Regional Meetings 2009 Summary

Summary of Regional Meetings: April-June 2009

• Introduction
• Aim of meetings
• Why now?
• What we did with the information
• About the Regional Meetings
• Overall findings
• Specific findings
• Issues and/or ideas that are relevant to the Ministry’s mandate, priorities and/or work programme
• Practical ideas and solutions
• Issues and/or ideas passed to other agencies
• Networking ideas
• Invited organisations and individuals
• Where we went

Introduction

 
As a strategic policy agency, it is necessary and important for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to stay connected with those who are impacted or influenced by the work we do.

One of the ways we do this is to hold public meetings around the country from time to time, with the aim of sharing information and ideas with individuals, groups, organisations and communities.

• why we held the meetings
• what was discussed at the meetings, including a summary of issues and views raised by attendees during the meetings (which are not necessarily the opinion or view of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs)
• what we did with the information and insights we gathered from the meetings
• who attended the meetings
• where we went.

Aim of meetings
In 2009, there were 52 of these meetings held throughout New Zealand from April to June. The meetings were aimed at:

• checking in with the concerns and ideas of women in communities

• getting feedback on the priorities that the Ministry is currently working on, and refreshing our work programme in line with what women want to see changed

• asking how we maintain the momentum now the Action Plan for New Zealand Women has been completed.

These meetings are a way for us to share information and build knowledge about issues for women, and to listen, record and, where appropriate, act on the issues raised.

We see these meetings as a powerful opportunity to gain insights into what is important to and for women – this in turn helps us decide on our priorities and course of action as a Ministry.

They are also a good way for New Zealand women to share information, knowledge and ideas that can empower and equip them to act locally together and, where possible, nationally.

These regional meetings are an important part of our work, but they are just one of the ways the Ministry stays connected with its stakeholders.

In our day-to-day work, we engage regularly and frequently with a wide range of individuals, agencies, groups and organisations, throughout New Zealand and around the world.

They include public service organisations, Māori women, iwi, hapū and whānau, non-government organisations, professional groups, international agencies, women’s groups such as ethnic women, Pacific Island women, women in rural areas and young women, and men’s groups.

We meet with these stakeholders to ensure that the right work is being undertaken, that our priorities are on track, and that our work is targeting the right areas.

Why now?
The Ministry has held similar regional meetings in the past, but we felt it was particularly relevant in 2009 given the new government and the changing social and economic environment. We recognised there was enormous demand to get the productivity of New Zealand onto a better footing, to ensure that the social spending that is essential for our communities can be sustained.

We have a more diverse community than ever before, so it is important that we are talking with women from all corners of New Zealand – young, rural, Māori, Pacific Island, ethnic, those with disabilities, single parents, women in business – and also to engage with the men, groups and organisations who can help us achieve our objectives.

We were also coming to the end of the five-year Action Plan for New Zealand Women, which has guided the Ministry’s policy programme since 2004. The five-year Action Plan was a whole-of-government initiative to improve the circumstances of New Zealand women, providing a means of co-ordinating the efforts of a range of agencies in relation to different areas, such as health, education, employment, and safety.

The regional meetings offered an excellent opportunity to find out whether the Ministry’s priorities were as relevant and effective as possible, and whether there was more we could be doing in certain areas to promote the well-being of women.

We are working in an ever-changing world, and yet many of the long-standing issues for women remain. Our challenge is to keep finding new ways of approaching them that will accelerate progress for women.

What we did with the information
We gathered a great deal of information and gained many insights from the meetings. We used them to:

• identify major themes to help guide how we go about our work
• rate the relevance of our priorities, and to inform and update our current work programme to ensure we are targeting the right areas and making the most of all opportunities 
• keep our Minister informed and up-to-date about issues and concerns most relevant to New Zealand women
• inform other agencies about those issues, concerns and ideas that are relevant to their priorities and programmes of work, and offer our advice and assistance where possible.

About the Regional Meetings

The meetings were held between April and June 2009 and were made up of 14 public meetings, 23 small group and one-on-one meetings, and 15 hui.

We invited individuals and representatives from a wide range of organisations such as national and regional non-government organisations, government agencies, local government, colleges, polytechnics, universities, business, the health and disability sectors, and police. (See Invited Organisations.)

Before each meeting, participants were sent information about the Ministry and the general areas that would be covered during the meeting. 

• Public meetings
  These meetings were held around New Zealand (see where we went), and were led by the Ministry’s Chief Executive accompanied by a member from our policy team who provided support and took notes. The format for the meetings was a short presentation by the Chief Executive followed by discussion, with each meeting lasting one-and-a-half to two hours.
• Small group meetings and one-on-one meetings
  Smaller, more private meetings with individuals and representatives from community groups were organised around the public meetings in most areas. These meetings focused on groups who do not always get to public meetings, e.g. young people, women with disabilities, and women from ethnic minorities. The Chief Executive also had one-on-one meetings with candidates from the Nominations Service database.
• Hui
  The Ministry’s Kaihautū conducted her own separate meetings in various regions as well as supporting the Chief Executive in the Auckland, Whangarei, and Northland meetings.  The Kaihautū’s visits targeted wananga, iwi, and Māori service providers.  She visited Horowhenua, Auckland, Christchurch, Whakatane, and Blenheim. 

