Breaking the inter-generational cycle of family violence ... · Breaking the inter-generational cycle of family violence and sexual violence . Proposal . 1 This paper seeks your agreement,

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Budget Sensitive

Offices of the Ministers of Justice and for Social Development and the Under-Secretary (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues)

Chair, Cabinet Social Wellbeing Committee

Breaking the inter-generational cycle of family violence and sexual violence

Proposal

1 This paper seeks your agreement, subject to Budget 2018 decisions, to significantly reduce family violence and sexual violence in New Zealand, through a new approach that will be led by a dedicated agent within central government.

Executive Summary

2 Family violence and sexual violence can be prevented, yet 1 in 7 children grow up in violent homes, and 1 in 3 girls and up to 1 in 7 boys are subject to a form of sexual abuse by the time they reach 16. Exposure to this type of violence has lifelong impacts on child and youth wellbeing: they are three times more likely to attempt suicide, make up almost 80% of youth offenders, and are less likely to succeed in the education system and beyond. Family violence is one of the largest drivers of violent crime and makes up around 50% of all homicides.

3 Trauma from family violence and sexual violence can have intergenerational consequences: exposure to violence as a child is the best predictor of whether someone will be a perpetrator or victim of family violence as an adult. The majority of people in prison have witnessed or been victims of family and/or sexual violence. We believe that with the right institutional and funding arrangements we can seriously disrupt this cycle of family violence and sexual violence within the next 15 years.

4 We need to transform the way government operates to provide an integrated response to prevent, detect and address violence. Agencies and local communities have made some progress to lay the foundations for a better response. It will take transformational change across the system to support healthier, safer communities. This will require leadership, a collective commitment across multiple agencies to prioritise family violence and sexual violence efforts, the provision of new services that break the intergenerational cycle of violence, and stronger partnerships between government, NGOs and communities to deliver services that meet the needs of families.

5 Sustained cross-agency integrated practice has been difficult to achieve through voluntary co-ordination efforts. We therefore propose to establish a dedicated agent or body within government that is responsible for improving the way in which government agencies work together collectively to reduce family violence and sexual violence. We propose the dedicated agent have sufficient mandate to enable it to be an effective steward of the family violence and sexual violence system. This proposal is consistent with the recommendations made by the Family Violence Death Review Committee, the Law Commission, the Productivity Commission, and the People’s Blueprint.

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Background

New Zealand has unacceptable rates of family violence and sexual violence

6 Family and sexual violence1 are linked to many of the most destructive and apparently intractable social issues facing New Zealand. Around 12% of New Zealanders – over half a million people – are directly affected by family violence each year. Family violence is the largest driver of violent crime in New Zealand – on average, 27 people are killed by a family member each year– and our homicide rates from family violence are significantly higher than those of comparator countries. One in three girls and up to 1 in 7 boys are subject to a form of sexual abuse by adulthood.

7 These two types of violence are similar in that they are driven by gender inequities in society – as such they are predominately perpetrated by men against women and children. There are significant structural barriers to disclosure because social attitudes often result in victim blaming or the excusing of a perpetrator’s actions. Sexual and family violence are still incredibly stigmatised in our society. The process for engaging in and healing from the trauma and harm requires responses tailored to the unique experiences of those exposed to family violence or sexual violence. Both men and women perpetrate this type of violence. But the kind of violence they use, when and how they use it, the degree to which they use it, the harm it causes, and the ways it can be prevented often differ and tailored responses are needed. Recognising the gendered patterns of violence is not intended to negate the experiences of male victims.

Violence disproportionately impacts those suffering compounding forms of disadvantage and discrimination

8 Māori are disproportionately affected by family violence due to the complex intersection of sociohistorical and contemporary factors. Understanding violence within Māori whānau requires placing it within the social, historical, political and cultural experience of Māori wāhine, tāne and tamariki. Western approaches to responding to violence have not been effective for Māori.

9 Other populations, such as those with a disability, older people, rainbow, ethnic and migrant communities have distinct needs, but service provers are not resourced or supported to develop programmes to meet the needs of these groups. As an example, Pacific peoples have a greater exposure to violence, with Pacific students three and a half times as likely to report witnessing adults hitting other adults in their home, and twice as likely to report having experienced sexual abuse or coercion than their New Zealand European counterparts, yet there are very few Pacific family and sexual violence services available.

There are life-long consequences for children exposed to violence

10 Family violence and sexual violence is particularly damaging for children, and severely undermines their life-time wellbeing and chances of success. One in seven children report being exposed to family violence, and family violence accounts for nearly half of all referrals received by Oranga Tamariki. Violence affects children and young people’s:

10.1 ability to learn: they have poorer educational outcomes;

1 The term ‘family violence’ encompasses all types of violence between family members. Sexual violence is often one of the tactics used by a perpetrator of family violence, but also occurs in a broader range of social relationships, and sometimes by strangers.

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10.2 mental health: youth suicide attempts are three times higher;

10.3 propensity to be a future victim or perpetrator: experiencing child sexual abuse increases the likelihood of being a victim of intimate partner violence and sexual violence in later life; and

10.4 life-long offending: 80% of youth offenders have evidence of family violence in their homes, and the majority of these young people will re-offend as adults.

The current response to family violence is inadequate

11 Navigating the current system requires extraordinary effort from victims and their children entrapped in violent relationships, particularly those facing compounding forms of disadvantage, such as Māori and those with a disability. The onus is placed on the victim to coordinate many providers (each with different eligibility criteria) to access the health, justice, housing, counselling, income support, and other services that they and their children need to stay safe and move on with their lives.

12 Many of the services needed (for example, alcohol and drug services) are not readily available. Children exposed to violence do not generally receive help if the violence they are exposed to has not escalated to the justice or care and protection system. There are few services in place to mitigate the life-long impacts exposure to violence has on child wellbeing.

13 Family and sexual violence cost New Zealand between $4 billion and $7 billion each year and place a heavy burden on many agencies, leaving them over-stretched. The majority of all people in prison have been victims or witnesses of family and/or sexual violence, and family and sexual violence is a major source of demand on frontline Police. This means that almost all (91%) of government expenditure on family violence and sexual violence is spent on responding to crisis situations, putting offenders in prison and trying to mitigate the life-long impacts of violence. And yet the right types of primary prevention and early intervention programmes (particularly those focussed on children and youth) can significantly reduce life-time rates of violence and other crime while having huge benefits to life-time wellbeing but are not a major focus of effort.

Transforming our response to family violence and sexual violence

14 At least 10 government agencies work with family and sexual violence victims. The involvement of so many organisations creates opportunities for agencies to coordinate to provide a more comprehensive set of services to families and whānau, and to allocate resources across agencies in a way that will give greatest effect to reducing levels of family and sexual violence.

15 Success is a future where every person, in every family and whānau, in every community and in every organisation takes action so that all New Zealanders can live free from family violence, sexual violence and violence within whānau. To achieve this vision, we must transform organisational practice across government and ensure every opportunity is harnessed to better respond to families experiencing violence. Our commitment to improving child wellbeing will require an equally strong commitment to reducing violence.

16 This will require a strong integrated response across government whereby each agency knows the role it should play in responding to and reducing violence, and is equipped with the skills and resources it needs to fulfil its role. An integrated response (as informed by experts, victims and the sector) would:

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16.1 significantly increase primary prevention, at the community and national level, so we build a culture of non-violence and change attitudes and behaviours that enable violence to occur and constrain help-seeking;

16.2 harness opportunities for early intervention by funding early intervention services that mitigate the impacts of trauma on children, youth and their families to prevent lifetime and intergenerational consequences;

16.3 help victims, children and families to get the help they need by ensuring that all relevant government and non-government organisations understand the dynamics and impacts of family and sexual violence, and know how to refer individual and families to the appropriate support;

16.4 ensure the immediate safety of victims through rapid multi-agency safety responses building on current innovations and learning from pilots such as the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) and Place Based Initiatives;

16.5 ensure specialist services are sustainably funded, better contracted, and support new approaches to service delivery at the community level so services better meet the complex needs of families and whānau, in particular those suffering intersecting forms of disadvantage or unique needs (such as the elderly and those with a disability); and

16.6 build awareness of effective interventions and ensuring that evaluation informs our priorities, and that communities, in particular Māori and Pacific communities, are supported and empowered to act on evaluation findings.

We have started to make some progress

17 Agencies have also made progress to lay the foundations for a better response:

17.1 The New Zealand Police have embarked on a significant organisational change programme which is an example of the type of shift we need to see in other areas;

17.2 Innovative pilots, such as the Integrated Safety Response to family violence, and some Place Based Initiatives, have taught us much about how to build collective responsibility for victim safety;

17.3 Some common cross-agency tools and frameworks have been developed on workforce development and risk assessment which will help build to common practices across agencies;

17.4 The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections have aligned contracts for non-violence programmes;

17.5 The family violence legislation currently before the House, provides the legislative levers needed for more integrated responses; and

17.6 MSD and ACC have made progress as lead agencies for primary prevention of family violence and sexual violence, although level of funding allocated to these programmes is small relative to the scale of the problem.

18 But these changes fall short of those required to deliver a fully comprehensive and integrated response to family and sexual violence.

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Previous governments have tried a variety of mechanisms for co-ordinating government action with

limited success

19 Successive governments have tried to develop better cross-agency approaches (refer Appendix 1), but have struggled to make lasting and substantive change. Prior attempts have used voluntary coordination through inter-agency taskforces, expert advisory groups, cross-agency boards and ministerial groups, but none have achieved sustained integration and systemic issues remain (for example, there is no overall strategy and prevention remains chronically underfunded).

20 Independent research has found that these earlier attempts were ultimately ineffectual due to related to the limits of voluntary coordination and cross-agency working. Drivers of this lack of progress include:

20.1 It is not in the interests of any agency to make the case for the significant level of investment needed for integrated primary prevention and early intervention efforts, because this is not within the primary mandate of any agency;

20.2 Accountability for working with families experiencing violence is fragmented across over ten departments (in particular, different agencies work with children, victims and perpetrators). Each agency has its own primary focus, resulting in a lack of overall system stewardship, strategy and family or whānau centred responses;

20.3 Momentum is lost because family violence and sexual violence has not been the collective priority of the relevant agencies. Each agency faces strong competing demands on their time and budgets, with family and sexual violence initiatives, (particularly those that cross agency and service delivery lines) often not resourced sufficiently;

20.4 As with other wicked problems, policy changes in one area can hinder improvements made in another and the wider system response. For example, changes to one agency’s funding criteria can impact the security of providers reliant on multiple funding streams; and

20.5 Government has not always listened to the expertise of the sector, communities, Māori and others, and already stretched services are often not compensated for their efforts when they are asked for input. Sector engagement is led by multiple departments on their areas of focus, rather than being coordinated and sequenced to achieve collective objectives.

