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Te Puni Kōkiri’s understanding of whānau as the core units and drivers of Māori society empowers us in the government’s priority of Families – Young and Old. The key challenge for agencies is how to harness the potential of whānau to drive positive change in their communities. A Whānau Development Action and research programme, run by Te Puni Kōkiri from 2004 to 2006, investigated how agencies might work most effectively with provider organisations in ways that harness the cultural vitality that many whānau possess. A feature of this programme was the employment of independent researchers to document project processes and learnings at every stage. Our report, Realising Māori Potential Through Whānau Innovation, was published on the Te Puni Kōkiri website.
The wellbeing of New Zealand families including whānau is the responsibility of the mainstream agencies. During the year, Te Puni Kōkiri worked with a range of sector agencies on initiatives for family and whānau wellbeing. Through our involvement with other agencies we add value to their work while encouraging them to adopt culturally efficacious frameworks and programmes developed or piloted by Te Puni Kōkiri. We supported agencies and private sector organisations working with whānau in a wide variety of ways, as detailed in our statement of service Performance.
There were approximately 160,000 Māori children in the school sector in 2006/07. Of these, more than 25,000 students were enrolled in kaupapa Māori (Māori medium) schools, receiving their education through a combination of Māori and English or Māori alone. Ka Hikitia, a new Māori education strategy, promotes a shift in policy development towards the Māori Potential Approach in the education sector. This strengths-based approach has been widely supported by key external stakeholders including iwi, hapū and whānau.
The government has committed to implementing a number of initiatives as part of the Effective Interventions work programme aimed at building safer communities. As part of this, Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Justice worked together during the year with Māori practitioners, providers and offenders to develop a programme of action with the aim of reducing rates of offending by Māori. An engagement process has been established as an initial step in building sustainable relationships throughout the sector.
As part of the Rural Housing Programme, Te Puni Kōkiri worked with local iwi and Housing new Zealand Corporation to tackle substandard housing in rural Northland, East Cape and the Bay of Plenty. In Tai Tokerau, housing shortages will be reduced through a joint venture between Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Rūnanga o te Rarawa. The project also addresses a shortage of trainee tradesmen by building houses for the tribal housing strategy, using Māori carpentry apprentices supplied by Northland Polytechnic.
Te Puni Kōkiri worked with the Frankton-Dinsdale Rauawaawa Charitable Trust to develop sustainable services for kaumātua in Hamilton West. This established a “one-stop-shop” offering interactive social services to meet the cultural, economic, educational, health and social needs of kaumātua in that city. Through this programme, kaumātua are also able to access assistance with accommodation, health care and employment opportunities.
Whānau wellbeing is also the goal of Project Mauri Ora, developed by Te Korowai Aroha o Aotearoa with funding provided over three years by Te Puni Kōkiri. The aim of this project is to implement strategies that move whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities towards zero tolerance of family violence across the country. A whānau violence prevention framework has been piloted and provides culturally effective interventions for victims, perpetrators and whānau. To date, over 200 skilled whānau, hapū and iwi practitioners have completed training. Capacity building was undertaken with over 30 hapū and iwi agencies providing support to an estimated 2000 whānau through the motu.
