Kia ora koutou, At the recent Hapori conference keynote speaker Roman Krznaric talked the ‘tyranny of the now‘. This is the idea that the future is a distant cousin to all the priorities in front of us today. He was thousands of kilometres away via a zoom screen, but all of us in that room felt it. There is a lot to react to. Growing whānau and community needs, funding cuts and a Government making changes under urgency (such as the consultation on tax and our sector which closes Monday). We can bring the future closer, he says, by building trust and social connections, innovating, and focusing on being good ancestors. By doing exactly the things that indigenous leaders and communities have been modelling, and just getting on with, for centuries. This month, along with the Hapori conference, I have been nourished by the Pākehā Project, a beautiful community that has shown me that systems change starts with our own nervous system. I have been inspired by the Co-Design Lab’s Hautū Waka methodology for practical systems thinking and design, and I have been fuelled by all of you who engaged on the tax consultation.Thank you. Ngā mihi Katie CE, Hui E! Consultation on charity tax Over 100 of you completed the 3-in-1 explainer, survey and template feedback form on charity tax. Thank you. Read the survey results here. You have ensured a strong community voice on the impacts these changes would have. We will keep you updated as this issues paper progresses. It is not too late to have your say. Feedback can be sent straight to IRD at policy.webmaster@ird.govt.nz by Monday 31 March. Community Constellation  ast month we shared photos from Community Constellation event. The Community Constellation is a collaboration of community sector peak bodies and capability-building organisations working together towards a community-powered Aotearoa that gives effect to Te Tiriti. Hui E! was asked to be the coordinating organisation of a group that were meeting organically, and continues to grow. Contact us to find out more. ThinkPlace facilitated a session for us where we spent time in an imagined future. Check out this illustration of what we think is emerging in these different areas from social to technological. How does it relate to what you are seeing? Events Kōrero for Change is a webinar series of online panel discussions, held every two months. Each discussion is themed around a key area of life where individuals in Aotearoa New Zealand encounter disabling experiences. On 9 April Hui E! CE Katie Brue will join a host of other speakers to discuss inclusive and accessible employment Launch of Hapori online community for systems changemakers on 30 April. https://events.humanitix.com/online-launch-hapori-systems-change-community-aotearoa Resources A Sound Investment by Platform: The information about mental health and addiction service delivery by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) contained in this report provides Platform and its’ members a foundation to showcase the value, worth and capability that NGOs add to the functioning of a mental health and addiction system in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Centre for Social Impact has created Ngahere for Teams: Ngahere for Teams is a programme designed to support teams to […]

When IRD put out an issues paper on possible changes to tax for our sector, Hui E! and Volunteering New Zealand prepared a 3-in-1 explainer, survey and template feedback form to support engagement on these issues.   The survey garnered 113 responses, predominantly from registered charities (76%) and incorporated societies (10%), with the majority (76%) being Tier 3 or 4 organisations (under NZD $5 million annual expenditure). Most respondents (77%) took the option to send their individual survey response data directly to IRD through the survey.    This analysis is being shared with IRD as part of feedback from the Community Constellation.  Fifty per cent of survey respondents oppose taxing charity business activities entirely, with a further 26% agreeing that charities should be taxed on income unrelated to their charitable purposes, if this excludes fundraising activities.  The predominant concerns raised are:  The arguments for taxation tend to assume a degree of abuse. All registered charities are required to ensure our activities are in line with our charitable purposes, have public reporting accountabilities and cannot produce profits for individuals.   Those who identified they would be directly impacted shared the following concerns:  When asked about whether charities can distinguish between related and unrelated business income, most found this difficult:  1. Difficult to Distinguish / Lack of Clarity (Most Common View):  2. “Everything is Related” (Significant Minority):  3. Clear Distinction Possible (Smaller Group):  When presented with the following examples, most respondents classed every one of these charity businesses as related:  Views were split on how any minimum threshold should be determined (32% agreed that any threshold should be based on the amount of business income, 26% agreed that this should only apply to tier 1 charities, 18% were unsure and 17% selected other – most stating that this was not a question to answer given they did not agree in introducing such a tax) and only 7% thought there should be no threshold. Forty-six per cent agreed that if the income is distributed for charitable purposes, there should be no minimum time for this to be distributed in order to remain tax exempt.  The IRD consultation document does not mention iwi or Māori organisations at all. Only 5% of respondents identified themselves as part of an iwi and/or kaupapa Māori organisation or rōpū. These respondents raised concerns that the tax changes will disproportionately harm marae, kaupapa Māori organisations, and other Māori-led initiatives, which are already operating with limited resources and facing numerous challenges. Examples included:  For those in the sector who are not registered charities, there is currently a $1000 threshold to remove small scale voluntary and community groups from the tax system. Only 5% of respondents did not agree with the proposal to increase this threshold (29% to $50k).   Feedback regarding the proposal to introduce tax on certain tax-exempt groups included a strong preference for maintaining the tax-exempt status of community-focused groups. The main concerns revolve around the potential negative impact on their services, the burden of compliance, and the need for a clear and targeted approach that considers the specific activities and benefits provided by each organisation. There is also a […]

