Kia ora koutou, Following our special update pānui last week on the Social Investment Fund, Pay Equity and the Auditor General’s investigation, we are back with our usual round-up of news and events. In this edition, you’ll find analysis of Budget 2025 and the new community work experience sanction for beneficiaries, Hui E! updates, upcoming events and training, as well as a Constellation member spotlight kōrero with Alicia Sudden. Shout out to everyone celebrating Youth Week’s theme of Whai Wāhitanga: Take Our Place last week, and Ara Taiohi for all their work behind the scenes creating space for young people to be seen, heard and valued. Here at Hui E! we are very excited to be getting ready to recruit our Kaiwhakahaere Matua Tangata Whenua Co-Chief Executive to work alongside Katie. Look out for more on this soon. Ngā mihi Katie and the Hui E! tīma Budget 2025 – Hui E! Analysis The Government’s Budget has developed a small social investment fund, but not a social investment approach.Last week, I asked the Minister for Social Investment (and Finance), Nicola Willis, if the $190 million Social Investment Fund would be funded by cuts to our sector across the rest of this Budget. She assured me it was ‘new money’.So, in front of me is a list of numbers and arrows in my scrawled handwriting. As soon as Budget 2025 dropped, I rushed to look behind the curtain of the headline figures, scrolling through the estimates of appropriations.  Read Katie’s full breakdown of the Budget here. Hui E! and the Community Constellation are analysing the full impact of the budget and advocating for transparency and investment in our communities. Update on Community Work Experience sanctions From today Community Work Experience, non-financial sanctions will be implemented by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).   When we sought clarity from MSD on this initiative they shared the following information (summarised): MSD clients who have had sanctions applied to them, may approach community sector organisations for an unpaid position (at least five hours a week over four weeks). Note that community organisations who take on MSD clients for Community Work Experience will not receive funding to support them doing so. However, community organisations are under no obligation to accept MSD clients.    Hui E! (along with many others) raised concerns about this approach to sanctions. You can read our submission here and this issue in the news today here. Hui E! Updates E koekoe te kōkō, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kererūThe parson bird chatters, the parrot gabbles, the wood pigeon coos This whakataukī speaks to the unique notes native birds sing contribute to the collective birdsong we treasure in Aotearoa. Our diversity is one of the things we love about our Hui E! board. Today we wish the amazing Jewelz Petley a warm and heartfelt farewell after serving three years on our Board as Tangata Whenua Co-Chair. Jewelz  has navigated us through some challenging situations with courage, care… and always with good humour. We will really miss your unique birdsong Jewelz! Thank you to you – and your whānau – for sharing […]

There are many stories to tell about Budget 2025. One of these is that we have a small social investment fund, but not a social investment approach across this budget. Government investment instead is in eye watering numbers across law and order and defence.  Last week, I asked the Minister for Social Investment (and Finance), Nicola Willis, if the $190 million Social Investment Fund would be funded by cuts to our sector across the rest of this Budget. She assured me it was ‘new money’.  So, in front of me is a list of numbers and arrows in my scrawled handwriting. As soon as Budget 2025 dropped, I rushed to look behind the curtain of the headline figures, scrolling through the estimates of appropriations. Spoiler – the $47.5 million a year Social Investment Fund is less than the decrease in funding to our sector I counted across other portfolios.  The Budget announcements and documents are split by portfolio, each with their own Minister. By my reckoning at least 19 of the 28 Ministers would say they are delivering for communities. The tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector works outside of these arbitrary boundaries and is poorly understood and historically underinvested in by Government. Last year we took a big hit with a wave of cuts across many portfolios, and we need to reflect on this year’s Budget in that context.  Yesterday I looked at the estimate of appropriations documents for each portfolio, or bucket of money. The budget shifts in housing seem particularly complex.  In addition to the impacts of changes to Pay Equity affecting many women in our sector, key information in Budget 2025 for communities includes: This is a complex picture, and not an inspiring one. I wanted to see if I could see the total investment across our sector. The Budget summary notes:  Approximately $5 billion per annum is spent by the government on grants and funds … As part of Budget 2025…Ministers reviewed the grants and funds in scope in line with the following principles: to consolidate and simplify the number of grants and funds; and to reduce or close grants and funds that are duplicative, lower value for money, or achieve their purpose with less funding. Some funds were closed, some were consolidated, and others reduced.  From Budget 2025 Summary of Initiatives p.3.  The table below on the same page shows an annual reduction of $89.8 million from the closure and scaling down of grants and funds. No further information is given on which funds they are without diving deep into the estimation documents of each portfolio (or vote), and if include any funds that are open to the for-profit sector.  It is the tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector seeing increased demand from whānau who are struggling, and this Budget will likely see that increase. Over the coming weeks, we will reflect further on these impacts, alongside the Community Constellation groups representing and working in different parts of our sector. Next Budget – at the very least we should expect transparency about the level of investment in communities. 

Today we come to you with a special pānui because, quite frankly, there is a lot going on that is impacting on the tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector! Below you’ll find updates on the new Social Investment Fund, findings of the Auditor General Investigation into Oranga Tamariki funding practices, Pay Equity and another IRD consultation on tax and membership associations.  Look out for our regular bi-monthly pānui after next week’s Budget announcement, which will include analysis of what Budget 2025 means for our sector, along with upcoming events and resources.  Ngā mihi Katie and the Hui E! tīma New Social Investment Fund On Thursday May 15, Minister Willis announced a $190m Social Investment Fund. You can watch the announcement here. Look out in our next pānui for a Budget 2025 analysis. During the Q&A Hui E! CE Katie Bruce asked the Minister directly if this is new money or if we will see a reduction in sector investment reflected in next week’s Budget. She said categorically that this is new money.  The Social Investment Fund of $190m over four years is designed to flip the commissioning model to place whānau outcomes at the centre, with an additional $20m for strengthening parenting in the first 2000 days and $25m as part of the response to the abuse in state care inquiry towards preventing entry to state care.  Three demonstration initiatives have already been announced: It is expected that 20 further initiatives will be funded in the first year and that funding will include evaluation. As a commissioning agency, over time providers with multiple government agency contracts will be able to apply to move these to the Social Investment Agency to reduce the administrative burden and to champion this outcomes-focused approach. The Minister acknowledged that providers are currently operating on short-term contracts with multiple agencies in ways that do not work for them and for whānau, and that the intention is to address this.  The focus was very much on process. There was little detail about what the priorities for the Fund will be (beyond broad Better Public Service Targets) and how it will be administered. A group of Ministers will set the outcomes, which are still to be determined, along with an implementation plan. The Cabinet papers released today can be found here, and include the intention to move to a local commissioning model over time. Concerns were raised during the Q&A, including: sustainability of providers, service poverty in rural areas where communities are locked-out of being able to benefit from services such as respite where they do not exist, giving effect to Te Tiriti, sustaining our workforce in light of changes to pay equity and ensuring that this is not just about procuring cheaper services from community. Questions also included about how they are going to unlock government-held data for communities. Further resources Click HERE to catch up on our webinar on Social Investment and Communities with Minister Willis Click HERE for Minister Willis’ response to your questions following the webinar Click HERE for Sacha McMeeking’s session on mātauranga Māori and social investment hosted by Auckland Co-Design Lab and Health […]

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 […]