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New Zealand government diversity action programmes
Find out more from
the government, but read here for focused reporting on 2004 programmes.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said in December 2004 the Office of
Ethnic Affairs will continue to work closely with the Human Rights
Commission and other officials on the Diversity Action Programme,
and to contribute to the discussions that will follow.
Of particular interest, she says, is the Race Relations Commissioner’s
proposed initiatives around education as a tool to promote understanding
of diversity and what we as New Zealanders value.
Government diversity action oriented programmes include:
Human Rights Commission
- NZ Action Plan for Human Rights
Office of Ethnic Affairs
- Focuses on issues that apply across government to ethnic people,
including refugees and migrants, and New Zealanders who identify
with their ethnic heritage
- Provides information and advice about and for ethnic communities
- Point of contact with government for ethnic communities
- Supports work around refugee and migrant settlement
- Raises awareness of the value and need to respond to ethnic,
cultural and linguistic diversity
- Referrals to appropriate service agencies
Te Puni Kokiri, Ministry of Maori Development
- Celebrates Maori culture in all its forms
- Maori succeeding as Maori
- Encourages full participation of Maori in our society
- Maori language strategy – use and retention of te reo
Maori, including Maori language week
- Maori television
- Budget support for whanau action and research programmes, sporting
and cultural activities and enterprise development
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
- Community reference groups
- Capability building for government officials and Pacific peoples
State Services Commission
- Government Portal www.govt.nz provides information about central
and local government organizations that provide a variety of immigration
related services
- Equal Opportunities www.ssc.govt.nz focuses on the elimination
of discrimination of employment across the Public Service
Education
- Principles underpinning the NZ curriculum reflect the multicultural
nature of NZ society
- Civics, values, languages, histories and cultures are a part
of the core curriculum
- NZ’s curriculum works to help students to develop and
clarify their own values and beliefs
- Government, recognizing one size does not fit all, seeks to
broaden the range of education available, including through special
character, state-integrated and designated character schools
- Government recognizes values are learned through each students’
experience of the total environment, rather than through direct
instruction alone
- Social studies, health and physical education curricula promote
“living together in peace and harmony”. Relevant learning
strands include “social organization” and “healthy
communities and environments”
- Students can also incorporate strategies into the orgnaisation
and management of the school day, so students experience learning
in an environment where there is peace and harmony
- Social studies programmes emphasise learning about NZ peoples,
cultures and groups in various time and place settings. Such learning
includes the development of understandings of the Treaty of Waitangi,
of New Zealand’s bicultural heritage, and of the multicultural
nature of our society
- A major review of the curriculum in 2202 identified that social
cohesion and citizernship need to be more explicit in our curriculum.
Refugee and migrant settlement
- As part of the New Zealand Settlement Strategy, the Department
of Labour Workforce has been tasked with establishing a national
network of migrant resource services. This network will build
on existing services, skills and expertise and strengthen a collaborative
approach from the range of service agencies that contribute to
achieving settlement outcomes
- The immigration service website www.immigration.govt.nz has
links to community directories – providing more relevant
information for migrants in their region
Ministry of Justice
- Improve responsiveness to New Zealand’s diverse communities
- Encourage culture of community responsiveness within the courts
- Improve services at the courthouse to address the concerns of
Maori and ethnic communities
Ministry of Social Development
Work and Income
- Enhance opportunity for migrant and refugee clients to achieve
sustainable employment
- Multilingual contact centre
- Migrant and refugee co-coordinator and specialized case managers
- “Migrant job link” intensive job search programme
- Work experience for migrant professionals
- English as a second language training to help selected migrants
and refugee job placement
- Community migrant centres with WINZ job placement staff
- Collaboration initiatives with:
- Auckland Regional Settlement Strategy, inter-agency and
territorial local authority settlement focused
- Inter-agency Migrant and Refugee Network
– regular meeting to address cross-agency barriers
- Skilled Migrant Employment
– cross sectoral job matching
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
- Fosters nation building
- The policy work of this Ministry is informed by a recognition
of the importance of acknowledging the diversity – and diverse
needs – of New Zealanders
- This policy work influenced TVNZ’s Charter, which places
an explicit obligation on the national broadcaster to recognize
and respond to the requirements of minority audiences
- Grants are available from the Waitangi Day Commemoration Fund
for commemoration activities that commemorate the signing of the
Treaty and promote nation building and community building
Te Papa, and Creative New Zealand
- These Crown entities have a clear responsibility to reflect
the diversity of NZ society in their exhibitions, services and
funding support.
Broadcasting
- Public Broadcasters, through Television New Zealand Act 2003
incorporating its Charter and the Maori Television Service Act
2003, Radio New Zealand, and broadcasting funding agencies New
Zealand on Air and Te Mangaia Paho, required to provide for universal
access to the kinds of information broadcasting is best able to
provide
- Establishment of the pilot Pacific National Radio network
- Revised framework for Community and Access Broadcasting
- Transition to digital
- Policy to support strengthening of identity and encouragement
of civic participation
- Ensuring all New Zealanders have reasonable and regular access
to broadcasting representing diversity and uniqueness of NZ life,
and providing for minority interests and increased choice
Conservation:
- The Department of Conservation (DOC) aims to connect with heritage,
for example fostering the Chinese Conservation Education Trust
– with initiatives such as tree planting, and marine conservation
- DOC partners the “Saving Paradise” partnership,
involving Pacific communities
- DOC conservancies are encouraged to think about ways new immigrants
or refugee groups might be included in conservation events to
help them gain a sense of belonging and connection with their
new home
Local government
- The Local Government Act 2002’s purpose is “to provide
for democratic and effective local government that recognizes
the diversity of New Zealand communities”
- A local authority should make itself aware of, and should have
regard to, the views of all of its communities
- When making a decision, a local authority should take account
of the diversity of the community, and the community’s interests
- Means of reflecting the diversity of each community include
the process to identify community outcomes for the intermediate
and long-term future of the district or region
- The Local Electoral Act 2001’s purpose includes to allow
diversity (through local decision-making) in relation to the particular
electoral system, representation arrangements and voting method
to be used
- Some local government areas have established formal channels
of communication with their culturally diverse populations with
ethnic advisory councils
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