an enormous step backwards
OPINION: I have heard Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern say time and again that she wants Aotearoa New Zealand to be the best place in the world for our tamariki to grow up. I want that too – especially for those who are in state care.
I am a survivor of abuse in state care with 12 years of lived experience under an oppressive, traumatising, and isolating “care” and “protection” system. I, and the community I represent, am deeply disheartened by the way the Oranga Tamariki Oversight Bill was designed in isolation from those who most need it to work. As National Youth Council chairperson Karah Mackie has said: “If you do not bring the affected communities on the journey with you from the beginning, you will not make any meaningful change or progress.”
The Government is taking an enormous step backwards with its approach to the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People's Commission Bill. This bill changes the monitoring, complaints and advocacy functions around Oranga Tamariki. The proposed changes put the ‘independent’ Children’s Monitor within a government department, seriously weaken the powers of the children’s commissioner and put complaints through the adult-centric Ombudsman office.
Link to article: Oranga Tamariki Oversight Bill an enormous step backwards | Stuff.co.nz
