New Zealand faces major challenges in family violence, and perhaps more than any other, this is a society-wide issue which cannot be left solely to government to address.

This issue of New Dialogue highlights some of the work being done across government and the voluntary sector to face up to family violence.

Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families

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The Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families was established in June 2005 to advise the Family Violence Ministerial Team on how to make improvements to the way family violence is addressed, and how to eliminate family violence in New Zealand. The Taskforce seeks to build on the worksteams already identified by the Te Rito Strategy that wound down after 5 years.

Taskforce was the first time that decision-makers, the government and non-government sectors, the Crown and judiciary were brought together to formulate collective strategies for tackling the problem. In July 2006, The Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families issued its report “The First Report”. The report outlines the Taskforce’s programme of action, with which it aims to move towards it’s vision of:

• leadership – we need leadership at all levels if we are going to transform our society into one that does not tolerate family violence

• changing attitudes and behaviour – we have to reduce society’s tolerance of violence and change people’s damaging behaviour within families

• safety and accountability – swift and unambiguous action by safe family members and the justice sector increases the chances of people being safe and of holding perpetrators to account

• effective support services – individuals and families affected by family violence need help and support from all of us so they can recover and thrive.

We asked three NGO representatives on the Taskforce for their views on what strategies were expected to be rolled out over the coming years, what they made of this, and what it would mean to them.

Jeff Sanders, Relationship Services and NGO representative

I am a strong supporter of the Taskforce – both for what it represents as a way of working, and for the programme of action it has developed.

I view the work of the Taskforce essentially as a process to bring together people from different sectors, organisations, positions and disciplines. This process signals a commitment from across government, the judiciary and the NGO sector to find ways of working together to address violence within families. This level of collaboration is vital even if it is not easy. Comprehensively addressing family violence is going to take decades. Political and public support for this issue will wax and wane over that time. There will be more major setbacks and disappointments along the way. But I believe that we have to put time and effort into building strong, honest relationships that will sustain progress on this issue and support our mutual resilience in the face of these challenges.

The programme of action that is set out in the Taskforce’s first report has four main strands, none of which will work on their own or be enough to make a significant difference to the level of family violence in New Zealand. But if the Taskforce is able to ensure that we make consistent progress on all four fronts, and we hold each other accountable for delivering on what has been promised, we will see change.

As one of the five NGO representatives on the Taskforce I am conscious that we have a responsibility to ensure that three issues in particular remain firmly on the table:

Building on Te Rito: The Taskforce was established to build on the Te Rito strategy and not to replace it. The NGO representatives have advocated strongly for the work of Te Rito to be recognised, supported and completed.

Keeping the issue of NGO capacity and capability at the fore: A sustainable and realistic system for funding family violence and family support services is vital. In the next budget I would hope to see the government take steps towards: fair and transparent pricing for services; funding that addresses increasing service demand; funding that takes account of CPI increases; and ways of supporting workforce development.

The need to involve and connect with the broader NGO sector: The existence of the Taskforce does not replace the need for widespread consultation and engagement with the NGO sector. The diverse voices of a complex sector need to be heard at all levels. The Taskforce has now established a Maori reference group and a Pacific advisory group. MSD is also supporting the effective functioning of an alliance of 11 national NGOs with expertise in family violence prevention. The alliance advises and supports the five NGO representatives on the Taskforce.

Last Christmas holiday eight people died as a result of family violence - six women, one man and one child. In five years time the Taskforce will be judged by what we have done to reduce this sort of terrible statistic. I am optimistic that what we have begun will start to make a difference. We need to keep working together (even when it is hard and slow) towards the Taskforce’s vision that “all families and whanau have healthy, respectful, stable relationships, free from violence”.

Manu Sione, Pacific Peoples Trust and NGO representative

In June 2005 I was elected by the members of the Family and Community National Advisory Committee (FSNAC) to represent their interests at the Taskforce. I knew it was going to be a challenge juggling the needs of FSNAC; the needs of Pacific peoples whom I was representing at FSNAC, and now on the Taskforce. However with the help of the 4 other NGO representatives on the Taskforce it was certainly made easier.

The mission that “All families and whanau have healthy, respectful, stable relationships, free from violence.” clearly encapsulates the vision that the Taskforce has for all New Zealanders. The programme of actions set out in the First Report contains 76 actions that provide practical ways that violence within families is reduced and in time hopefully eradicated. Some of these are to be achieved by June 2007 - other actions will take longer.

So, how many of these actions relate to Pacific families and communities? Every single one of them – and they are equally relevant for all communities (ethnic or communities of interest) within New Zealand. One of the main challenges for Pacific people will be to ensure that the right information and support is provided to the Taskforce to ensure the design and delivery of the programmes of actions reflect some of the complex issues that face Pacific families. This is important so as to ensure that Taskforce members are aware of some of the ways Pacific communities and organisations are working successfully with families now to reduce violence. Some of the research work done with Pacific families and communities to understand the complexities involved is already underway, and will help inform Pacific peoples and the Taskforce on the directions to take for the future.