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Overall findings

A great deal of information and feedback was gathered from the meetings, including a number of issues and ideas that were raised consistently. This section deals with the overall findings from the meetings; more specific findings are outlined in the next section.

Please note that the issues and views raised in the meetings and summarised here are not necessarily the view or opinion of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

From the meetings, we found there was overwhelming support for the three main priorities that have developed out of the Action Plan for New Zealand Women and are being promoted by the Minister of Women’s Affairs:

• Reducing violence against women, especially sexual violence
• Addressing the gender pay gap
• Increasing women in leadership

There were some helpful and practical suggestions that we have been able to incorporate into our work programme. These include:

• the special challenges that migrant and ethnic women face with violence
• building young women’s confidence for relating to others in a healthy way
• career pathways for women in low-paid work
• addressing the culture of alcohol use amongst girls
• supporting Māori women in governance roles.

Some of the most useful discussions we had will influence our overall thinking about our work. These include:

• the valuing of caring by fathers as well as mothers
• the underlying assumption that working full-time is the only way to get ahead
• the importance of a broader definition of leadership.

Not all individual suggestions or issues can be addressed by the Ministry or included into our work programme, but we have raised many of the issues and ideas with the relevant agencies. These include:

• the emerging problems for women with gambling
• the problem of debt stopping women accessing services they need
• formal and informal caring availability and support
• more support for young and first-time mums
• the barriers to employment for women with disabilities
• more flexibility in early childhood education policies and services.

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Specific findings

A great deal of information and feedback was gathered from the meetings, including a number of issues and ideas that were raised consistently. This section deals with the specific findings from the meetings; overall findings are outlined in the previous section.

Please note that the issues and views raised in the meetings and summarised here are not necessarily the view or opinion of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

Some of the issues raised were relevant to the Ministry’s work and have been considered in relation to our current priorities and/or work programme; others fell outside of the Ministry’s mandate, but, where possible and appropriate, have been passed on to or discussed with the relevant agencies.

Below is a list of the issues and ideas that were captured at the meetings, categorised into the following areas:

• Issues and/or ideas that are relevant to the Ministry’s mandate, priorities and/or work programme, and that will be used by our policy team to inform decisions about current and future work programmes.
• Practical ideas and solutions about how we might improve prospects for women, including some of the initiatives already underway. 
• Issues and/or ideas that fall outside of the Ministry’s mandate or priorities, but that warrant discussion with another agency, or should be passed to another agency for consideration.
• Networking ideas – these were ideas about how the Ministry could extend its networks.

 
Issues and/or ideas that are relevant to the Ministry’s mandate, priorities and/or work programme

These are ideas and issues that provide contextual information for the work we’re currently undertaking. They have been passed onto our policy teams to inform their individual work programmes.

They have been loosely grouped according to our three policy priority areas: leadership, violence, and employment and caring.

Leadership

• Whakapapa, rather than gender, plays an important role in leadership considerations for Māori. Manaakitanga, Wairuatanga, Rangatiratanga, Pukengatanga, Mana and Reo are also factors that influence leadership.
• Māori women need to push themselves more into leadership roles.
• Women need to take greater leadership roles in the community, as well as boards, to provide role models and to improve outcomes for women.
• There is a lack of women chief executives in local government, suggesting that this is an area we should be looking at. More young women need to be involved in local government.
• There is a need for a broader definition of leadership which puts particular value on collaborative and other qualities that women bring.
• More voice for women is needed on economic development. The opportunities are there, and women need to think about this when elections for economic boards come around. 
• Regions with overwhelmingly male-dominated industries (e.g. mining, fishing, tourism) can impact on local leadership opportunities for women.

Violence

• Addressing violence in rural areas is difficult when everyone knows everyone (e.g. protection orders are sometimes lightly enforced).
• Delays in serving protection orders, sometimes up to three months, mean the person being served has often moved on by the time they are available.
• Domestic violence services often do not meet the needs of ethnic women.
• Financial barriers limit access to the justice system (e.g. protection orders, power of attorney, and availability of legal aid lawyers).
• There is a shortage of emergency housing for victims of violence.
• There are doubts over the effectiveness of violence prevention programmes (although the police-run Kia Kaha and Keeping Ourselves Safe programmes are seen as valuable).
• Family Courts are seen by some to victimise women.
• Delays in court hearings for violence cases can put the victim at risk in some small towns served by circuit judges.
• Iwi services are often excluded from the interagency family violence response team, and more support is seen to be required.
• Rape needs to be made ‘less gendered’, because men are being abused also and not speaking up.