This Government can make a difference but we must do things differently

21 This Government has already signalled its commitment to family violence and sexual violence by appointing an Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues) and by committing to increasing funding for services and networks. Under current structures ongoing initiatives to embed workforce capabilities and common risk assessment frameworks across agencies and services will struggle to continue. We will also not be able to realise the full intent behind the family violence legislation currently in the House

22 To achieve transformational change we must change the way government organises itself. Substantive change has been difficult to achieve as no-one within government has been responsible and accountable for ensuring an effective whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence. We therefore propose that a dedicated body or agent within central government be established that has a stewardship role for the performance of

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the whole-of-government response to family and sexual violence. No such function currently exists.

23 Its role of steward of the system means the dedicated agent would have the mandate to identify gaps in the system, and to support the right agency to design and secure funding for innovative services and responses to fill them (such as sustained early trauma-informed interventions for children and youth who have been exposed to family violence).

24 The dedicated body or agent would not directly deliver services nor take over the role of other agencies – rather, its role would be that of an ‘architect’ responsible for ensuring an integrated response and designing the common capabilities needed across the system to achieve collective impact across disparate government and non-government agencies. It would provide agencies with common tools, frameworks, advice and other support to ensure that they are able to play to their strengths and form part of a wider, systemic approach to reducing New Zealand’s unacceptable rates of violence. Appendix two outlines the relationship of the dedicated agent to other agencies and the levers it will have to effect change.

25 While the agent’s role will also evolve over time and be determined in partnership with stakeholders, its core functions should be to:

25.1 Set a clear direction for the Government’s commitment to reduce family violence and sexual violence by developing a collective strategy, designed in partnership with the sector, Māori and other stakeholders, that establishes clear goals and targets for reducing family and sexual violence;

25.2 Strengthen and sustain networks for ongoing organisational development across government agencies to ensure they know their role in the future system and align their current and future actions with the strategy’s priorities;

25.3 Hold governments to account for making progress via the collection and public reporting on progress to achieving the outcomes, objectives and targets of the strategy;

25.4 Support the ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement of responses to family violence and sexual violence, to build the evidence base for effective interventions;

25.5 Provide input and advice into other related government priorities, such as the child wellbeing strategy and the mental health inquiry;

25.6 Provide strategic, whole-of-government advice to Ministers to

ensure current settings will realise the long-term goals outlined in the strategy;

25.7 Co-design with communities the necessary infrastructure, tools and support they need to deliver the components of the integrated system, including community driven approaches to primary prevention, early intervention, and immediate safety and long-term recovery; and

25.8 Develop, in collaboration with the sector and training organisations, the capabilities of front line staff in government and non-government organisations and family and friends, to safely identify and respond to violence before it escalates.

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26 The agent will take a phased approach, starting by achieving a collective agreement across government, the sector and the public on the strategy and priorities for fundamentally transforming New Zealand’s responses to family violence and sexual violence.

The concept of a dedicated agent or body is well supported locally and nationally

27 We have considered other options, such as more voluntary or dispersed models of coordination (as tried in the past) but concluded any such model would have limited ability to deliver meaningful change, unless it is given additional stewardship and budgetary powers.

28 The need for a single point of system leadership and accountability, supported by integrated national governance for family and sexual violence, is not new. It has been advocated for by the sector and experts from diverse backgrounds, including The People’s Blueprint (informed by around 500 interviews with victims, perpetrators and experts), the Law Commission (in the context of sexual violence), the Family Violence Death Review Committee, the Productivity Commission (in the context of families with complex needs), and the Social Services Committee under the last Parliament.

29 Internationally, governments have already recognised the need to have one agency responsible for oversight of an integrated response to violence. In Victoria, Australia, a new family violence coordination agency was established in 2017 as a result of the 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence. In Canada, the Public Health Agency is responsible for leadership and coordination of the 15 agencies in the Family Violence Initiative. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the Home Office coordinates and overseas all violence against women, domestic and sexual violence work across government.

The agent must facilitate solutions by Māori, for Māori and reflect people’s experiences of violence

30 No matter what form the agent takes, it cannot be just another government body. It must work in partnership with the sector and learn from the experiences of victims, perpetrators, and children affected by violence.

31 We therefore consider that the dedicated agent should be informed and supported by two advisory bodies: a Māori advisory body and a tauiwi advisory body. The Māori advisory body is for specific advice to address the disproportionate burden of harm suffered by Māori. Both bodies will be comprised of relevant sector experts, NGOs, victims and community representatives.

32 A distinct Māori advisory body would recognise and acknowledge the level of family violence and sexual disadvantage suffered by Māori communities. It also accords with the Government’s obligations under Article 22 (2) of the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples which requires states to take proactive measures in conjunction with indigenous peoples to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination.

33 In particular, the body must enable constructive Crown/Māori relationships, so that the agent has the capability to facilitate solutions by Māori for Māori, and reflect the aspirations of kaupapa Māori NGOs, whānau, hapū, iwi and urban Māori authorities. Māori experts support a standalone, bespoke entity responsible for: driving a new whole-of-government approach which has Māori and kaupapa tangata whenua as the mainstream; overseeing other agencies’ policies; co-designing with communities; and devolved funding to communities. We envisage the dedicated agency will look to leverage off promising programmes as a means of delivering community-led family violence and sexual violence prevention initiatives.

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What is a ‘dedicated agent’?

34 We do not seek Cabinet agreement to the organisational form of the dedicated agent, its advisory bodies or its supporting cross-agency governance arrangements yet. There are several potential organisational forms the agent could take, including:

34.1 a separate business unit in a parent department (e.g. Immigration NZ, Office of Disability Issues) with Deputy Secretary level leadership;

34.2 A departmental agency with its own chief executive and Minister (e.g. Social Investment Agency) which would be housed within a parent department;

34.3 A new department (e.g. the Ministry for the Environment) with a chief executive and Minister.

35 To be successful it must be able to deliver the functions outlined above. It will need credible leadership with a clear mandate, set of accountabilities and a stable structure. It must be and be seen to be independent of other government agencies to fulfil its functions but it must also be able to successfully integrate, coordinate and provide support for agencies with key roles in the system.

36 We propose that the organisational form of the agent, the role and functions of the advisory bodies and its supporting integrated cross-agency governance arrangements be subject to further advice put to Cabinet in May 2018, following discussions between the current multi-agency family violence team (hosted by the Ministry of Justice), the State Services Commission and other agencies.

Deliverables of a ‘dedicated agent’ in the first year

37 Reducing family and sexual violence will take time and sustained effort over many years. To start the dedicated agent will focus on the following in its first year;

37.1 Develop a National Action Plan to Reduce Family and Sexual Violence in collaboration with sectors which will include a strategy for prevention.

37.2 Develop workforce capability roadmap and support early adopters of the Workforce capability and Risk Assessment and Management Frameworks.

37.3 Continue the work to develop and implement code of practices for family violence agencies

37.4 Establish a monitoring mechanism and provide Cabinet with indicators to track progress.

37.5 Provide policy advice on e.g. Child Wellbeing Strategy, mental health inquiry and inquiry into abuse of children in state care.

Relationship between family violence responses and sexual violence responses

38 Significant improvements have been made in the funding and delivery of specialist sexual violence services, including ACC’s Integrated Service for Sensitive Claims, and since the Social Services Committee’s inquiry into specialist sexual violence services resulted in additional funding allocated to services in 2016.

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39 However, both the Committee and the Law Commission called for a lead agency or entity to be established to lead the specialist sexual violence sector. Most sexual violence occurs within intimate relationships and collaboration between family violence services and sexual violence services are needed to fully support these victims. Victims of sexual violence still face significant barriers in disclosing violence and seeking resolution.

40 It is important that the agent lead both the family violence and sexual violence response in New Zealand. As part of developing the strategy the agent will ensure the distinct needs of the two are met, but also identify where alignments and collaboration are needed (for example, through primary prevention initiatives focussing on healthy relationships and support for victims of intimate partner sexual violence).

Human Rights

44 Reducing family violence and sexual violence assists the Government to meet its human rights obligations including the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Legislative Implications

45 This paper has no direct legislative implications. The Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill, currently in the House, and the proposals outlined in this paper are mutually reinforcing. Many of the Bill’s provisions will lay the foundations and provide the tools necessary for the success of the central agent.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

46 A regulatory impact or compliance cost statement is not required.

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Gender Implications

47 Family and sexual violence are gendered in terms of victimisation, perpetration and impacts of violence. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer partner abuse in their lifetime. Women are more likely to be killed by a partner than men are, and girls are more likely to be killed by a family member than boys. Men are more likely to perpetrate sexual violence, serious assaults on adults and children, and to be arrested for family violence. Women suffer more repeat victimisation, harm, fear, stalking and negative health impacts of partner abuse than men.

48 Māori women, Pacific women, young women, women on a low income, rainbow women, gang women and disabled women are at a higher risk of experiencing family violence than other women, and are more likely to experience secondary victimisation when seeking help. Family and sexual violence have a significant impact on women’s physical, psychological, sexual, reproductive, and spiritual wellbeing.

Disability Perspective

49 One quarter of New Zealanders, and one third of Māori, report having a disability. Disabled people, particularly disabled women and children, have a higher risk of experiencing family violence and sexual violence than people without a disability. Recent Australian research showed women with a disability or long term illness are one and a half times more likely to experience partner abuse than women without a disability, and are less likely to report it to Police or seek support. In New Zealand, it is estimated that one in ten older people experience abuse or neglect from a family member or carer.

50 Abuse of disabled people is less likely to be reported or identified because of reliance on family members, as well as communication difficulties. Disabled people’s experiences of family violence are unique and occur in wider range of contexts, including preventing access to medical treatment, failing to provide basic needs, social isolation, erratic care and attention, taking away necessary aids such as wheelchairs.

Publicity

51 Our approach to publicity will be determined through the Budget process.

Consultation

52 This paper has been prepared by the multi-agency team hosted by the Ministry of Justice.

53 The following agencies have been consulted on this paper: Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Ministry for Children—Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Pacific Peoples, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry for Women, the Accident Compensation Corporation, Department of Corrections, Office of Ethnic Communities, New Zealand Police, State Services Commission Te Puni Kōkiri, and the Treasury. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was informed.