The Taskforce understands that Pacific people are over-represented in the statistics in relation to violence and unless we are involved in the solution then the problem will only get worse. Consequently, the Taskforce is committed to ensuring that the design and delivery of actions are relevant to Pacific peoples and the issues they face. Some of the ways to ensure this is to draw on the guidance of Pacific community leaders, and also to have a Pacific Advisory Group that has specific experience in working on violence within Pacific families - otherwise the problem will only get worse.

Tau Huirama, Jigsaw and NGO representative

Some people may ask whether the Taskforce is an effective engine to address family violence. I am convinced that it is. Over the past 18 months I have travelled widely and attended international conferences on family violence. Being amongst other international delegates and sharing what they are doing within their countries has reaffirmed to me that we in New Zealand are on track in addressing this problem. Working together, working nationally, working collaboratively is crucial for successfully addressing family violence. For the NGO sector and communities it is important to develop linkages with the work of government departments and the judiciary, and I can only support the Task Force and Committee members in what has been achieved thus far.

In depths of tackling the huge situation we face, I also acknowledge the commitment of political parties cross-sector political parties committing to working together also – by doing so they have provided on-going stability to the programmes to address Family Violence in the future.

As an NGO representative it has been important to be included at the infancy stage of the development and together there have been some constructive plans made within the strategy. Whilst it is still too early to have talk about tangible outcomes, over the next 12 months productive results will/should start to appear.

Another important factor for success will be to work with Maori to develop Policy and to assist in the successful initiatives already in place and organisations that can be supported to address those capacity and capability issues. Also let us create more of what is working well. The Ministry of Social Development and Te Puni Kokiri are working together to support a Maori reference group in coming together to assist Maori in Policy development, and assisting in other Government initiatives. This has been long overdue and is a welcome development.

If I were to be critical of anything in current cross-sector efforts in tackling Family Violence, then it would be that there isn’t enough money going to community organisations for this purpose. It is like identifying a forest fire and having only half a dozen garden hoses to put it out. I encourage the Government to think more broadly of this matter and add to the great work already being developed in addressing this huge issue.

The full First Report of the Taskforce for Action on Family Violence is available from:

www.cyf.govt.nz/3608.htm

Do you know?

In 2005, 29 of 61 murders were recorded as family violence-related.
In 2005, New Zealand Police recorded 62,470 offence and non-offence incidents involving family/wha-nau violence, at which 62,615 children and young people under the age of 17 were involved.
Between July 2004 and June 2005, Child, Youth and Family received 53,097 notifications, 43,460 of which required further action. Data for the previous four years indicates that just less than a third of client investigations have substantiated abuse findings.
In 2005, Women’s Refuge supported 17,212 women and 9,904 children.
Between 2000 and 2004 (inclusive) 121 family violence-related murders were recorded. This included 56 women, 26 men and 39 children. Fifty-four women were murdered by men, and three men were murdered by women. Twenty-six of the child victims were murdered by men and 15 were murdered by women.
A United Nations study on elder abuse and neglect in developed countries suggests that up to 50,000 older New Zealanders may experience abuse and neglect.

Source: Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families First Report

Family Violence Research Clearing House

Nick Fahey, Project Manager and Chief Researcher, NZFVC

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The New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse (NZFVC or the Clearinghouse) is a national centre for collating and disseminating research and programme evaluation information about family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand. The purpose of the NZFVC is to provide free access to quality information for a wide range of users, and to communicate and share information across the entire family violence prevention research, practice and policy-making community. The NZFVC aims to be a national resource that can provide an extensive range of information on family violence in New Zealand.

The Clearinghouse was established in early 2005 by a consortium of organisations, both academic and practice based, working for the elimination of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand. The consortium members are: Te Awatea Violence Research Centre, an academic facility which is part of the School of Social Work and Human Services at the University of Canterbury; The National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges Inc.; Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga/National Network of Stopping Violence Services (NZ) Inc.; and Jigsaw, formerly Child Abuse Prevention Services (NZ) Inc.

As an initiative, the Clearinghouse was proposed by the Ministry of Social Development under Te Rito: the New Zealand Family Violence Prevention Strategy. The Ministry contracted the consortium to bring the concept to fruition, funding its establishment and its continued development. The Ministry also provides free public access to, and short term loan of, items held by Te Rito Family Violence Information Centre, based at its information centre in Wellington. The University of Canterbury Information Technology Services department provides technical support for the Clearinghouse. It developed and continues to maintain the Clearinghouse’s website. Together with the Ministry, they have also developed a system for automatically publishing the organisation’s library catalogue on the website and providing an online public loan system, which was recently named runner-up in the 3M Award for Innovation in Libraries competition.