Kia ora koutou, This month has seen moments of national celebration at Matatini, reflection and insight at the many oral submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill, sobering findings in the State of the Nation report, and activation on Waitangi Day. At Hui E! we have hosted our first big event of the year with sector leaders from the Community Constellation, farewelled Hui E! team member Terrell after her parental leave period, and presented at select committee. Minister Willis answered the 50 follow up questions on social investment following our webinar. Look out for Katie if you are at the Hapori Conference in Tauranga next week. Ngā mihi Katie and Jess, Hui E! Hui E! Updates Community Constellation Hui We are fresh from hosting sector leaders at a Community Constellation hui of peak bodies and infrastructure groups in our new office space. What a reminder of the importance of spending time together, how much we can learn from each other, and that we are always stronger together. We were held beautifully in facilitation on Te Tiriti with Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono (shout out Atarau Hamilton-Fuller and Anjum Rahman), stepped through two hundred years envisioning strategic futures with Jade Tang-Taylor and Jim Scully of ThinkPlace NZ and workshopped community narratives with Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw. Jacqui Chan captured the kōrero with live illustration. Next pānui will we share insights from this hui and spotlight a member of the Community Constellation. If you are a tangata whenua, community or voluntary peak body and you want to find out more, get in touch with us. Shoutout to J R McKenzie Trust for supporting our collaboration. Your Questions on Social Investment On 26 November 2024, we hosted a social investment webinar on behalf of the Community Constellation. Almost 1000 of you registered for the opportunity to hear from, and engage with, the Minister for Social Investment, and for the Minister to hear about the opportunities, and the challenges, for communities. Zoe Witika-Hawke, Kaiwhakahaere Matua | Chief Executive of E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services and former co-chair of Te Pai Oranga Aotearoa SSPA, joined Katie in hosting this event. Afterwards, we collated the hundreds of questions received into 50 follow-up questions the Minister agreed to answer. You can now read her answers here and re-watch the webinar here. We continue to engage with Social Investment Agency Chief Executive, Andy Coster, to encourage a community-centred approach. New tax Proposals For Charities A new consultation document came out this week proposing tax changes for charities. We raised the need to engage with the sector on this with Minister Watts at the end of last year and he replied today. He gave assurances that all feedback will be considered and no decisions have yet been made. Consultation is open until 31 March. We encourage you to take a look at the Consultation information from IRD. One of the main proposals is to introduce tax for charity businesses where the business is unrelated to the charitable purpose. These are technical proposals and so we are pleased to see an upcoming webinar to demystify them coming up on 10 March. Register [...]

On 26 November 2024, a webinar was hosted by the Community Constellation as an opportunity for the community sector to hear from, and engage with, the Minister for Social Investment, and for the Minister to hear about the opportunities, and the challenges, for communities. It was facilitated by Katie Bruce from Hui E! and Zoe Witika-Hawke, Kaiwhakahaere Matua | Chief Executive of E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services and co-chair of Te Pai Oranga Aotearoa SSPA. The Minister received many thoughtful questions from the community sector and has since sent her responses back. You can read those responses here: Questions for Minister of Social Investment (pdf) Questions for Minister of Social Investment (word) The webinar was recorded and can be watched here.