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Recommendations

The Minister of Justice, the Minister of Social Development and the Parliamentary Undersecretary (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues) recommend that the Committee:

1 Note that New Zealand has unacceptable rates of family and sexual violence which severely undermines the lifetime wellbeing of victims and their children, in particular those most marginalised and disadvantaged in our society

2 Agree that there are significant opportunities to do better, and that the foundations of an integrated response will require sustained, cross-agency commitment to:

2.1 significantly increase primary prevention, at the community and national level, so we build a culture of non-violence and change attitudes and behaviours that enable violence to occur and constrain help-seeking;

2.2 harness opportunities for early intervention by funding early intervention services that mitigate the impacts of trauma on children, youth and their families to prevent lifetime and intergenerational consequences;

2.3 help victims, children and families to get the help they need by ensuring that all relevant government and non-government organisations understand the dynamics and impacts of family and sexual violence, and know how to refer individual and families to the appropriate support;

2.4 ensure the immediate safety of victims through rapid multi-agency safety responses building on current innovations and learning from pilots such as the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) and Place Based Initiatives;

2.5 ensure specialist services are sustainably funded, better contracted, and support new approaches to service delivery at the community level so services and better meet the complex needs of families and whānau, in particular those suffering intersecting forms of disadvantage or unique needs (such as the elderly and those with a disability); and

2.6 build awareness of effective interventions and ensuring that evaluation informs our priorities, and that communities, in particular Māori communities, are supported and empowered to act on evaluation findings.

3 Note that prior cross-agency arrangements have not realised their ambitions because accountability for addressing family violence and sexual violence is fragmented across many departments which frustrates overall system stewardship, strategy and sustained progress

4 Agree that a dedicated agent or body, with a stewardship role for the performance of the whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence is necessary given the failings of prior attempts at reform and the collective strength of recommendations from multiple expert groups

5 Agree that, while the dedicated agent’s role will evolve over time and be determined in partnership with the advisory body, its core functions should be to:

5.1 Set a clear direction for the Government’s commitment to reduce family violence and sexual violence by developing a collective strategy, designed in partnership with the sector, Māori and the wider public, that establishes clear goals and targets for reducing family and sexual violence;

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5.2 Strengthen and sustain networks for ongoing organisational development across government agencies to ensure they know their role in the future system and align their current and future actions with the strategy’s priorities;

5.3 Hold governments to account for making progress via the collection and public reporting on progress to achieving the outcomes, objectives and targets of the strategy;

5.4 Support the ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement of responses to family violence and sexual violence, to build the evidence base for effective interventions;

5.5 Provide input and advice into other related government priorities, such as the child wellbeing strategy and the mental health inquiry;

5.6 Provide strategic, whole-of-government advice to Ministers on future Budget initiatives the administration of funding and the purchasing and effectiveness of services, to ensure current settings will realise the long-term goals outlined in the strategy;

5.7 Co-design with communities the necessary infrastructure, tools and support they need to deliver the components of the integrated system, including community driven approaches to primary prevention, early intervention, and immediate safety and long-term recovery; and

5.8 Develop, in collaboration with the sector and training organisations, the capabilities of front line staff in government and non-government organisations and family and friends, to safely identify and respond to violence before it escalates.

6 Note that the dedicated agent should be supported and informed by two advisory bodies: a Māori advisory body and a tauiwi advisory body. Both bodies will be comprised of relevant sector experts, NGOs, victims and community representatives and the Māori advisory body is for specific advice to address the disproportionate burden of harm suffered by Māori

7 Note that there are several organisational forms the dedicated agent and its advisory bodies could take

8 Invite the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Social Development and the Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues) to report back to the Cabinet, in light of cross-agency discussions and Budget decisions, on the agent’s appropriate organisational form, including the role and functions of the advisory bodies, in May 2018

9 Note that new funding is being sought through Budget 2018.

Authorised for lodgement

Hon Andrew Little

Minister of Justice

Hon Carmel Sepuloni

Minister for Social Development

Jan Logie

Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice

(Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues)

Appendix One

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Previous efforts of central coordination and cross-government approaches to family violence and sexual violence in New Zealand El

emen

ts n

eed

ed f

or

effe

ctiv

e s

tew

ard

ship

of

fam

ily v

iole

nce

an

d s

exu

al v

iole

nce

sys

tem

Organisational form and support

1985-1992 Family Violence Prevention

Coordinating Committee Ministerial Committee on

Violence

Supported by Team of 1-2 staff in MSD

1994-2002 Family Violence Focus Group

Family Violence Advisory Committee

Business Unit in Social Policy Agency in MSD

2002-2005 Te Rito Advisory Group

Ministerial Group Māori Taskforce on Family Violence

Team in MSD

2007-2009 Taskforce for Action on Sexual

Violence

Secretariat in Justice, 2-3 staff

2005-2015 Taskforce for Action on Violence within

Families + Ministerial Group Māori Reference Group Pacific Advisory

Group Expert Advisory Group

Business Unit in MSD : 2-11 staff

Strategy No strategy, just actions for

individual agencies

Crime Prevention Strategy; Government Statement in

Family Violence Policy

Te Rito Family Violence Prevention Strategy

New Zealand’s only national family violence strategy.

It is still being used by networks and communities

Short-term in order to provide advice to particular Minister

No Taskforce strategy, just actions planned or underway in each agency. E

Tu Whānau and Pasefika Proud Programme of Action developed but did

not lead to cross-agency action

Aligned actions across

government

No one responsible aligning and ensuring mutually reinforcing actions across government


No one responsible aligning and ensuring mutually reinforcing actions

across government


across government


across government

Outcomes, monitoring and

reporting

- - Some reporting on progress of

individual actions, not outcomes, newsletters to sector

Government response to recommendations published, but no

progress reports

No defined outcomes nor recorded decisions and consequent actions

Integrated budget bids

Budget decisions made by individual agencies and

Ministers without a view to overall system



Budget decisions made by individual agencies and Ministers without a

view to overall system



Budget decisions made by individual agencies and Ministers without a view to

overall system

Co-design of services and support for

implementation

Advisory role for NGOs on Committee HAIP pilot

Advisory role for NGO reps on Focus Group

Short-term implementation support

Advisory role for NGOs Short term support only for FVIARS

and networks No

Advisory role for NGOs on Taskforce Short term support for new interagency

initiatives

Partnership w/ Māori

Kaupapa Māori NGOs on Committee; Māori Women’s

Welfare League advisory role -

Independent advice from Māori Taskforce; Kaupapa Māori NGOs represented on Advisory Group;

consultation with Māori communities

Kaupapa Māori NGOs represented on the Taskforce; Nga Kaitiaki Mauri

(TOAHNNEST) reps

Separate advice from Māori Reference Group; kaupapa Māori NGOs represented on the Taskforce

Workface development

No Good Practice Guidelines for

Interagency Coordination

Established NZ Family Violence Clearinghouse; Risk Assessment

and Safety national standard developed but not implemented

Practice guidelines No

Not present

Partly Present

Present

Information in this table is based on a short period of desktop research (March 2018) and discussions with NGO reps and officials – it is not an exhaustive policy review

Government agencies spent most of the time explaining why they weren’t able to do anything – no money, other

priorities, doesn’t fit with internal work programme

The process for prioritising and allocating responsibility for initiatives appears to be

more ‘buck passing’ with many agencies trying to avoid

doing things The large Government

agencies are the only ones with resources to commit to these actions and hence they

tend to retain control for most actions

The Taskforce made people feel like something was happening,

when it really wasn’t

When the top decision makers were around the table, we saw

some changes in individual agencies, but they started sending

lower level officials, and we lost the ability to do anything

We weren’t allowed to raise the issue of money

[s9(2)(g)(i)]

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Appendix Two

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Aide-Memoire: Breaking the inter-generational cycle of family violence and sexual violence Hon Andrew Little, Minister of Justice and Under-Secretary Jan Logie Social Wellbeing Committee Meeting: 4 April 2018

Purpose

1. This note provides information on your Cabinet paper seeking agreement to establish a new approach

to addressing family violence and sexual violence led by a dedicated agent within central government.

We need to do things differently to address family violence and sexual violence

2. Government’s response to family violence and sexual violence is complex and multi-faceted and

requires collective actions from at least 10 agencies across prevention, early intervention, crisis

response and recovery responses. A variety of voluntary and distributed models of coordination have

been tried over the past fifteen years yet our rates of violence remain high and our responses poor.

Prior attempts have been hampered because they never combined all the required powers to develop

an integrated response across government (see appendix one).

The paper therefore proposes to establish a dedicated agent to transform practice

3. The paper recommends a dedicated agent should be established that is responsible and accountable

for an effective whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence. The key levers

the proposed dedicated agent would have, that were not utilised in the past are:

a. A stewardship role (ie, clear lead) for the performance of the whole-of-government

response to family violence and sexual violence; and

b. The ability to inform the allocation of funding across agencies to ensure we have the right

balance of services (eg, filling the gaps in prevention and early intervention) and to ensure

sustainable and innovative specialist services.

4. Without such arrangements, it will be difficult for the Government to achieve its other goals, such as

improving child wellbeing and achieving healthier and safer communities. Ongoing initiatives, such as

embedding workforce capabilities and common risk assessment frameworks across the sector, will also

struggle to continue.

5. If Cabinet agrees to establish a dedicated agent, the paper proposes a report-back in early May on the

options for its organisation form.

Potential issues that will be raised by Cabinet Ministers

6. You have consulted with other Ministers on the paper and we understand there is broad support fromthe Ministers of Māori Development, Whānau Ora, Women and Children.

7. Through our ongoing conversations and consultation with other agencies we consider it possible that

the issues outlined in the table below may have been raised to Ministers by their officials.

Approved by: Sarah Holden, Director, Multi-agency team

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Appendix one: Previous efforts of central coordination and cross-government approaches to family violence and sexual violence in New Zealand

Elem

ents

nee

ded

fo

r ef

fect

ive

ste

war

dsh

ip o

f fa

mily

vio

len

ce a

nd

sex

ual

vio

len

ce s

yste

m

Organisational form and support

1985-1992 Family Violence Prevention

Coordinating Committee Ministerial Committee on

Violence

Supported by Team of 1-2 staff in MSD

1994-2002 Family Violence Focus Group

Family Violence Advisory Committee

Business Unit in Social Policy Agency in MSD

2002-2005 Te Rito Advisory Group

Ministerial Group Māori Taskforce on Family Violence

Team in MSD

2007-2009 Taskforce for Action on Sexual

Violence

Secretariat in Justice, 2-3 staff

2005-2015 Taskforce for Action on Violence within

Families + Ministerial Group Māori Reference Group Pacific Advisory

Group Expert Advisory Group

Business Unit in MSD : 2-11 staff

Strategy No strategy, just actions for

individual agencies

Crime Prevention Strategy; Government Statement in

Family Violence Policy

Te Rito Family Violence Prevention Strategy

New Zealand’s only national family violence strategy.

It is still being used by networks and communities

Short-term in order to provide advice to particular Minister

No Taskforce strategy, just actions planned or underway in each agency. E

Tu Whānau and Pasefika Proud

Progammes of Action developed but did

not lead to cross-agency action

Aligned actions across

government




across government


across government


across government

Outcomes, monitoring and

reporting

- - Some reporting on progress of

individual actions, not outcomes, newsletters to sector

Government response to recommendations published, but no

progress reports

No defined outcomes nor recorded decisions and consequent actions

Integrated budget bids









Budget decisions made by individual agencies and Ministers without a view to

overall system

Co-design of services and support for

implementation

Advisory role for NGOs on Committee HAIP pilot

Advisory role for NGO reps on Focus Group

Short-term implementation support

Advisory role for NGOs Short term support only for FVIARS

and networks No

Advisory role for NGOs on Taskforce Short term support for new interagency

initiatives

Partnership w/ Māori

Kaupapa Māori NGOs on Committee; Māori Women’s

Welfare League advisory role -

Independent advice from Māori Taskforce; Kaupapa Māori NGOs represented on Advisory Group;

consultation with Māori communities

Kaupapa Māori NGOs represented on the Taskforce; Nga Kaitiaki Mauri

(TOAHNNEST) reps

Separate advice from Māori Reference Group; kaupapa Māori NGOs represented on the Taskforce

Workface development

No Good Practice Guidelines for

Interagency Coordination

Established NZ Family Violence Clearinghouse; Risk Assessment

and Safety national standard developed but not implemented

Practice guidelines No

Not present

Partly Present

Present

Information in this table is based on a short period of desktop research (March 2018) and discussions with NGO reps and officials – it is not an exhaustive policy review

Government agencies spent most of the time explaining why they weren’t able to do anything – no money, other

priorities, doesn’t fit with internal work programme

The process for prioritising and allocating responsibility for initiatives appears to be

more ‘buck passing’ with many agencies trying to avoid

doing things The large Government

agencies are the only ones with resources to commit to these actions and hence they

tend to retain control for most actions

The Taskforce made people feel like something was happening,

when it really wasn’t

When the top decision makers were around the table, we saw

some changes in individual agencies, but they started sending

lower level officials, and we lost the ability to do anything

We weren’t allowed to raise the issue of money

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In confidence

Office of the Minister of Justice

Office of the Minister for Social Development

Office of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues)

Chair, Cabinet Social Wellbeing Committee

Leadership of Government’s collective efforts to reduce family violence and sexual violence

Proposal

1 This paper seeks your agreement to establish a dedicated agent in the form of a jointventure of the Social Wellbeing Board to take collective responsibility for reducing familyviolence and sexual violence, and to provide agency and sector leadership for the whole-of-government response; and to establish an interim Te Rōpū Māori to assist the Crown towork in partnership with Māori on this response.

Executive Summary

1 New Zealand has high rates of family violence, sexual violence and violence within whānauwith widespread and enduring economic and social costs. Preventing and eliminating thisviolence is one of our greatest opportunities to improve wellbeing.

2 The evidence is clear that we need new ways of working across government and with iwiand communities to deliver an integrated, sustained, citizen-centred response to reducefamily violence and sexual violence. Previous attempts at voluntary co-ordination acrossgovernment have not worked. That is why Cabinet has agreed to establish a dedicatedagent to lead government’s collective response to family violence and sexual violence[SWC-18-MIN-0037 refers].

3 We propose establishing the dedicated agent as a joint venture of the Social WellbeingBoard that will be collectively accountable for this response. A joint venture reflects adifferent mindset and approach that can provide the sustained, cross-agency leadership andcommitment necessary to deliver meaningful change. Initially, Ministers will work with theSocial Wellbeing Board to create a joint venture approach within the current publicmanagement system. Proposed reforms to the State Sector Act 1988 will remove some ofthe obstacles to this way of working and will enable more formal joint venture options.

4In parallel, it will also develop an ambitious national strategy and

action plan to galvanise our collective efforts – across government and working with whānauMāori and communities – to reduce family violence, sexual violence and violence withinwhānau.

5 We also propose establishing an interim Te Rōpū Māori to work in partnership with theCrown, Ministers and this joint venture to develop the national strategy and action plan, andto provide specific advice to address the disproportionate burden of harm suffered by Māori.The joint venture will also work with existing advisory groups and panels across government,to ensure a wide range of stakeholder perspectives and voices are reflected.

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Background

2 This Government is committed to reducing New Zealand’s unacceptable rates of familyviolence and sexual violence [SWC-18-MIN-0037 refers]. Every year, over 1 million NewZealanders are directly affected by family violence and sexual violence, including over250,000 children. Over half of all homicides are the result of family violence and sexualviolence – around 30 deaths every year. One in ten older people experience abuse orneglect from a family member or carer.

3 Family violence and sexual violence share patterns of coercive and controlling abusivebehaviours intended to entrap and exert power over victims, often repeated across multiplevictims, and often with an escalating spiral of physical and other forms of violence as part ofa pattern of cumulative harm.

4 Family violence, sexual violence and violence within whānau include intimate partnerviolence, child abuse and neglect, intra-familial violence, elder abuse, sexual assault byacquaintances or colleagues, and sexual assault by strangers. This violence is alsoentangled with multi-faceted social issues, driving demand across many public services:

4.1 Victims often suffer lower wellbeing across many domains, including poor physicaland mental health, alcohol and drug use and abuse, poor education outcomes,higher unemployment, poverty, and increased risk of homelessness.

4.2 Children exposed to family violence and sexual violence are also victims, with life-long impacts on their development, ability to learn, attitudes to risk, and anti-socialbehaviour, creating an intergenerational cycle of further disadvantage and violence(as victims and as perpetrators).

4.3 Perpetrators can come from any walk of life, and are often victims too – many havebeen exposed to trauma from family violence or sexual violence as children (and/oras adults), many have mental health and addiction issues (often untreated), andmany have poor education outcomes.

5 Family violence and sexual violence are driven by gender inequities in society, and they arepredominately perpetrated by men against women and children. Recognising the genderedpatterns of violence is not intended to negate the experiences of male victims. The kinds ofviolence that men and women use, when and how they use violence, and the harm it causesare different. We need to acknowledge the gendered patterns of violence in order to developdifferent and tailored responses, so that we can effectively prevent this violence and reducethe harm that it causes.

6 Māori are disproportionately affected by family violence, sexual violence and violence withinwhānau due to the complex intersection of sociohistorical and contemporary factors.Understanding violence within Māori whānau requires placing it within the social, historical,political and cultural experience of Māori wāhine, tāne and tamariki. Māori are twice as likelyto be victims and perpetrators of family violence and sexual violence. Every year, moreMāori tamariki die as a result of family violence than all other children put together.

7 Reducing family violence and sexual violence is one of the greatest opportunities forgovernment to improve wellbeing. We can reduce victimisation and offending, and reducethe flow of future offenders, contributing to our priorities for Safe and Effective Justice. Wecan reduce the violence inflicted on our children and young people and directly address theharm that it causes, to contribute to the outcomes sought through the development of a ChildWellbeing Strategy . There is a strong link between family

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violence and sexual violence and the mental health of all people (including children andyouth) affected by violence.

8 There is robust evidence that integrated responses are needed to meaningfully reduce thedifferent forms of family violence and sexual violence – providing coordinated,comprehensive and sustained responses to the patterns of abusive behaviour and to supportthe recovery of each person affected. This will require tackling the abusive behaviours andcumulative harm directly, and also addressing the co-occurring forms of disadvantage, toensure this recovery can be sustained.

9 Responsibility for addressing family violence and sexual violence is currently distributedacross at least 10 government agencies. New ways of working across government and withiwi and communities are needed to deliver an integrated response that can seriously disruptthe cycle of family violence and sexual violence. This will take time and requires fundamentalchanges to the way in which government operates.

10 Cabinet has agreed to transform the way that government operates to prevent, detect andaddress family violence and sexual violence. New organisational arrangements, andchanges in the culture and mindset across government, are required to significantly reducelevels of family violence and sexual violence.

11 This will also require a significant increase in our investment in this area. Cabinet has agreedthere is significant opportunity to do better requiring a commitment to:

5.1 significantly increase primary prevention, at the community and national level, tobuild a culture of non-violence and to break the intergenerational cycle of violence,whereby child victims become perpetrators in adulthood;

5.2 fund early intervention services that mitigate the impacts of trauma on children, youthand their families;

5.3 invest in the capability of all relevant government and non-government organisationsso that they are confident in their role in the collective response, and have acoherent, common model to enable a collective identification of need and referral forvictims, children and families to get the help they need;

5.4 ensure the immediate safety of victims through rapid multi-agency safety responses,e.g. building on the Integrated Safety Response pilots being led by Police;

5.5 increase funding for specialist services, ensuring they are sustainably funded, bettercontracted, and can support new approaches to service delivery at the communitylevel; and

5.6 build awareness of effective interventions, ensure evaluation informs our priorities,and supporting and empowering communities to act on evaluation findings.

12 Cabinet agreed to establish a dedicated agent that would lead, and provide a singlecollective point of accountability for, the performance of the whole-of-government responseto family violence and sexual violence. This paper recommends the establishment of a jointventure of the Social Wellbeing Board to perform the role of this dedicated agent. Reflectingthe role and functions agreed for the dedicated agent, the joint venture will provideleadership and alignment across government at both the strategic level and at a practical,operational and community level. The Social Wellbeing Board will have a key role innavigating the complexity and risks around these roles, for the joint venture and for thegovernment and non-government agencies with whom it will need to work closely.

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13 In addition, this paper recommends the establishment of an interim Te Rōpū to assist theCrown to work in partnership with Māori on this response, and recommends interimarrangements to engage a wide range of stakeholder perspectives.

A national strategy and action plan

6 Family violence and sexual violence are a blight on our society. Family violence and sexualviolence affect all New Zealanders in our communities, workplaces and homes, includingchildren, young people and the elderly. These impacts are most severe for women and girls,and particularly those who are disabled, Māori, Pacific, or from ethnic minorities. An overallstrategy to reduce family violence and sexual violence needs to be for all of us, andeveryone has a role to play to help reduce violence.

7 Family violence and sexual violence have a severe disproportionate impact on Māori,particularly Māori women and children. Māori are significantly over-represented as bothvictims and perpetrators of family violence, sexual violence and related offences.

8 A national strategy can set a clear direction for our collective commitment to reduce familyviolence and sexual violence. This can be used to guide practical decisions at the front-line(we know that service providers still refer to the 2002 Te Rito strategy for guidance in theabsence of more current direction). Learning from the ambitious reforms underway in theAustralian state of Victoria, a key feature of our strategy will be a rolling action plan that candrive practical action and allow the public to track our progress towards reducing violence.

9 A critical early action for the dedicated agent will be to work with all agencies involved in thejoint venture to develop this national strategy and action plan – which could clarify thedesired future state, the most critical strategic objectives, and collective performanceindicators (as they develop). This will enable collective prioritisation by the Social WellbeingBoard of effective or promising activities and outputs, and will help each social sector agencysee the part it plays alongside others in achieving these objectives, as part of a collectiveaction plan.

10 To ensure this strategy and action plan reflect the aspirations of all New Zealanders, theywill be developed through open and engaging processes. The interim Te Rōpū Māori andwider stakeholder advisory groups will also have important roles in preparing the strategy,prioritising actions, informing effective approaches, and holding government to account.They will also have an explicit role in engaging people harmed by violence, people who haveused violence, and a wide range of communities, to ensure their voices are heard.

11 We propose to develop a draft strategy working closely with service providers, experts,victim advocates, Māori and the wider public. This would then be refined and developedthrough formal consultation processes.

12 We will provide further advice on the emerging draft strategy, and the process to finalise thestrategy, .

Delivering this action plan – options for organisational form of the dedicated agent

13 The collective response to family violence and sexual violence is complex and involvesmany agencies with overlapping interests. Voluntary models of cross-agency co-ordinationhave not been able to provide strategic oversight of this collective response, and effortsremain fragmented across agencies.

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14 Voluntary co-ordination has also struggled to provide strategic advice on the balance ofresources and activities required to reduce family violence and sexual violence, resulting in –among other things – limited investment in prevention; and have failed to provide sustainedfocus on delivering integrated practice that is responsive to the needs of victims,perpetrators, children, families and whānau. Cross-agency co-ordinating mechanisms havealso tended to be relatively short-lived, with none enduring beyond political cycles.

15 Cabinet agreed that a dedicated agent with responsibility for ensuring a whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence is necessary to significantlydisrupt the cycle of intergenerational harm [SWC-18-MIN-0037 refers]. Cabinet waspresented with potential organisational forms the agent could take (including a business unit,departmental agency and department) and we were invited to report back on the agent’sappropriate form. These options have been considered alongside an additional option: a jointventure of the Social Wellbeing Board.

Features of a successful dedicated agent

16 An integrated response to family violence and sexual violence requires new and innovativeways of working and thinking across government, and new partnerships with communitiesand service providers. The dedicated agent is a catalyst for the necessary culture andbehaviour change, and provides a central point of coordination and leadership to model andguide these new approaches. In doing so, the dedicated agent will also need to maintain andbuild specialist expertise in family violence and in sexual violence.

17 The functions of the dedicated agent were agreed by Cabinet and are listed in Appendix 1.These functions are wide-ranging and propose a comprehensive role for the dedicatedagent, spanning the coordination of strategic policy and funding advice through to thedelivery of elements of government’s response to family violence and sexual violence. To beeffective in delivering the full range of functions, we considered the dedicated agent wouldneed:

17.1 The mandate to lead a whole-of-government work programme to reduce familyviolence and sexual violence.

17.2 Authority to provide strategic policy and funding advice on behalf of all agenciesinvolved in the response to family violence and sexual violence, including collectiveBudget advice.

17.3 Levers for Ministers collectively to prioritise the allocation of funding across differentagencies to ensure effective delivery of a whole-of-government strategy andresponse.

17.4 Strategic leadership of the approach to commissioning family violence and sexualviolence services, working alongside contracting agencies to reflect this in theirfunding strategies, including the development of new models of contracting.

17.5 An enduring, sustained commitment to reduce family violence and sexual violencethat binds all of the agencies involved.

17.6 Accountability to the public and to Parliament for the performance of this whole-of-government response – to substantially reduce family violence and sexual violence.

18 These criteria are informed by the understanding that family violence and sexual violenceare complex social issues that do not fit neatly into the boundaries of agencies and sector.They are problems that generate demand across a wide range of public services and,

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consequentially, all agencies involved have important insights and services to contribute tosignificantly reduce the harm caused.

19 To significantly disrupt the intergenerational cycle of family violence and sexual violence,activities that sit in the day-to-day operations of a range of agencies and sectors (forexample, including Corrections, Police, Education, Health and Social Development) must besupported and influenced to build necessary capabilities and align around a commonstrategy and action plan. For this reason, the ability of a dedicated agent to coordinateacross many agencies is critical to its ability to lead an effective response.

20 Based on this role of coordination across the system, as opposed to taking over the role ofother agencies, three broad options remain for the form of the dedicated agent:

20.1 a business unit tasked with leading a cross-agency work programme (broadly, thestatus-quo),

20.2 a stand-alone department (or departmental agency) with a chief executive who has aformal cross-agency leadership role (similar to a sector or functional leadership role),or

20.3 a joint venture where key chief executives are collectively accountable for the whole-of-government action.

21 Appendix 2 provides a summary of our analysis of the options for the form of the dedicatedagent against these criteria. The form also needs to be agile and nimble, enabling a complexcross-agency work programme to be progressed efficiently and effectively. The analysisshows that a joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board delivers the criteria described abovemore effectively than a business unit or stand-alone department.

22 The options of a stand-alone department or business unit would create an entity accountablefor a whole-of-government response. While there are existing sector and functionalleadership roles that offer examples of the levers and resources needed to build thecollective commitment of other agencies to a common purpose, these are considered asinsufficient in the face of the complexity of family violence and sexual violence.

23 Though government often looks to establish new stand-alone agencies in response to cross-cutting problems, experience suggests that often, despite best intentions, the commitmentand engagement of other agencies can wane. Conversely, many informal and voluntarycross-agency working arrangements are unsustainable and vertical accountabilities tend totrump cross-agency priorities. The formal collective ownership and accountability of the jointventure model balances these trade-offs.

Proposed changes to the State Sector Act 1988

1 Proposed changes to the State Sector Act 1988, as recently agreed for consultation byCabinet, would allow for a group of chief executives to collectively own and govern a formaljoint venture.

2 Through a joint venture arrangement, the Social Wellbeing Board would be able to own andgovern shared assets and coordinate resources including staff. The changes would alsoallow the Board to administer appropriations and be formally accountable as a collective.The joint venture approach offers the potential to transform the way that governmentoperates through a new way of working that is consistent with the roles and contributions ofmany agencies to a whole-of-government response.

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3 Pending the proposed changes to the State Sector Act, some interim ‘work-arounds’ wouldallow chief executives and agencies to operate as if they were collectively accountable to thelead Minister, and to Ministers collectively, for the whole-of-government actions to reducefamily violence and sexual violence. In addition, chief executives and agencies wouldcontinue to be accountable to the responsible Ministers for their agency contributions tothese government priorities. The constraints of the current system mean that these interimarrangements will rely on the commitment and buy-in of those involved to navigate thetensions between agency and collective interests.

4 We note that this Committee is also considering an amended Terms of Reference and namechange for the Social Wellbeing Board (Strengthening our approach to the governance ofsocial wellbeing). The proposed terms of reference note that the Board may also exercisegovernance over relevant interdepartmental joint ventures as agreed with Ministers.

A Joint Venture Model

5 The proposed joint venture would involve a group of chief executives (the Social WellbeingBoard) taking collective responsibility for the whole-of-government work programme. Chiefexecutives would also be individually accountable for their agencies’ contributions to thisshared initiative. The Board would appoint a Director and staff to support them to performthe roles and functions that Cabinet has agreed for the dedicated agent. The joint venturewould report to this Committee, and this Committee would also be collectively responsiblefor this whole-of-government work programme and individually responsible for thecontributions of their portfolios and agencies to these shared goals.

6 While the proposed joint venture is a new set of organisational arrangements, it also reflectsa different mind-set and new way of working across government. This can deliver thesustained cross-agency commitment to integrated, collective actions to transform ourresponse to family violence and sexual violence – working more effectively across agencyboundaries.

7 Figure 1 provides an overview of this joint venture approach. Appendix 3 provides a fullerversion of this diagram and further discussion of the features of the joint venture.

Figure 1: overview of a joint venture approach to the dedicated agent

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Ministerial arrangements

8iven the current constraints of the system and the focus on

individual accountability, the Social Wellbeing Board, and this Committee, will haveimportant oversight roles to monitor progress and to identify and resolve points of tensionearly.

9 This Committee would have overall Ministerial oversight for the joint venture, reflecting theimpacts of family violence and sexual violence across all of our portfolios, and drive theoverall strategy and direction. Ministers would be collectively accountable for the jointventure and the whole-of-government work programme through this Committee. Ministerswould also continue to be individually responsible for their portfolios and agencies, helping tomanage their contributions to these shared outcomes.

10 We propose that a Lead Minister should be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of thejoint venture and its work programme. The joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board wouldreport to the Lead Minister, and the Lead Minister would work closely with the Ministerresponsible for the Social Wellbeing Board to manage the connections with the widerpriorities of the Board and this Committee. To support the Lead Minister in this role, wepropose forming a Ministerial Group to resolve issues where possible and to develop andcoordinate advice to this Committee.

11 We propose that the Ministerial Group should comprise the Under-Secretary to the Ministerof Justice, the Minister of Justice, the Minister for Social Development, the Minister forChildren, the Minister for Seniors, and the Minister for Māori Development. Where detaileddecisions around institutional arrangements and governance for this joint venture arerequired, we propose that Cabinet will delegate to this Ministerial Group to confirmarrangements with the Social Wellbeing Board.