Over the past year, the Clearinghouse’s main task has been to develop a database of New Zealand family violence research and programme evaluation information. Additionally, the Clearinghouse has distributed a free quarterly newsletter and produced a NZFVC Fact Sheet: Overview of Family Violence. Under the current contract, a key deliverable for the organisation was to update a publication known as An Agenda for Family Violence Research (Family Violence Unit, Social Policy Agency, & Social Policy Branch, Te Puni Kokiri, 1998). This updated publication has now been produced in a two-volume report. Volume one contains the main report, and discusses the update process itself, the methodology used, and includes a quantitative gaps analysis. Volume two is an annotated bibliography containing 439 entries relating to items of New Zealand family violence research published since mid-1996. The NZFVC intends to have the report and annotated bibliography available and fully searchable on its website at in the very near future.

The NZFVC has most recently been working towards the development of a Good Practice Database. This database is now accessible from our website and provides online access to good practice information in the form of published documents and examples of programmes that work. The current and future intention of the Clearinghouse is for this resource to grow and to contribute to evidence-informed practice and policy in the area of family violence prevention. The Good Practice Database provides an excellent example of how the Clearinghouse is meeting its underlying objective of enabling the sharing of knowledge across sectors.

The Clearinghouse is also currently running a strategic planning process in order to gain the views of its many stakeholders and to incorporate these into its plans for the next three years of its development. While the organisation’s fundamental objective remains the collation and dissemination of information that can hopefully unlock the key to the elimination of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand, it also strives to provide a living example of how information sharing and cooperation across academic, government, non-government and community sectors can add value to the efforts of all contributors.

For more information on the Family Violence Research Clearing House visit:

www.nzfvc.org.nz

Collaborative community responses to tackling violence

Lila Jones, HAIP & Helen Jones, WAVES

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Complex social issues require a concerted and multi-faceted approach if they are to be addressed successfully. No one agency, or indeed sector, can be expected to make a difference on its own. The HAIP initiative in Hamilton and WAVES in Waitakere city demonstrate how community organisations, local government, the criminal and justice systems are coming together to tackle domestic violence.

Waitakere Anti-Violence Services (WAVES)

In 1993 WAVES was set up to ‘encourage a multi-agency intervention and integrated family violence program to reduce violence against women and children in Waitakere City’.

Since that time regular networking meeting between all family violence service providers have allowed relationships to emerge and become well established. Having strong relationships are an essential requirement of any collaborative process, and Waitakere City has a number of key organizations and people who broker relationships and get collaboration going when a specific project comes into our community.

Developing relationships with the council and local Government agencies provide further strength and substance to our collaborative efforts. As a community, Waitakere City has made significant progress in working with a collaborative model. Some of the key projects undertaken in conjunction with our inter-agency network over the past three years include:

§ Child Witnesses of Family Violence Community Advocates Project which aims to place 3 FTE child advocates in NGO’s to assist with advocacy casework and affect change to systems relating to children witnessing family violence.

§ Everyday Communities Project which intends to raise awareness in the community about family violence, child abuse and neglect, and is funded by Child, Youth and Family for up to three years.

§ Family Violence Court Protocols relating to the Court and Community Victim Services to allow community advocates to participate in the Court, with speaking rights.

§ Shared Funding Base for Collaborative Services and Projects to source funding to be held collectively for our three member organizations that form Community Victim Services to Police for POL400 referrals: i.e. Viviana(Western Refuge), Tika Maranga Maori Women’s Refuge and West Auckland Victim Support.

§ Te Korowai Manaki - a five year series of projects with the intention of improving outcomes for 0-5 year olds and their families.

§ Inter Agency Sector Case Management Meetings

§ Maori Service Providers Network Project

§ Training Home Visitors to develop and implement training in Family Violence Awareness to agencies doing home visiting.

The projects listed above are just some of what has been achieved. If you wish to find out more about WAVES please go online at: www.waves.org.nz

HAMILTON ABUSE INTERVENTION PROJECT (HAIP)

Since 2001 HAIP has been the lead agency for a collaborative project that aims to reduce re-victimisation of battered women and their children. The VIP Pol400 Project includes key community agencies and Hamilton police. Working in concert, the project was set up to intervene in incidents of family violence as quickly as possible to protect the most vulnerable. Women and children who were victims during a family incident are identified so that intervention support can be provided to reduce the isolation caused by family violence and to reduce risk to these victims.

The philosophy behind this project is that early detection and effective intervention with women and child victims will make a significant difference to the outcome of domestic violence incidences. Community education and awareness raising around family violence is also a high priority of the project and requires engagement by a broad range of agencies working across several disciplines.

By tracking each case/ incident over a significant period of time the coalition of agencies hoped to be able to identify ‘high risk’ families and to co-ordinate their responses to each member of those families. The coalition of agencies agreed to some basic ideological principles that included:

§ That family violence was gender specific. The primary victims of this violence are women.

§ That the children of these women are also primary victims of family violence even if they are never the direct targets of the abuse.

