• Work And Income Service Charter
• Tackling Disparity Still A Top Priority
• Maori Education Hui
• Community Collaboration Around Child Abuse
• Improved Student Loan Reporting
• Measuring Social Progress
• Ministers Meet Over Nursing Education Review
• Maharey To Address Auckland Community Sector Forum

Work and Income Service Charter
A new service charter which describes the services offered by the Department of Work and Income (DWI) and the what beneficiaries and employers can expect of DWI, was launched by Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey last week.

The charter was developed last year in consultation with community organisations, beneficiary advocacy groups, employer organisations and other stakeholder groups across the country. It has been developed to give a focus to improving service standards and to further assist the development of a strong public service ethic within DWI.

Mr Maharey said that significant progress was made within DWI last year to transform it into a client-centered organisation which goes the extra mile to ensure beneficiaries get what they are entitled to and are helped into real paying jobs. Supporting employers to find the right people with the right skills for the job has also been a focus.

Service charters have been used in European and American welfare agencies to inform clients of their rights and responsibilities and to signal expected service level standards to staff.

Exisiting complaint and appeal processes remain where DWI clients are not satisfied with the service they receive. In addition, Mr Maharey said that each DWI office had now activated a relationship with their local advocacy group to resolve issues and the implementation of the charter will be monitored over the coming year. The charter is to be displayed in all DWI offices and copies will be available for clients to take away.

* copies of the service charter are available from DWI offices and it has also been posted on the web at www.winz.govt.nz (in the 'Publications and Reports' section)

Tackling Disparity Still A Top Priority
Tackling social and economic disadvantage remains a priority for the Government, Cabinet Social Equity Committee chair Steve Maharey said last week.

Mr Maharey was responding to criticism from Parliament's Maori Affairs Select Committee that auditing and monitoring closing the gaps programmes had been inadequate. Subseqent to the committee hearing evidence last year detailed targets and progress reports had been issued by relevant Ministers.

Mr Maharey said there has been no subsequent dimunition of the programme although the Government has dropped the 'Closing the Gaps' slogan because polikiting by Opposition parties had made it an overly-loaded term.

Maori Education Hui
Steve Maharey joins education ministers Trevor Mallard and Parekura Horomia at the Hui Taumata Matauranga being hosted by Tuwharetoa in Turangi and Taupo this weekend. The hui provides an opportunity for the Ministers and Maori representatives to work together on the development of a strategic plan for Maori education.

Community Collaboration Around Child Abuse
The Government is welcoming closer collaboration between Child, Youth and Family and community providers to prevent child abuse.

Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey recently met with representatives from the newly formed Child Protection Action Group (CPAG) who have offered to work more closely with Child, Youth & Family in the area of child abuse and neglect. Community agencies have been funded to deliver more than $73m worth of social services by CYF this financial year. All are determined to maximise the use of these funds to prevent child abuse and family violence.

Mr Maharey said that Child, Youth and Family will remain the leading provider of social work services. While there will be no devolution of statutory social work to community providers the Government is determined to improve the continuum of care services available through a greater involvement of community organisations.

* CPAG members include Relationship Services, the National Network for Stopping Violence Services, Child Abuse Prevention Service NZ, Women's Refuge, the Salvation Army Community and Family Services, Presbyterian Support (Central), Plunket and Barnardos

Improved Student Loan Reporting
Strengthened reporting requirements improving the information publicly available about the student loan scheme is be introduced. Ministers have now carefully considered the June 2000 report of the Controller and Auditor-General into the publicly available accountability information about the student loan scheme and have taken a series of decisions.

New requirements include:

• reporting against a new series of socioeconomic indicators;
• improved debt level forecasting;
• tabling the Student Loan Scheme Annual Report in Parliament;
• publishing loan figures on the Inland Revenue and Work and Income websites quarterly; and,
• a review by those agencies with responsibilities for the loans scheme of their respective roles to identify any accountability gaps.

Measuring Social Progress
The Government is working on a series of indicators which will allow New Zealanders to chart the social wellbeing of the nation alongside the development of the economy.

The Labour-Alliance Government inherited a legacy of major social problems across New Zealand society which it is determined to tackle and resolve. A number of initiatives were taken last year to provide new opportunities and increased security for New Zealanders. Mr Maharey said the Ministry of Social Policy would complete work this year on a series of objective indicators that can be used to measure the social well being of New Zealand society.

There are currently no official measures of poverty or other recognised social indicators. Mr Maharey said the initial work was focusing on use of information on poverty and deprivation levels, educational under-achievement and adult illiteracy, and social isolation as ways to measure the success of the Government's social inclusion agenda.

Ministers Meet Over Nursing Education Review
Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey and Health Minister Annette King met representatives of the Association of Polytechnics in New Zealand this week to discuss the review of nursing education being undertaken by the Nursing Council.

Maharey to Address Auckland Community Sector Forum
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Steve Maharey has agreed to address an Auckland community forum on Government and the Community Sector in March. Mr Maharey and Associate Social Services and Employment Minister Tariana Turia will join New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations Executive Director and Unitec lecturer in community studies John Stansfield to debate how the relationship between government and the 'third sector' can develop in the future. Mr Stansfield is a member of the Community and Voluntary Sector Working Group established last August to will develop the framework for an agreement between the Government and the community and voluntary sector.

Representatives from community and voluntary groups are being invited to the March 15 forum and it will also be open to the general public.