12 For the purposes of this joint venture, we propose that the Social Wellbeing Board wouldreport to the Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice, as the Lead Minister for familyviolence and sexual violence.

Governance arrangements of the joint venture

13 The Social Wellbeing Board has agreed the following arrangements around the governanceof the joint venture:

13.1 The Chief Executives of Police, Department of Corrections and ACC will be includedas members of the joint venture governing body, along with the Social WellbeingBoard; and

13.2 All regular Social Wellbeing Board meetings will ring-fence time for the wider jointventure governing body to meet on family violence and sexual violence matters.

14 The Social Wellbeing Board will explore arrangements to establish the joint venture. Thearrangements around funding are discussed later in this paper. The organisationalarrangements agreed include:

14.1 The process of appointing a Director of the joint venture will be managed by one ofthe governing chief executives on behalf of the Social Wellbeing Board. The Directorwill be formally employed by the Secretary for Justice and will report to the SocialWellbeing Board collectively.

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14.2 One of the governing chief executives will manage the accommodation of the jointventure business unit on behalf of the Social Wellbeing Board (the Ministry ofJustice).

15 There is a risk that, until collective ownership and governance is able to be formalisedthrough legislative change, the joint venture will be perceived as ‘owned’ by the agenciesthat are seen to be responsible for supporting it. For this reason, it is important that adistinct, agency-neutral identity of the joint venture is developed, including a stand-alonewebsite and email presence. Similarly, the Director should be a high calibre seniorappointment who is able to act on behalf of the Social Wellbeing Board, and has the mana tolead the whole-of-government response.

16 There is an expectation that the Director would hold the day-to-day relationship with, andreport directly to, the Lead Minister on behalf of the Social Wellbeing Board, which may beachieved through delegation by the Board.

17 For the specific area of work on family violence and sexual violence, the Social WellbeingBoard would be supported and advised by the Director and the joint venture, similar to theproposed role for the Social Investment Agency for other areas of the Board’s work. Te PuniKōkiri, the Ministries for Pacific Peoples, and the Ministry for Women would support the jointventure to provide evidence-informed insights and advice based on the recognition that theexperience of family violence and sexual violence differs for specific population groups, andan understanding of what matters for these groups to strengthen their wellbeing.

18 In addition to governing the joint venture as a Board, the chief executive members wouldprovide collective leadership through leadership of their own departments, to ensure allelements of government’s response are aligned to a common purpose. Through their cross-agency and sector leadership roles, the Social Wellbeing Board would also connect with afull range of perspectives, including those of the population agencies, to ensure all actionsreflect government’s wider priorities and the over-representation of key cohorts exposed tofamily violence and sexual violence.

The joint venture approach and a new way of working

19 We recognise that new structural arrangements will not alone be enough to bring about thetransformational change required for an effective whole-of-government response. New anddifferent behaviours and cultures will also be necessary. This proposed joint ventureapproach has a range of features – both structural and behavioural – that will support it tolead and coordinate a whole-of-government response.

20 The learnings from the implementation of this joint venture approach would be used toinform the further development of possible joint venture models to be introduced through theproposed reforms to the State Sector Act. We will review the effectiveness of this jointventure by December 2020, to inform a decision on the long-term organisational form forgovernment’s response to family violence and sexual violence.

Funding arrangements to support the joint venture

21 there

are existing mechanisms we can use to enable the joint venture to lead and coordinate aneffective whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence.

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22.3 Reporting collectively through Estimates and Annual Reports for appropriationsrelevant to family violence and sexual violence. The Social Wellbeing Board willcoordinate a collective reporting process for relevant appropriations that are spreadacross agencies and Votes. This can create a system-view of the funding andinvestment landscape and provide a collective account of performance towardsshared outcomes.

24 For example, a more collective approach to contracting across government could alsoenable and empower devolved, citizen-centred approaches to service delivery at thecommunity level, that better recognise and respond to the different, complex needs of familyand whānau. It could also reduce the perception that providers are in competition with eachother for government funding.

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Role and functions of the advisory bodies

27 Cabinet has agreed that these cross-agency arrangements would be supported andinformed by an independent Māori body and a wider stakeholder advisory body. Theoverarching purpose of these two bodies is to support government to work in partnershipwith the sector and to learn from the experiences of victims, perpetrators, and childrenaffected by violence.

28 To achieve this, the membership of both bodies will reflect the perspectives of familyviolence and sexual violence practitioners, community representatives, survivors of violence,former users of violence (who may also be survivors), and active researchers in the areas offamily violence or sexual violence.

29 Cabinet has also agreed that both bodies will provide expert advice on all aspects familyviolence and sexual violence, with a particular focus on supporting the dedicated agent –and all relevant agencies involved in the joint venture – to develop a national strategy anddeliver a rolling action plan. These groups will also help to convey the needs and priorities ofvictims and perpetrators of family violence and sexual violence, along with their families, andensure that those needs sit at the heart of all decisions and services.

Development of advice on the two groups

30 Te Puni Kōkiri and the multi-agency team for family violence and sexual violence (hosted bythe Ministry of Justice) held two hui with Māori experts and sector representatives to betterunderstand their aspirations and expectations of any Māori group. Their feedback was clearthat the group needed to be independent and have standing and influence, to reflect agenuine partnership between the Crown and Māori. The experts considered the groupshould work in partnership with the Crown to develop the strategy, design and plan for theimplementation of programmes, and the levels of resourcing required. They also felt that thegroup needed to be enduring to provide an independent assessment of government’sprogress towards the shared goals of reducing family violence and sexual violence.

31 The experts were keen to explore establishing the group as a separate entity to provide thenecessary standing, an independent voice (reporting to Parliament and the public) and anenduring form. They also advised that Māori should be involved in developing advice on theform of the group. The experts suggested the name Te Rōpū – literally “the group” – as apractical name for this group.

32 There will need to be a close connection between Te Rōpū and the Ministry of SocialDevelopment’s Māori Reference Group. The Māori Reference Group was originallyestablished to advise the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families. In 2008, theydeveloped and published the first E Tū Whānau Programme of Action following extensivekōrero within Te Ao Māori. The Māori Reference Group now provides strategic advice to theE Tū Whānau initiative as well as having input into government policy that affects whānau,particularly where there is violence. Members of the Māori Reference Group were involved inthe two hui,

33 The multi-agency team has also been working with a number of government agencies toengage with existing advisory groups, reference groups, boards and panels across aspectsof the current response to family violence and sexual violence, including non-governmentspecialist service providers, sector stakeholders and academic researchers.

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Interim arrangements to support the development of the national strategy

34 Ensuring a partnership with Māori and representation of a wide range of voices is a corecomponent of the new way of working that we are keen to see reflected in the developmentof the national strategy. We propose establishing interim arrangements to ensure thesevoices are involved to help develop and shape the national strategy from an early stage.

35 We propose establishing an interim Te Rōpū to give effect to a partnership between Māoriand the Crown (and especially for wahine Māori) to transform the whole-of-governmentresponse to family violence, sexual violence and violence within whānau. The interim TeRōpū will work in partnership with the Crown, Ministers and the dedicated agent to deliverthese shared goals, underpinned by the Treaty of Waitangi and the Crown’s obligations touphold mana motuhake.

36 As reflected in its terms of reference, the interim Te Rōpū will have the following roles,advising Government directly, and working in partnership with the dedicated agent:

36.1 Working in partnership with the Crown on setting the strategy, priorities, specificactions and resourcing levels;

36.2 Working with the dedicated agent to develop a national strategy and action plan;

36.3 Working with the dedicated agent to advise on outcomes and performance measuresfor the strategy and action plan, monitor progress, and report to Parliament and thepublic;

36.4 Working with and advising the dedicated agent to ensure that Māori approaches andwhānau-centred thinking and solutions are adopted and applied across the workprogramme;

36.5 Advising the government on the effectiveness of the whole-of-government responseto family violence, sexual violence and violence within whānau, and the performanceof the dedicated agent;

36.6 Engaging with and reporting back to iwi, hapū and whānau; and

36.7 Working with the dedicated agent to advise on the nature, form and functions for theenduring Te Rōpū Māori.

37 This interim Te Rōpū will have a clear mandate from Cabinet, and will be an independentgroup appointed by the Lead Minister in consultation with the Minister for MāoriDevelopment. A draft of these terms of reference is provided in Appendix 4 and will bediscussed and agreed with the chair of the interim Te Rōpū. The interim Te Rōpū wouldcomprise up to ten members who bring appropriate skills and expertise and who canrepresent community, rangatahi and whānau, urban and regional Māori and wahine Māori. Itwill report directly to Ministers and will be supported by an independent secretariat.

38 We also propose the dedicated agent will engage with existing advisory groups, referencegroups, boards and panels to develop the draft national strategy and action plan, and toseek their input and guidance on the arrangements for wider stakeholder representation.The dedicated agent will ensure that this engagement includes a wide range of perspectives,including people with disabilities, older people, rainbow, ethnic and migrant communities,Pacific peoples, children and young people. The dedicated agent would lead work acrossgovernment agencies to build on these existing groups to develop advice on the longer term

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arrangements for the stakeholder advisory body/bodies to support the delivery of thenational strategy and action plan.

Financial Implications

39 Budget 2018 allocated $2 million of new funding to the work to develop and design thededicated agent. This has been supplemented by contributions from other departments,including co-located staff (from a number of agencies) to help progress the work programme,office space and other facilities and support being provided by the Ministry of Justice (withthe Ministry meeting these costs).

Funding for the dedicated agent in 2018/19

40 Budget 2018 did not make any provision for the costs of establishing the dedicated agent,during this financial year, or the costs of its operations once established.

Human Rights

45 Reducing family violence and sexual violence assists the Government to meet its humanrights obligations including the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination AgainstWomen (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Declaration on the Rights ofIndigenous Peoples, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment orPunishment and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Legislative Implications

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46 This paper has no direct legislative implications. The Family and Whānau ViolenceLegislation Bill, currently in the House, and the proposals outlined in this paper are mutuallyreinforcing.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

47 A regulatory impact or compliance cost statement is not required.

Gender Implications

24 Family violence and sexual violence are gendered in terms of victimisation, perpetration andimpacts of violence. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer partner abuse in theirlifetime. Women are more likely to be killed by a partner than men are, and girls are morelikely to be killed by a family member than boys. Men are more likely to perpetrate sexualviolence, serious assaults on adults and children, and to be arrested for family violence.Women suffer more repeat victimisation, harm, fear, stalking and negative health impacts ofpartner abuse than men.