§ That any intervention is based on safety and reducing risk to both women and their children simultaneously.

§ That when more than one agency is involved with a family any intervention must be coordinated.

§ That coalition agencies must be prepared to be open and transparent in their work with families and to share relevant information between agencies related families that are being worked with.

§ That offenders are held accountable for their actions.

Protocols were developed between Police, HAIP, Refuges, Parentline, CYF, Police Prosecutions and Hamilton District Court. Through the project community agencies work with police to collect information on children witnessing family violence, providing vital information upon which the interagency groups are able to make their assessments.

Underpinning the project is the commitment by all to work collaboratively at a local level, with government agencies/ sectors for a ‘seamless’ approach to family violence prevention. A joint approach allows for effective policies and ‘best practice’ for an improved, consistent and proactive response by all agencies to family violence, with a clear priority on safety of women & children as victims of domestic violence.

Protecting young mothers against violence

Leonie Morris, Auckland Women’s Centre

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In the USA and the UK research consistently shows that teen mothers and pregnant teenagers are at especially high risk for relationship violence, due to a coincidence of predisposing factors such as youth, lack of education, poverty). This is also likely to be the situation in New Zealand, but there has not been research carried out in this country exploring the prevalence of domestic violence amongst teen mothers. In 2002, the Auckland Women’s Centre started providing support groups for teen mothers. We quickly found that domestic violence was an issue for many of our participants who either were currently experiencing, or who had recently experienced, violence - not just from their partners and ex-partners but often from their parents, or the families of their child’s father.

Domestic violence services in New Zealand are, in the main, not designed to meet the specific needs of teen mothers. Teen mothers are not recognised as a distinct group needing services customised to their age, developmental stage and circumstances. Our Young Mothers Support Programme addresses this by offering a ‘youth development’ programme that takes account of their age, their parenting role and their gender. The programme design reflects the key tenants of the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa (Ministry of Youth Development).

Supportive relationships are developed between participants and the facilitators, and the programme focuses on positive parent-child and other family relationships. Sessions are highly participatory, providing relevant information, both one-on-one and for the mother to take away with them.

Initially, when we tried to discuss “domestic violence” explicitly with the teen mothers, they would not engage with us on the topic. Today, domestic violence prevention is woven into discussions throughout the entire programme and, in particular, when discussing healthy/unhealthy relationships, positive parenting and their legal rights. We also treat their relationships in the light that the teens experience them, and not as “puppy love” as most adults might see it. Using this less threatening and non-judgemental approach has allowed the teen mothers to open up to us and seek support.

During and after the completion of the 8-week programme, the mothers are offered personal advocacy and support on issues such as domestic violence, housing, budgeting, education and childcare options. Free taxis and a free creche enable the mothers to access the programme. The creche staff are experienced and non-judgemental and model positive parenting techniques to the mothers.

An evaluation report of the programme has recently been completed with funding from Te Rito. The mothers reported that prior to attending they thought the programme would be more didactic and less participatory than it was; they liked the relaxed and friendly approach to the sessions, and were made to feel comfortable and confident about being there and understood the links between victimisation and self-esteem, and ways to improve this for themselves.

The evaluation found that the programme produces many benefits in a number of areas. Impacts for the young women in terms of preventing violence occurred both through the group sessions and through individualised advocacy assistance, including increased awareness of the links between family violence and parenting. Young mothers also learnt about the role of positive parenting in reducing violence, and gained a greater awareness of how to seek legal advice or access to support services on violence issues.

For more information on the Auckland Womens’ Centre visit:

www.awc.org.nz

Do you know?

In every country where reliable, large-scale studies have been conducted, results indicate that between 10% and 50% of women report they have been physically abused by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Population-based studies report between 12 and 25% of women have experienced attempted or completed forced sex by an intimate partner or ex-partner at some time in their lives.
Interpersonal violence was the tenth leading cause of death for women 15-44 years of age in 1998.

Most studies on violence against women indicate that:

the perpetrators of violence against women are almost exclusively men;
women are at greatest risk of violence from men they know;
women and girls are the most frequent victims of violence within the family and between intimate partners
physical abuse in intimate relationships is almost always accompanied by severe psychological and verbal abuse;
social institutions put in place to protect citizens too often blame or ignore battered women.

Source: World Health Organisation

www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/index.html

Is accessing justice getting harder for victims of domestic violence

Lucy Chamberlain, Wellington Community Law Centre

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The Domestic Violence Act (1995) provides legal protection, with a focus on safety for victims and accountability for offenders, through the provision of protection orders for victims of family violence and education programmes for offenders and victims, including children. A protection order prevents violence, which under the Act includes physical, sexual and psychological abuse, and any unwanted contact, between the person who applies for the order and the person the order is taken out against. However in recent years while the incidence of family violence appears to be increasing, the number of applications for protection orders is declining.

