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:
- Autism NZ – early intervention for 50 families
- Emerge Aotearoa – initiative to reduce truancy and offending
- He Piringa Whare programme – alliance of 9 iwi, hapū and Māori organisations.
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 Families Far North
Auditor General Investigation into Oranga Tamariki funding practices
Yesterday the Auditor General released its scathing report on the funding practices of Oranga Tamariki, which have heavily impacted community organisations and whānau, particularly in prevention and early support services.
The Auditor-general said the “effects of decisions on children and their families are still not known… Given that this is the core role of Oranga Tamariki, it is unacceptable for it to be in this situation.”
You can listen to the Chief Children’s Commissioner speaking on this issue here and the response from social service peak body Te Pai Ora SSPA here.
Pay Equity
Last weekend saw protests across the country in response to changes impacting pay equity claims for women passed by the Government under urgency.
The incredible work over many many years to demonstrate the systemic undervaluing of professions needs to be acknowledged, including work by Social Service Providers Aotearoa and Platform Trust. Claims under threat include the Social Service Workers Pay Equity claim covering around 1200 workers, one of 33 claims affecting over 100,000 women.
Fair compensation acknowledges the skill, responsibility, and effort required in these roles, and anything less undermines the very foundation of a thriving community sector.
IRD Consultation closing 25 June
Inland Revenue has released a draft operational statement on taxing income between not-for-profit associations (Mutual Associations) and their members. This statement is open for consultation until 25 June and applies to a wide range of not-for-profit associations, including clubs, societies, cooperatives, and professional bodies.