25 Māori women, Pacific women, young women, women on a low income, rainbow people,women in gang-involved families and women with disabilities are at a higher risk ofexperiencing family violence than other women, and are more likely to experience secondaryvictimisation when seeking help. Family violence and sexual violence have a significantimpact on women’s physical, psychological, sexual, reproductive, and spiritual wellbeing.

26 A strong gender analysis is a critical component of the Government’s response to familyviolence and sexual violence. The Minister for Women will help to ensure this genderanalysis through the Social Wellbeing Committee’s oversight of this response, as one of itspriorities. The Ministry for Women also has an important advisory role to the joint venture ofthe Social Wellbeing Board to support the Board’s delivery of this priority work programme.

Disability Perspective

27 One quarter of New Zealanders, and one third of Māori, report having a disability. Disabledpeople, particularly disabled women and children, have a higher risk of experiencing familyviolence and sexual violence than people without a disability. Recent Australian researchshowed women with a disability or long term illness are one and a half times more likely toexperience partner abuse than women without a disability, and are less likely to report it toPolice or seek support.

28 Some older people are more vulnerable to abuse due to poor health, frailty, or mentalincapacity. New Zealand’s ageing population means there will be an increase in the numberof older people living with dementia. In 2016, around 45,000 people were living withdementia and, by 2050, it is forecast that more than 170,000 people will have dementia.

29 Abuse of disabled people is less likely to be reported or identified because of reliance onfamily members, as well as communication difficulties. Disabled people’s experiences offamily violence are unique and occur in wider range of contexts, including preventing accessto medical treatment, failing to provide basic needs, social isolation, erratic care andattention, taking away necessary aids such as wheelchairs.

Children’s Perspective

30 At least one-in-five children are exposed to family violence and sexual violence every year.The harm experienced has life-long impacts on their development, ability to learn, attitudes

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to risk, and anti-social behaviour, creating an intergenerational cycle of further disadvantageand violence for these children (as victims and as perpetrators).

31 Abuse of children is also less likely to be reported or identified because of the reliance onfamily members to do so on their behalf. While our child protection system intervenes for thechildren at greatest risk of harm, many more children and young people are in need of helpand support and are unlikely to access the services that they need.

Publicity

32 We will work with the Prime Minister to announce the establishment of the joint venture andthe interim Te Rōpū – as a new way of working across government, and as an important firststep towards delivering this Government’s commitment to reduce family violence and sexualviolence. We will also announce the process of design and engagement to develop anational strategy and action plan to guide the work towards this goal.

33 We will work with the Social Wellbeing Board to develop a separate identity for the jointventure, including an appropriate name, branding and presence. This will include adedicated website where we will proactively release relevant documents, including this paperand the previous Cabinet paper.

34 The joint venture will engage with the sector, Māori and the wider public to work inpartnership to develop a national strategy and action plan. This engagement will involve twobroad stages: targeted engagement and collaboration to develop a draft strategy building onprevious reviews and reports, working with the interim Te Rōpū and existing stakeholderadvisory groups, reference groups, boards and panels (before Christmas); and a moreformal consultation process on the draft strategy, (early in the new year).

Consultation

48 This paper has been prepared jointly by the multi-agency team hosted by the Ministry ofJustice and the State Services Commission.

49 The following agencies have been consulted on this paper: Ministry of Business, Innovationand Employment, Oranga Tamariki - Ministry for Children, Ministry of Education, Ministry ofHealth, Ministry of Justice, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Ministry of Social Development,Ministry for Women, Department of Corrections, Office of Ethnic Communities, New ZealandPolice, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Treasury and the ChildWellbeing Unit. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was informed.

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Recommendations

The Minister of Justice, the Minister for Social Development and the Parliamentary Under-Secretaryto the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues) recommend that the Committee:

1 Note that Cabinet has previously:

49.1 Noted that NZ has unacceptable rates of family violence and sexual violence whichseverely undermines the lifetime wellbeing of victims and their children, in particularthose most marginalised and disadvantaged in our society;

49.2 Agreed that there are significant opportunities to do better;

49.3 Agreed to establish a dedicated body or agent within central government that has astewardship role for the collective response to family violence and sexual violence[SWC-18-MIN-0037 refers];

50 Note that reducing family violence and sexual violence is a key initiative that will improvewellbeing for New Zealanders and that will contribute to our Child Wellbeing Strategy, andthat will contribute to reduced offending and victimisation and our Safe and Effective Justiceprogramme;

51 Note that sustained cross-agency commitment to an integrated response is required toreduce family violence and sexual violence and that it will take new ways of working acrossgovernment and with Māori and communities to deliver this integrated response;

Features of a successful dedicated agent

52 Note that, to be effective, the dedicated agent will need:

52.1 The mandate to lead a whole-of-government work programme to reduce familyviolence and sexual violence;

52.2 Authority to provide strategic policy and funding advice on behalf of all agenciesinvolved in the response to family violence and sexual violence, including collectiveBudget advice;

52.3 Levers to prioritise the allocation of funding across different agencies to ensureeffective delivery of a whole-of-government strategy to respond to and reduce familyviolence and sexual violence;

52.4 Strategic leadership of the approach to commissioning services across government,including the development of new models of contracting – that enable and empowerdevolved, citizen-centred approaches to service delivery at the community level,integrated across contracting agencies, to better recognise and respond to thedifferent, complex needs of family and whānau;

52.5 An enduring, sustained commitment to reduce family violence and sexual violencethat binds all of the agencies involved;

52.6 Accountability to the public and to Parliament for the performance of this whole-of-government response – to substantially reduce family violence and sexual violence;

53 Note the variety of issues causing and contributing to family violence and sexual violencerequire a coordinated response across many government agencies;

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A Joint Venture Model

54 Note the benefits of a joint venture approach are that it creates collective ownership and acollective responsibility to ensuring a whole-of-government response to family violence andsexual violence across the agencies involved;

55 Agree that the new dedicated agent should be established as a joint venture of the SocialWellbeing Board;

56 Note that this joint venture will be governed by the Social Wellbeing Board and the chiefexecutives of New Zealand Police, the Department of Corrections, and the AccidentCompensation Corporation;

57 Agree that, through this joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board, these Chief Executiveswill be collectively responsible for leading a whole-of-government response to reduce familyviolence and sexual violence;

58 Agree that this joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board will report to the Lead Minister forfamily violence and sexual violence;

59 Note that the Minister of Justice currently has responsibility for the government’s workprogramme to end domestic and sexual violence within his portfolio, and that this LeadMinister role is assigned to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice;

60 Note that, while the joint venture business unit would be hosted by the Ministry of Justice,the Director of the joint venture would report directly to the joint venture of the SocialWellbeing Board;

61 Note that there is an expectation that the Director hold the day-to-day relationship with theLead Minister on behalf of the Social Wellbeing Board which may be achieved throughdelegation by the Board;

62 Agree that the Lead Minister will be supported by a Ministerial Group comprising the Under-Secretary for Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues, Minister of Justice, Minister for SocialDevelopment, Minister for Children, Minister for Seniors, and Minister for Māori Development

63 Agree to delegate any detailed decisions around institutional arrangements and governancerequired for a joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board to this Ministerial Group;

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68 Agree that the joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board will lead a process of collectivereporting across agencies with appropriations relevant to family violence and sexual violenceactivities;

Role and functions of the advisory bodies

71 Note that Cabinet has previously agreed to establish two external bodies to inform andsupport the dedicated agent, comprised of relevant sector experts, NGOs, victims andcommunity representatives [SWC-18-MIN-0037 refers]:

71.1 an independent Māori body to provide specific advice to address the disproportionateburden of harm suffered by Māori, and

71.2 a wider stakeholder advisory body;

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72 Note that the multi-agency team has listened to Māori experts and service providers,through a series on conversations, to develop the proposed approach for an interim Te RōpūMāori;

73 Agree to establish an interim Te Rōpū to to assist the Crown, Ministers and the joint ventureof the Social Wellbeing Board to work in partnership with Māori on an integrated response tofamily violence and sexual violence;

74 Agree that this interim Te Rōpū should have the mandate and terms of reference as detailedin Appendix 4;

75 Note that the interim Te Rōpū will also provide key input on the development of advice onthe organisational form and terms of reference for an enduring rōpū Māori to support thedelivery of the national strategy and action plan to reduce family violence and sexualviolence;

76 Note that the joint venture will engage with existing advisory groups, reference groups,boards and panels to reflect a wide range of stakeholder perspectives in the development ofthe national strategy, including people with disabilities, older people, rainbow, ethnic andmigrant communities, and Pacific people;

77 Direct the joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board to propose longer term arrangementsto engage this diversity of stakeholder perspectives in the delivery of the national strategyand action plan by April 2019;

Transitional arrangements and financial implications

78 Note that Budget 2018 provided funding for advice on the organisational form andsupporting arrangements for the dedicated agent and that this, together with contributionsfrom other departments, is funding the current multi-agency team;

79 Note that no funding has been provided for the establishment of the dedicated agent, or forthe operating costs of delivering the dedicated agent’s roles and functions, once it isestablished;

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Publicity

82 Note that the joint venture of the Social Wellbeing Board will work with relevant Ministers todevelop a separate identity for the joint venture, including an appropriate name, brandingand presence;

83 Note that this paper, the previous paper and relevant background documents will beproactively released to support public engagement with the new joint venture and thedevelopment of a national strategy and action plan.

Authorised for lodgement

Hon Andrew Little

Minister of Justice

Hon Carmel Sepuloni

Minister for Social Development

Jan Logie

Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues)

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Appendix 1: Core functions of the dedicated agent

Cabinet has agreed to establish a dedicated agent with a stewardship role for the performance ofthe whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence. While the dedicatedagent’s role will evolve over time, Cabinet has agreed that its core functions are to:

Set a clear direction for the Government’s commitment to reduce family violence andsexual violence by developing a collective strategy, designed in partnership with the sector,Māori and the wider public, that establishes clear goals and targets for reducing familyviolence and sexual violence;

Strengthen and sustain networks for ongoing organisational development acrossgovernment agencies to ensure they know their role in the future system and align theircurrent and future actions with the strategy’s priorities;

Hold governments to account for making progress via the collection and public reporting onprogress to achieving the outcomes, objectives and targets of the strategy;

Support the ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement of responses to familyviolence and sexual violence, to build the evidence base for effective interventions;

Provide input and advice into other related government priorities;

Provide strategic, whole-of-government advice to Ministers to ensure

current settings will realise the long-term goals outlined in the strategy;

Co-design with communities the necessary infrastructure, tools and support they need todeliver the components of the integrated system, including community driven approachesto primary prevention, early intervention, and immediate safety and long-term recovery; and

Develop, in collaboration with the sector and training organisations, the capabilities of frontline staff in government and non-government organisations and family and friends, to safelyidentify and respond to violence before it escalates.