One of the key objectives of the Act is to ensure that victims of family violence have legal protection through the provision of orders and that access to the court is timely, straightforward and inexpensive. In 2002 the Wellington Community Law Centre carried research looking at whether the objectives of the Act were being met in Wellington. Our findings concluded that the cost of pursuing protection orders is one of the most significant factors deterring victims from seeking protection orders, there was a significant group who did not qualify for legal aid but were unable to privately pay for a lawyer, and that these difficulties are more significant for refugees and migrants.

These findings were supported by a discussion paper prepared by the NZ Law Society’s Family Law Section’s Domestic Violence Standing Committee in August 2002. The Committee recommended that legal aid be extended to cover all applicants for protection orders, subject to the usual rules regarding reasonable prospects of success which currently apply to all applications for civil legal aid. The report also noted that applicants who do not have access to an experienced family lawyer at an early stage may be seriously disadvantaged in later legal proceedings.

While changes to the Legal Services Amendment Act which come into force on the 1^st of March 2007 will mean more people will be eligible to apply for legal aid, a lack of lawyers willing to undertake this work may still limit access to justice for family violence victims.

Surveys conducted by the NZ Law Society and Wellington Community Law Centre found that many legal aid listed providers did not undertake family violence work citing amongst other things low remuneration rates, lack of experience or an unwillingness to take on this type of work. In those firms who do family violence work, it was more likely to be taken on by less experienced staff.^{^[1]}

There are two ways for applicants to obtain protection orders. In situations where a delay in granting the application may cause harm or undue hardship, orders can be applied for ‘without notice’ which means that a temporary order is granted by a Family Court judge without the respondent being made aware that the application has been applied for. After the granting of a temporary protection order a respondent has three months to file a defence of the order. ‘On notice’ applications are those where the respondent is advised that an order is being sought and has the opportunity to file a defence before the judge considers granting the order.

Of particular concern is the number of ‘without notice’ applications being put ‘on notice’ by judges. Effectively one in four or five applicants are having their applications put ‘on notice’ and overall one third of applications are proceeding ‘on notice’. Ministry of Justice figures reveal that more than half of the applicants withdraw applications that are put ‘on notice’.^{^[2]} There is ample research evidence to show that when a family violence offender’s authority is challenged, that this can be the most dangerous time for victims. Separation from a violent partner and/or applying for a protection order is a direct challenge to the offender’s control because it involves the victim asserting their rights and telling what has usually been kept a secret within the family. Most family violence related homicides occur after the victim has left their abusive partner. It is vitally important that victims are able to get temporary protection orders granted ‘without notice’, affording them legal protection if the order is defended.

The net effect of these trends are that victims of family violence, despite the raising of legal aid income thresholds, may find it increasingly difficult to obtain a lawyer willing to undertake protection work and that their case may well be taken on by less experienced lawyers.

Wellington Community Law Centre:

www.wclc.org.nz

Changing attitudes, changing behaviour

Elizabeth Goodwin, Families Commission

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A new fund for communities to develop local projects to prevent family violence was launched in December 2006.

The Community Action Fund is part of a national campaign to prevent family violence. It recognises that communities know what works locally and that they need support to turn their ideas into action. Applications close on February 16 2007 and decisions will be announced on March 30. The maximum funding available is $30,000.

The first round of the Community Action Fund closes in mid-February and a second round will be held in June 2007. Further rounds will be held over the next four years.

Application forms and further information is available on the Family and Community Services website www.familyservices.govt.nz

A Community Action Kit full of ideas for setting up community projects will be supporting the fund. The kit covers everything from how to involve local mayors, through to facilitating meetings and ideas for action. The kit has been tested in communities to make sure it is useful and accessible.

Community action is an important part of the national campaign to change attitudes and behaviour to prevent family violence, which was announced in this year’s budget. The campaign recognises that people need support to change their behaviour from those living around them. Community projects supporting this change will be eligible for the fund.

The campaign, which is part of the first programme of action of the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families, is jointly led by the Ministry of Social Development and the Families Commission. It has four key elements:

a national campaign with key messages to support change
community owned and driven initiatives
resources to raise awareness and support behaviour change

· building services and support

The campaign aims to change attitudes as the result of research which has found that many people don’t understand the range of violence and its impact on relationships and children. National messages will build on this theme.

The campaign team is also working with national NGOs, including Jigsaw, Relationship Services, the National Network of Stopping Violence Services, and Women’s Refuge. Input from these groups, and others working in family violence, will be vital as the campaign works to bring the issue of family violence to the fore.

Other areas of action being coordinated by the Taskforce include improving the safety of victims and the accountability of perpetrators and ensuring sustainable funding for effective support services.

More information on the Community Action Fund:

www.familyservices.govt.nz/our-work/preventing-violence/

Community Action Kit:

www.nzfvc.org.nz/communityaction/

Federation focus

A view from our President…

Fran Hoover, President, NZFVWO

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Power to act

When I have a new task to undertake I like to look at what what’s been done before so I have a context in which to work – whether it is to continue along the same lines or perhaps to make a conscious change to the pattern. So as I began thinking about contributing my first President’s column to New Dialogue, I decided to start by re-reading Judith Hoban’s columns for the last couple of years. As well as being interesting and topical in themselves, reading a number at once from a period of 2 years left me with the overall sense of an intense belief in the capacity and the value of the community and voluntary sector, and the people in it.

To which a reasonable response might be “Well of course – you’d expect so.” Hold that thought for a minute.

Another document that crossed my desk this week was a copy of a joint NGO and government presentation to the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families. Essentially the message of the presentation is that community based family support services are complementary and valuable partners to government services, and both are vital to improving outcomes for NZ families. To achieve that end community based services need sustainable funding – both in structure (multi-year contracts to support infrastructure and surety needs, smarter ways of maintaining accountability but reducing compliance costs) and in amount (funding that allows for market rate remuneration levels, better inflation adjustment mechanisms and so on).

None of that is news to any of you. I don’t think any of it was news to the Taskforce members who heard the presentation either. Hold that thought too.

Then I had lunch with a friend who works for a government department. She spoke of the frustration in her role of the slowness of a large bureaucracy as she waited for a major piece of work to come back to her yet again from the 17 different people who needed to sign it off.

I had a sudden remembering of my experience on first coming into the NGO sector after working in government departments for 6 years. What I noticed most powerfully was the ability we have in this sector to just DO something. To take action. To be self-motivating and direct authors of our own organisational destiny. To see a need and choose to meet it – or not. We certainly don’t have the resources to take all the action we’d like, but we don’t have to ask anyone’s permission.

In connecting the dots of these three ideas, the awareness that struck me was that everyone works under constraints – and by definition whichever constraint we run into first becomes the limiting factor, and the focus of our attention. For the community and voluntary sector it tends to be the money. For our partners in government it may well be the unwieldy nature of a large, slow and rule-bound system.

Yes, dialogue with government about sustainable funding and strengthening capacity in the sector is vital – and we will continue that conversation both individually and collectively in as many different forums as possible.

But while we keep pushing against that constraint, I valued the reminder from Judith’s columns, and from my lunchtime conversation with my friend, that there are other factors in our work that just aren’t a constraint at all. The people who work in this sector have passion, intelligence, commitment, vision, values and energy. Organisations in our sector are self-determining, collaborative, responsive and diverse. These are some of our strengths, and we value them.

Those strengths are very real and present in your Federation – both in Tina and the staff team, and in the past and present executive committee. Our great thanks and appreciation to Judith Hoban for her exceptional leadership of the Federation over the last 3 years, and also to departing Executive Committee member Rachael Le Mesurier for the energy and ideas she has given so generously.

Warm welcomes to new Executive Committee members Ruth Hubscher, Tony Mayow, and Peter Gerrie, as well as to returning members Andrea Goble, Robyn Flowers, Janine Stewart, Cheryll Martin, Nathan Nirmalanathan and Dion O’Donnell (Vice President),

We look forward to continuing the work with you that achieves both the myriad small steps and the occasional satisfying giant leap forward that support your organisations to best meet the needs of the communities you serve.

From the Executive Director’s desk…

Tina Reid, Executive Director, NZFVWO

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Collaboration – about being the same or embracing difference?

I recently attended NZ Council of Social Services biennial conference in Ashburton – Raraka Korero: weaving our stories. It was a great line up of New Zealand speakers and workshops, and a very stimulating and thought provoking meeting. In speakers like Mark Solomon, Tim Dyce, Rev Manawaroa Grey, Margy-Jean Malcolm, Marilyn Waring we have a rich history and resources in our sector. This was an important reminder to stop and tell our stories, and take time to learn from each other.

By our nature, as a national umbrella organisation we are about finding ways to do this. Networking, co-operation and collaboration are the basis of our role, and we are very aware that over the last four years we have moved from mostly acting on our own, to increasingly being involved in a wide range of co-operative and collaborative projects and approaches.

I co-facilitated a workshop on collaboration at this conference, for the purpose of taking some time to think about collaboration; what it is, how we use it, and what makes it effective. This was an interesting and lively conversation, and has highlighted several important elements for me.

Firstly, I have become clearer that collaboration is at one end of a spectrum of networking relationships. Information sharing, co-operation and coordination are different and important ways of working together and offer many benefits - access to ideas and resources, a clearer idea of where we each fit in a bigger picture, and can strengthen a sense of identity and purpose for each of us. Many relationships are best pitched at these levels for a whole lot of reasons such resources, capacity, and differing priorities.

Going further into collaborative relationships can offer a lot for organisations in our sector. Bringing resources and skills of several organisations together can develop a common foundation and focus. Combined efforts can achieve a lot more than we can individually, by bringing together different ideas and skills, developing more ambitious projects and reaching wider audiences.

The higher the level of networking, the higher the risk. In our workshop we could all readily identify significant risks to an organisation as part of collaborative relationships. The very autonomy and independence that Fran discussed in her column can be compromised when we work in collaborative relationships – we are aware that we can lose some sense of individual identity and autonomy. The working relationships can also be very demanding – having the right combination of communications skills and decision making is often a challenge. Almost invariably projects will take more time and resources than anticipated – the more ambitious the project the larger the commitment needs to be, and in our experience, this is frequently not clearly identified at the outset and can lead to many problems.

The discussion about what makes for successful collaboration was very focussed. Having well defined and common goals was identified as very important and keeping focussed on these. Other project skills of defining clear roles, being clear about the commitment required and regular documentation and communication was all considered important. The value of starting small and building on success was suggested, along with the importance of taking time to build strong relationships. Developing recognition and respect of the differences as well as the common interests of the parties was considered of key importance, including understanding each other and the idea of embracing difference. This leads to a developing a level of trust and confidence that is appreciated and valued by everyone.

It was evident that despite the risks, the workshop still expressed strong interest and commitment to continuing to work to develop such relationships - both within our sector and across government and commercial sectors. These insights are useful for our ongoing interest in working collaboratively. It is also useful to take time to define and develop a our own understanding and agendas about collaboration, rather than having it defined for us by others.

New Dialogue reader’s survey

Its been nearly two years since the Federation launched the electronic version of New Dialogue along with the hardcopy summary version called New Dialogue mini. The electronic version is now sent to over 2,000 email subscribers and the mini is sent to 3,200 organisations around the country. We are committed to meeting the expectations of our readers as closely as we can and would really like to know what you think of the magazine so that we can ensure that it reflects your views.

We have a designed a brief online survey for our readers – this will take only a few minutes to complete but the results are really important to us. Please take a few moments and let us know what you think of the magazine. We will publish a summary of the results in the issue of New Dialogue. Thank you for your time.

www.nzfvwo.org.nz/files/survey.htm

Members Forum: Celebrating Christmas

Every issue, we ask three of our members their opinion on a topical issue. With International Volunteers Day just gone and Christmas round the corner, we asked what they were planning for their Christmas parties to bring 2006 to a happy close.

A time for reflection

Family Focus – Greymouth, Jan

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As I write this paragraph, on a grey and wet Mawhera Friday, thunder booms and lightning flashes across the West Coast skies, summer is here!

This Xmas we will remember with much sadness the loss of our treasurer Brian Strange, who passed away on the 27th October, the result of an accident. He contributed a huge amount of his time in a voluntary capacity to ensure that our organisations financial commitments were met.

We will celebrate International Volunteer Day December 5th, with a morning tea for our budget volunteers - this is an opportunity to say thank you to all our advisers for their work all year – but that is not the end of our celebrations for the festive season.

This year, we will gather at our manager's home for a Xmas barbeque at midday. All staff, management committee and volunteers will be present to partake of the barbeque and reminisce over the past year, a busy year for our home based support workers and budget advisors. Once our party is done, our home-based support workers also make time to distribute presents to the children of our clients. These presents are kindly donated by the Salvation Army each year. We finally close on the last Friday before Xmas and will reopen on Monday the 8th January 2007 for another year!

Acknowledging whanau and whanaugatanga

Time Out Tai Whakanga - Wainuiomata, Margaret Love

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The most important aspect of celebrating Christmas for our organisation is the acknowledgement of whanau and whanaungatanga. Parents, children, older persons and youth are involved in our Christmas activities.

Our Volunteer pool consists of a number of parents, young people and other adults who access or use our services. They are all people with experience of mental illness, either personally or as a family member. Volunteers form our Governance Body, staffing and service support roles.

As Christmas approaches, we start with our December newsletter which has a variety of articles about Tips for a safe holiday season. We enter the local Wainuiomata Christmas Parade, (We won first prize for best Community Float last year!!!!), and then we have a Whanau Christmas Meal in the week leading up to the break.

Our Volunteers are an integral part of making all of this happen. They are responsible for all aspects of our newsletter, from searching for articles , formatting it, writing stories and poems, and printing and mailing it out to well over 200 contacts.

Volunteers will assist in making banners for the float, making costumes, dressing up and taking part in the local Christmas Parade. All of the music for the float will be collated and prepared by one of the Volunteers.

Our Whanau Christmas Dinner will be prepared and served out by our Volunteers as well.

Our Volunteers are treated to special luncheons throughout the year, provided with appropriate training and are regularly given Educational Support Vouchers that allow them to purchase training resources of their choice.

Thanking our advisers

New Plymouth Budget Advisory Service, Stacia Smith

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Many of our budget advisers have work and other voluntary commitments and there are so many socials, graduations, grandchildren’s concerts and so on that it's so difficult to find an evening that suits the majority. Our dates seemed to be moving back and back until it hardly seemed we were marking the end of the year! I’m sure you all understand what I mean - if you want a volunteer, ask a busy person.

We really value the time and expertise our advisers put into their work for the New Plymouth Budget Advisory Service and funds are set aside to pay for an annual appreciation dinner. We wanted everyone to be able to come to this special evening, and to be able to enjoy it, so several years ago we moved our “Christmas” function and made it a “welcome back” dinner at the beginning of the year. The shopping is done, the visitors have gone home, the holidays are over, but before the seasonal overspending hits our clients, (Christmas bills come back for the second time and back-to-school expenses start), and the serious work gets back under way for our wonderful budget advisers, we have our “Thank You, Advisers” dinner. We get close to 100% attendance, everyone is relaxed, there’s plenty to talk about, and we have a great evening.

We will still mark the end 2006 though. Hawera budget advisers will join us for the November training meeting, when we will start with a light meal at the meeting rooms; and our advisers can also attend the New Plymouth Volunteer Service picnic in December – celebrity cooks, free BBQ lunch and entertainment!

Sector news

Proposed changes to the tax regime for charities

Kate Cowmeadow, Projects Advisor, NZFVWO

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The Federation has recently done a significant amount of work around the Government’s discussion document on tax incentives and charitable giving, the latest development in a decades’ long process to get action on this issue.

The discussion document came out of the United Future commitment to review tax issues for charities as part of their supply and confidence agreement with Labour. The Federation was part of a coalition of organisations who took the issue to key politicians, including United Future, before the 2005 election.

Our submission supports encouraging giving through tax incentives including increased rebate amounts of individuals and extended deduction amounts for companies and Maori Authorities. However, we also think that Government needs to promote generosity by “talking it up” in a strong promotions campaign, and this could be actively supported by voluntary organisations.

The Federation worked with Philanthropy New Zealand and IRD to take workshops on the discussion document to Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch and Dunedin. The turnout in all centres was heartening, and we distributed notes from the workshops, along with an issues paper, far beyond the five centres we could reach in the short six week consultation period.

Participants came from a broad range of organisations including churches, philanthropic trusts and community and voluntary organisations. While each group brought their own particular perspective to the issues, some strong themes emerged.

The Federation’s submission reflects one of these key themes: that rebates for individuals’ donations and deductions for companies’ and Maori authorities’ donations should not be limited. Overseas experience, including in Australia and the United Kingdom, have shown significant growth in giving where taxpayers are given relief on whatever amount they chose to donate.

The idea of a rebate to volunteers for their time promoted significant debate. While there is strong support for recognising the contribution of volunteers, and helping to offset expenses that they may incur in volunteering, there were concerns that such a rebate could be administratively burdensome, risk “paying below the minimum wage”, and could be seen as out of step with the spirit of volunteering. One alternative is a grants scheme where organisations could apply for funds to assist them in caring for their volunteers. The Federation chose to endorse this proposal, as well as lobbying for clarity and fairness in the tax treatment of expense payments and honoraria.

A disappointing exclusion from the discussion document was the issue of imputation credits for organisations with tax exempt status. Our submission lobbied for this issue to be addressed as a matter of urgency in the broader review of imputation credits scheduled for 2007.

Despite the many years our sector has been seeking action on these issues, this discussion document was only an early step in a longer process. We hope that legislation will be introduced in time for consideration in next year’s budget, and the Federation will be doing further work to represent sector interests at the select committee stage and beyond.

Over two-hundred submissions were made by sector organisations. For the discussion document and the NZFVWO submission visit:

www.nzfvwo.org.nz

Changes to WINZ

Kay Brereton, Benefit Rights Coordinator, Wellington People Centre

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On 26 October 2006 the Ministry of Social Development released details of the next stage of its welfare reforms, under the title “Work Focused Support” Hidden within the paper was a proposal to create a requirement for all benefit applications to be made in writing, (this is already so for Temporary Additional Support). This flies in the face of a High Court ruling Scoble v Chief Executive of Work and Income that ruled where a person approaches the Ministry for assistance but is not invited to apply for the correct assistance, and later is found to qualify, the date of that approach can be regarded as the date of application for that benefit. The Ministry has now assured advocates that the requirement for all applications to be in writing will not be introduced.

Summary of key changes to WINZ

April 2007

· Job Search Service at all Work and Income sites. (new applicants only)

· Aligning the residency criteria across all benefits to two years, with an exemption for refugees.

· Reducing the maximum income stand-down to two weeks.

· Changes to the qualifying child criteria for DPB removing the requirement for the child to be born in NZ.

· Extending the eligibility criteria for DPB caregiver to include people who would otherwise need care in a community residential facility, or rest home.

July 2007

· Changing to paying all benefits weekly, and in respect of a seven day period.

· All new applicants to have non-benefit income charged against their benefit weekly. (a move to annual being “possible in some circumstances”)

September 2007

· Compulsory attendance at WRK4U seminar prior to applying for benefit.

· All Unemployment Benefit recipients required to participate in Job Search Service.