaho Mai from 31 May 2012
What does this mean for Consumers/Tangata Whaiora?
• Pre-planning in the event of a Tiaho Mai stay regarding your
nicotine needs
• Free nicotine patches, gum/lozenges to help with cravings
• Information and education before your stay in Tiaho Mai
• In the event of a stay in Tiaho Mai you will be asked to hand in:
Any items you hand in or are removed will be safely stored until you leave Tiaho Mai
Tiaho Mai invites consumers/tangata whaiora to become involved in the planning for this change.
If you would like to discuss this further or become involved please approach your Keyworker or Community Support Worker.
THANK-YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS IN NOT SMOKING AT TIAHO MAI
9 May 2012
Press Release: Auckland’s Ethnic Media’s Contribution to Settlement and Integration
Service providers helping migrants settle in the Auckland area are collaborating with ethnic media to look at the best ways of getting information to newcomers and their communities.
Nearly 80 representatives from various service provider organisations heard from keynote speakers from ethnic media journalists at a Regional Settlement Network meeting organised by Auckland Regional Migrant Services (ARMS).
The speakers included Lynda Chanwai-Earle, Spoken Features Producer, Asian Affairs, Radio New Zealand National; Terri Byrne, Planet FM – Station Manager; and Robert Khan, Tarana FM Manager Director.
According to Robert Khan, the point of difference between mainstream and ethnic media is the direct connections that ethnic media create with their audiences. “With Radio Tarana, we connect with our listeners, we listen to them, share their views, cover their side of the story, as opposed to mainstream, where usually the generic news angle is taken”, he says.
Lincoln Tan, NZ Herald columnist, also facilitated a discussion with panellists, representing various ethnic media. Panellists Maggie Chen, CEO, Chinese Herald; Ane Ponifasio, Managing Editor, Samoa Times & Radio Samoa; Brendon Fraser, Educator, EMINZ Media Agency; and Sang Yong Lee, Director, The Korea Town magazine, shared their views and experiences on how community integration can be assisted through delivery of multilingual information.
ARMS Chief Executive, Mary Dawson, says the last decade has seen a big rise in Auckland’s ethnic media. “They play an important role in getting information out to new migrants from over 160 ethnic backgrounds about all kinds of local matters, commercial and non-commercial,” Dr Dawson says.
“Most of us not from those linguistic backgrounds have little idea about the proliferation and scope of Auckland’s ethnic media and the meeting was extremely useful in giving us some ideas on how to get our messages across to people.”
ARMS is funded by Immigration New Zealand to provide the Regional Settlement Network meeting twice-yearly. The Network brings together organisations and government agencies to share good practice, information and trends and to encourage collaboration that assists newcomers to New Zealand, to settle more easily and quickly.
For more information Contact:
