Video transcript: Meeting the needs of people affected by family violence and sexual violence
Title: Meeting the needs of people affected by family violence and sexual violence
Richard Towers (Principal Performance Auditor):
Family violence and sexual violence affect hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders every year. About one in three New Zealand women will experience physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. People who experience disadvantage and discrimination are at a higher risk of experiencing these forms of violence – this includes women, children and young people, tangata whenua, Pacific peoples, disabled people, older people, LGBTQIA+ communities, and ethnic communities.
In 2021, we published a report looking at how effectively a joint venture involving 10 government agencies had been set up to support efforts to significantly reduce family violence and sexual violence.
In December 2021, the joint venture was replaced by Te Puna Aonui – an interdepartmental executive board that was set up to make it easier for government agencies to work together to eliminate family violence and sexual violence. That same month the government launched Te Aorerekura – the national strategy for the elimination of family violence and sexual violence over 25 years.
We looked at how the 10 agencies involved in Te Puna Aonui are working together, with tangata whenua, and with other communities, and non-government organisations to understand and respond to the needs of people affected by family violence and sexual violence.
Te Puna Aonui agencies are charged with addressing two significant challenges – understanding and addressing the complex problems of family violence and sexual violence, and transforming the way agencies work individually, together, and with tangata whenua and others to achieve this.
We found that agencies are engaged in considerable work on the first of these challenges. Agencies are working in several ways to understand and address the complex problems of family violence and sexual violence across different communities.
This includes work to better understand the capabilities they need to meet diverse needs and to respond in ways that are more accessible to people who need help.
However, transforming the way agencies work individually, together and with tangata whenua, and others remains a challenge for all those involved. Building partnerships and creating and maintaining trust between Te Puna Aonui agencies, tangata whenua, and community partners needs to be a focus for each of the agencies.
Agencies need to work with tangata whenua, community advocates, and non-government organisations to agree how they will work together in partnership to address family violence and sexual violence.
Work at a national level needs to be more closely and consistently connected to the work and experience of agency staff and others working at a community level.
Issues that can erode trust, like the lack of a consistent approach to sharing information between agencies and with community partners, need to be addressed.
There are also clear pressures on the capacity of those working in the family violence and sexual violence response system to meet people’s needs. Te Puna Aonui agencies need to co-ordinate their efforts to address these pressures and include community partners in this work.
Our six recommendations ask Te Puna Aonui agencies to take more urgent action to address these issues and help build trust between the agencies, tangata whenua, and community partners as they work to meet the needs of people affected by family violence and sexual violence.
Title: Read our report at oag.parliament.nz.