Statement of Intent 2009-2012

This Statement of Intent has at its foundation the Commission’s sustained consultation with families and whānau, those organisations that work with families and whānau, and the leaders whose decisions impact upon them. It is also informed by the Commission’s own research and the broader knowledge base available to it nationally and internationally.

There are far more issues influencing family and whänau wellbeing than can reasonably be addressed by the Commission at any one time. Consequently, the priorities for our work programme outlined in this Statement of Intent take into account the current and predicted economic outlook for New Zealand, and the impact that this is having or is likely to have on families and whānau. It also reflects the interests and priorities of Government as regards the development of family policy and provision of family and whānau services.

The areas of work outlined have the potential to make the greatest contribution to family wellbeing and whānau ora in the short to medium term, without losing vital work that will contribute to sustained family and community wellbeing in the longer term.

Four priority areas of work to support family wellbeing and whänau ora have been identified by the Commission for the period covered by this Statement of Intent: Family Relationships, Family Services and Communities, Family Economic Wellbeing and Family and Whānau Knowledge.

Each outcome has several key projects designed to impact on policy, family services, and the provision of information to families. Each of these outcome streams will also contribute to the Commission’s vision: that families have the capacity to care for and nurture their members; participate in and contribute to the social, economic and cultural life of New Zealand; and be supported by communities, government and society. Whānau have the capacity and the opportunity to achieve whānau ora, and are valued and supported by communities, government, society, hapu and iwi.

In the Family Relationships outcome, the Commission’s priorities will be work that strengthens family and whānau relationships, builds their strength and resilience, combats family violence and supports parenting.

Our Family Services and Communities outcome will prioritise advocacy for families for access to appropriate and effective family and whänau services. We will encourage co-operation among community services for the delivery of effective and targeted whänau and family support, especially in the area of early intervention; and we will work with local authorities to take a family centred approach to town planning to build communities that meet family needs and promote social cohesiveness.

An important outcome stream will be the Commission’s work on Family Economic Wellbeing. This outcome will include work to ensure families and whänau have the work opportunities and conditions, skills, information and support required to meet their financial needs. This work will include a study of how families manage debt so that practices which strengthen family economic wellbeing can be identified and developed into an information tool that can be passed on by service providers to families which are not managing debt well.

The fourth outcome stream, Family and Whānau Knowledge, will prioritise the gathering of information and research from and about families and whānau. This will be used to help ensure that families, those organisations that work with families, and those leaders whose decisions impact on families, are well informed about family and whānau issues and take the needs of family and whänau into account when developing policy or planning and delivering family services.

It is in this area that research has its most valuable impact for the wellbeing of families and whānau. Knowledge of family and whänau issues garnered by research, helps ensure that resources and finances dedicated to family wellbeing and whänau ora are being delivered to programmes that work, are socially and culturally accessible, and targeted where there is real need.

One of the most important aspects of this work will be the Commission’s ongoing programme to identify, analyse and promote innovative practice. Increasingly the Commission is using its research to bring organisations together to show how community-based, family-centric, cooperative services across multiple agencies can deliver the best outcomes for familes and whānau, and the best value for money for Government and other agencies that fund family services. Our work will continue to identify these principles of excellence and work out how this innovative and best practice can be transferred to other family service agencies throughout New Zealand.

The Commission has also identified in this Statement of Intent a strong commitment to whānau ora. This will include the development of a whänau strategy that can work in two ways: identifying areas of specific work to promote whānau ora; and identifying how whānau ora can be incorporated into existing outcome programmes.

At the time of preparing this Statement of Intent the Families Commission was approaching its fifth anniversary. The first four years have been a period of intense research and consultation with families and those agencies that work with, or whose decisions impact upon, family wellbeing and whānau ora. This work has given the Commission an excellent foundation and a reputation for building its policy advice and family advocacy on a sound base of proven knowledge.

This knowledge base helps drive and inform what is now a sizeable work programme; work that would not be possible for an agency of the Commission’s size if its role was actually service delivery.

By being, instead, a catalyst for change and an advocate, the Families Commission can be far more effective across far more areas, ensuring that its information and advocacy for families is converted into practical action by those who work at the coalface of family services and family policy development. The Commission’s independent status means it is free to operate at all levels, from government, to local authorities, to the people who head family service agencies, to the family and social workers operating at the grassroots level and, of course, whānau and families themselves.

Its focus on building strength and resilience rather than focusing on what is going wrong, places it in a unique position to ensure that families and whānau are placed at the centre of matters that affect them.

Dr Jan Pryor
Chief Commissioner