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Appendix 2: Summary assessment of potential organisational forms

Success factors Business unitDepartment/Departmental

AgencyJoint venture

Mandate to leadwhole-of-

governmentwork programme

Mandate flows from Government’s strategy and action plan

Dependent on parent department CE to support this stewardship and leadership

Mandate flows from Government’s strategyand action plan

Entity CE could be given a formal, explicit stewardship and leadership role (similar to sectoror functional leadership roles)

Mandate flows from Government’s strategy and action plan

SWB would collectively provide leadership and stewardship, supported by JV business unit

SWB provide strong mandate tolead across agencies, and can hold each other to account

Reflected in SWB’s terms of reference, agreed by Cabinet

Authority toprovide strategic

policy andfunding advice

(includingBudget

packages)

Dependent on parent CE

Would need commitment of other CEs (e.g. through a sector board) to bring other Votes and appropriations into the advice

Entity CE could have a formal leadership role

Would need commitment of other CEs through a sector board

SWB would collectivelyprovide this advice, supported by JV

SWB can commit the agencies and sectors they lead to this shared advice

Levers forMinisters to

prioritiseallocation of

funding

Potential for an MCA, or voluntary pooling (like the JSF) to bring

together resources

Potential for joint reporting of financial and non-financial performance


together resources



together resources


Central appropriation for joint venture activities

Strategicleadership of

commissioningof specialist

services

Dependent on commitment of contracting agencies

(e.g. to align funding strategies with over-arching approach)

Dependent on commitment of contracting agencies

(e.g. to align funding strategies with over-arching approach)

Contracting roles could be delegated or transferred to new entity

SWB agencies are the contracting agencies (to align funding

strategies).

Contracting roles could be delegated to JV director, with commitment from SWB

Enduring,sustained

commitment

Can have separate appropriation, administered by parent

CE (and could be delegated to director)

Vulnerable to changes in priorityfor parent department, and/or changes in Minister

Ring-fenced appropriation, administered by its CE

New entity locks-in strongest commitment over time but remains vulnerable to changes in priority

Ring-fenced appropriation, can be delegated to JV

director

SWB is a creation of current Government – joint venture will need to earn its right to exist

Accountability topublic and toParliament

Reports to Parliament as part of parent department

Public reporting on strategy performance/outcomes

Reports own strategic intentions and annual report to Parliament


JV to lead strategic planning and potential cross-agency reporting

through a collective annual report


Examples offorms

Office of Disability Issues

The current Multi-Agency Team has elements of this model

Social Investment Agency (Departmental Agency)

Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (Department)

The Government Chief Digital Officer, currently within DIA

Search and Rescue (Board and engagement model)

Student Loans (collective reporting)

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Appendix 3: More detailed information on the proposed joint venture approach

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Appendix 4: Terms of Reference for interim Te Rōpū

This document is a Terms of Reference approved by Cabinet following Ministerial consultation, andconsultation with the Chair of Te Rōpū.

The [Lead Minister] will consult with Cabinet on any substantive proposed change to the Terms ofReference, and these Terms of Reference may be reviewed and amended by Cabinet.

Scope

The Government is committed to substantially reducing family violence, sexual violence andviolence within whānau.

There is overwhelming evidence that a sustained, integrated response is required to achieve thisgoal, and that new ways of working across government and with whānau Māori and communitiesare needed to deliver this integrated response.

The Government is working with service providers, experts, communities and the wider public todevelop a national strategy and action plan reflecting the aspirations of all New Zealanders, andguiding practical steps towards this goal.

Purpose

Te Rōpū will work in partnership with the Crown, Ministers and the dedicated agent to deliver theseshared goals, underpinned by the Treaty of Waitangi and the Crown’s obligations to uphold manamotuhake.

Cabinet is establishing an interim Te Rōpū to give effect to this partnership in the initial stages of thedevelopment of a national strategy and action plan. The interim Te Rōpū will also contribute to thedevelopment of a more enduring set of arrangements to formalise this partnership.

Role of Te Rōpū

The role of Te Rōpū is to provide an enduring mechanism to:

Establish a partnership between Māori and the Crown (and especially for wahine Māori) totransform the whole-of-government response to family violence, sexual violence and violencewithin whānau.

Facilitate Māori views on what and how the Crown needs to operate in order to be able tocreate the change Māori want to see for Māori and to work with the Crown to give effect tosuch change.

Ensure Māori express their own views on what works for Māori and their right to determinetheir own development (reflecting mana motuhake and rangatiratanga).

Monitor and report on the Crown’s performance.

Te Rōpū will report directly to the [Lead Minister], and will be supported by an independentsecretariat.

Functions of Te Rōpū

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Work in partnership with the Crown on setting the strategy, priorities, specific actions andresourcing levels needed to reduce family violence, sexual violence and violence withinwhānau: facilitating solutions by Māori for Māori.

Work with the dedicated agent on the development of a national strategy and action plan,endorsing the final strategy before this is presented to Cabinet, and reflecting the aspirationsof kaupapa Māori NGOs, whānau, hapū, iwi and urban Māori authorities.

Work with the dedicated agent to advise on outcomes and performance measures for thestrategy and action plan, monitor progress (of government and the nation) against theseoutcomes and measures, and report to Parliament and the public on this performance.

Work with and advise the dedicated agent on the whole-of-government response, andensuring that Māori approaches and whānau-centred thinking and solutions, strength-basedMātauranga Māori including te reo and philosophies are adopted and applied across the workprogramme.

Advise the government on the effectiveness of the whole-of-government response to familyviolence, sexual violence and violence within whānau, and the performance of the dedicatedagent.

Engage with and report back to iwi, hapū and whānau.

Work with the dedicated agent to advise on the nature, form and functions for the enduring TeRōpū Māori.

Membership

Te Rōpū will draw from community, rangatahi and whānau representation, as well as national andsector appointments. Membership of Te Rōpū needs to reflect a range of Māori experts andproviders in the family violence and sexual violence sector, and victims, perpetrators and childrenaffected by violence.

Te Rōpū will also be able to invite and commission additional expertise to support the group, wherethis is required.

Members of Te Rōpū must:

Be of Māori descent, grounded in kaupapa Māori expertise and philosophies for supportingwhānau to address family violence, sexual violence and violence within whānau.

Provide a representative cross-section of whānau, hapū, and iwi across regions, and urbanMāori authorities.

Reflect the voices of victims, perpetrators and children affected by violence within whānau.

Include rangatahi representation and significant representation of wahine Māori with expertisein family violence or in sexual violence.

Have relationships with whānau, hapū and iwi (or a line of sight back to whānau), and a trackrecord of taking action.

Appointment

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Members of Te Rōpū are appointed by the [Lead Minister] in consultation with the Minister for MāoriDevelopment. Te Rōpū shall consist of no more than 10 members, including the Chair. Membersshall be appointed for a period determined by the [Lead Minister].

The [Lead Minister] may remove a member of Te Rōpū by issuing a written notice stating the datefrom which the removal of the member is effective. The Minister must consult the Minister for MāoriDevelopment, and may choose to consult with the Chair, before removing a member of Te Rōpū.

The Chair may be removed from Te Rōpū by the [Lead Minister] in consultation with the Minister forMāori Development, by issuing a written notice stating the date from which the removal of the Chairis effective.

Any member of Te Rōpū may tender their resignation at any time by way of letter addressed to the[Lead Minister].

Members are expected to act in good faith, with integrity and with reasonable care in performingtheir duties on behalf of Te Rōpū.

Protocol

Member of Te Rōpū are committed to developing a relationship that:

Allows for discussion and ensures that decisions are made collectively

Uses good faith and mutual respect

Is based on trust and mutual honesty

Acknowledges and respects the different values, perspectives, roles and functions of theparticipants

Is based on the equal participation of all members

Ensures all discussions are confidential.

Members seek within Te Rōpū to create an environment that:

Expects free and frank discussion and the equal participation of all members

Acknowledges that all ideas have merit, and that members can agree to disagree

Acknowledges the contribution of all members, and respects each member’s status

Promotes open communication

Ensures no surprises

Ensures decisions are made and owned collectively

Focuses on issues.

Members are committed to influencing change within their own communities and with the peopleand communities to which they have connections. Members are also committed to driving change ingovernment’s response to violence within whānau directly, and through working with the dedicatedagent.

Quorum will be attendance of more than fifty per cent of the members.

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Confidentiality

The public has a right to be informed about issues being considered by Te Rōpū. Te Rōpū shouldhave procedures in place for the release of information and to process requests for information. Indeciding whether to release or withhold information, Te Rōpū must comply with the provisions of theOfficial Information Act 1982 and Privacy Act 1993.

At no time should members individually divulge details of matters discussed or decided by Te Rōpūto persons who are not members of Te Rōpū. Disclosure of Te Rōpū business to anyone outside ofTe Rōpū must be on the decision of Te Rōpū or, between meetings, at the discretion of the Chair.

Only the Chair is authorised to comment on the affairs and decisions of Te Rōpū and, whereappropriate, the Chair will advise the Lead Minister in advance.

Members have the right to comment to the media on any matter in their professional capacity, aslong as they do not attribute the comment to Te Rōpū or imply they are speaking on behalf of TeRōpū. If a member is forewarned of being asked to comment to the media, they should advise TeRōpū accordingly. If a Te Rōpū member is not forewarned, they should advice the Chairpersonimmediately after making comment to the media.

Conflict of interest

Members are required to declare any actual or perceived conflict of interest to the full Te Rōpū. TeRōpū will then determine whether or not the interest represents a conflict and, if so, what action willbe taken.

A register of declaration of conflicts of interests will be maintained by the Secretariat and reviewedas an agenda item at each meeting.

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Documents

Breaking the inter-generational cycle of family violence ... · Breaking the inter-generational cycle of family violence and sexual violence . Proposal . 1 This paper seeks your agreement,