Employment and caring

• There is a perceived underlying assumption that working full-time, rather than flexible working, is the only way to get ahead.
• Young men are not sharing chores, so this (young) generation is unlikely to bring about change in this area.
• Financial pressures associated with living longer can impact older women.
• Women holding two or more jobs, or working part-time, consider that they are disadvantaged by the tax system.
• Māori women who would like to up-skill but have few opportunities outside of work time because of whānau and community commitments.
• Family-friendly policies are lacking in big firms, with no leeway given for men with caring responsibilities (e.g. a father having to take annual leave to care for a child).
• The Action Plan for New Zealand Women had nothing in it specifically for mothers, and there was a concern that staying at home and looking after your children was undervalued. One commented that ‘mothers are invisible’.
• Some iwi groups report difficult relationships with government and non-government organisation service providers, and should be taken into account when consulting. 
• Careers advice in schools lacks information on the pay rates and training opportunities available.
• The ‘sandwich’ situation (i.e. having to provide unpaid care for both younger and older family members) was raised as a looming issue for women.

 
Practical ideas and solutions about how we might improve prospects for women, including some of the initiatives already underway.

• A Māori trades’ database is proposed by Ngai Tahu.  The iwi are also developing a governance capability database, as part of succession planning.
• The role of grandparents is important: kaumātua are up-skilling and are providing incentives for youth to learn. They can also be a means of engaging youth (from the Christchurch meeting with Māori groups).
• Career Services are working with the Ministry of Education and Te Puni Kōkiri looking at decision-making within the whānau, and its influence on young Māori career decisions.
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs could work with professional women to get them back into work and into leadership positions.
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs could educate businesses on the benefits of flexible work, e.g. that it does not lead to lower productivity.
• Courts could be created that were dedicated to the issues of children and families, including a section to deal solely with sexual abuse and harassment.
• Training or role-modelling would assist women re-entering the workforce after time out raising children.  Women often have low self-esteem when returning to the workforce.
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs could develop a template curriculum vitae of skills learnt at home while raising children, which could help place a value on caring.
• Mounting a campaign on ‘caring’, to view it as covering a broader range of activity (e.g. volunteer services in the community) could improve the status of all carers.
• Raising the profile of caring and making it more attractive to men could lead to better pay for carers, and improved workforce retention.
• Women in sport can be a useful conduit for teaching other skills, e.g. business relationship skills.
• A programme could be developed for schools to build young women’s confidence and assertiveness, around the age 15-17 years.
• The Mauri Ora programme, demonstrated by Te Korowai Aroha in Whakatane, provides a whānau and wider-based service framework.
• The view of the absolute importance of services meeting the needs of whānau, not just the woman, e.g. teenage pregnancy and the need for sustained support.  The current individual-based funding model does not work for Māori providers, who may work with the whole whānau for a day but have to record this as working with one client and get funded accordingly.
• Find ways to connect with young women on their level and in their environments, e.g. communicating with new technologies.  Young women are not drawn to institutionalised settings, and how they connect is vastly different from previous generations.  From their perspective, young women consider access to information is a big problem, and suggest sharing information through internet channels used (e.g. Facebook) would be most effective.

 
Issues and/or ideas raised by attendees at the meetings that fall outside of the Ministry’s mandate or priorities, but that warrant discussion with another agency, or should be passed to another agency for consideration.

After the meetings, letters were sent from the Ministry’s Chief Executive to relevant agencies outlining the issues and ideas raised during the meetings that were of relevance to the work of that agency.

The agencies were also invited to discuss the issues and ideas raised in more depth with the Ministry. Where possible, the issues and ideas will also separately inform joint work being undertaken by the Ministry and each agency.

The meetings have given us some ideas on how we can extend our networking. The means of communicating to younger women has been discussed above.

Other ideas include:

• Developing relationships with iwi organisations, as a means of networking with youth. For example, Ngai Tahu have a focus on leadership building, and youth development.
• Grandparenting was seen as the key to engaging rangatahi, as a vehicle to provide key messages and transmitting knowledge.
• Working more closely with local government to address the lack of women in leadership, and issues confronting young women.
• Supporting the development of women’s networks within industries (e.g. plastics and materials processing ITO).

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Invited organisations

The regional public meeting invitation lists were developed to ensure the following were included:

• Chambers of Commerce
• Women’s Refuge
• Parents Centre Tertiary education institutions
• Colleges/High Schools Government departments – such as the Ministry of Social Development (including Child, Youth and Family, and Work and Income)
• Local government
• Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)
• Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW) as well as businesswomen/entrepreneurs
• National Council of Women
• Rural Women NZ
• Soroptimists
• PACIFICA
• Māori Women’s Welfare League
• Citizens Advice Bureau
  
• Zonta
• Victim Support
• District Health Boards
• Police
• Volunteering organisations
• CCS Disability Action
• Playcentre
• Plunket
• Barnardos
• Girlguiding NZ
• Association for Women in the Sciences
• Ethnic Councils
• Youth Action Collective members
• UNIFEM
• Relationship Services
• Community Law Centres
• Student unions
• Teen Parent Units
• Family Planning
• Social Services agencies (Presbyterian Support Services, Salvation Army)

Where we went

Ministry of Women's Affairs
PO Box 10049
WELLINGTON 6143
Phone: 04 9157112
Fax: 04 9161604
Email: mwa@mwa.govt.nz
www.mwa.govt.nz

June 2009