A reduction in family violence deaths is being attributed to Māori organisations, but a report says government agencies need to do more.
Photo: RNZ
The latest report from the Family Violence Death Review Committee (FVDRC) is calling for government agencies to be more responsive to whānau. A duty to care - Pūrongo tuawhitu: Me manaaki te tangata from the Family Violence Death Review Committee draws on findings and recommendations from in-depth reviews conducted between 2019 and 2021.
The committee's role is to review family violence deaths with the aim of identifying strategies to reduce such deaths in the future through policy and practice improvements.
One of the key findings of the report is that Māori community organisations are leading the way in dealing with family violence - showed by a decrease in Māori deaths. But it also shows that government agencies are yet to move to transform these outcomes.
Between 2009 and 2019 in Aotearoa New Zealand, 292 deaths resulted from intimate partner violence, child abuse and neglect or intra-familial violence. A total of 295 offenders were responsible for these deaths and in the most recent findings about who is dying is that the percentage of deaths due to intra-familial violence has increased and the representation of Māori among those who lost their lives in 2021 has decreased.
Māori accounted for 44 percent of family violence deaths from 2009 to 2019. In 2021, this dropped to 23 percent of family violence deaths, according to the committee's provisional data.
Committee chair Fiona Cram said Māori community organisations showed how to form genuine, respectful relationships.
"To demonstrate, the report highlights the work of three kaupapa Māori organisations that are embedding a duty to care for their people, resulting in less risk of unseen victims and more opportunities for families and whānau to guide service delivery," Dr Dram said.
She said in contrast, some government institutions were yet to move and throughout its investigations the committee was confronted with the reality that upholding a societal duty of care could have prevented many of deaths from family violence.
The report urges government agencies to fulfill their legal duty of care for those who are impacted by family violence; be good partners with community organisations; focus on wellbeing; and take a wiser, more respectful approach to people, families, whānau and community organisations.
Māori Organisations "leading the way"
Three of the kaupapa Māori organisations the committee focused on were from around the country and include Tū Tama Wāhine o Taranaki based in New Plymouth; Tūhoe Hauora in Taneātua and Manaaki Tairāwhiti in Gisborne.
The organisations showed how a kaupapa Māori approach worked with whānau and not within an institutional framework.
Tū Tama Wāhine was developed in opposition to structural factors of colonisation, oppression, injustice, racism and the many acts of violence of the colonial state on Indigenous peoples. In its case study, the report found the organisation recognises the need to break down structural and personal barriers between Māori and the wider community.
The report found a major success had been developing and achieving community buy-in to He Pūnaha Hohou Rongo (the violence prevention strategy). Whānau-level outcomes of the strategy include breaking intergenerational cycles of family violence, increasing the knowledge and resiliency of participating whānau and strengthening their independence so they can access appropriate supports themselves, decreasing family violence and increasing awareness of the effects of family violence on tamariki/mokopuna.
Tūhoe Hauora developed a therapeutic model underpinned by mana motuhake - the self-determination of iwi, hapū and whānau. Its prevention interpretation was based on intervention opportunities to work with a whānau pre-agency involvement or stopping them from going to any government department for any reason.
"Some of our families have histories of bad interactions with government departments and are understandably anti-government. And sometimes people see us as that, so we go to their homes, you know, we have never had a problem," said Tūhoe Hauora chief executive Pania Hetet.
"And so we can work with them in an environment that is conducive to the family. It is absolutely an imperative because that's when they're in charge, not you."
Manaaki Tairāwhiti is an iwi-led initiative, which 11 government and community organisations collaborate to devolve the commissioning of social services to the community.
It began in 2016 when chief executives of the two local rūnanga, Ngāti Porou and Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, identified a need to address social sector inefficiencies and gaps in service provision arising from government kaupapa-specific initiatives.
Through interacting with whānau, navigators provide support and gather information about whānau needs and experiences with various services. They give special attention to service-related barriers that can have a negative impact on access and/or whānau engagement.
"It's a complete systems change and we are testing, 'How much can communities do if you take off the reins and stop telling them what to do and how to do things in a certain way?'," said Manaaki Tairāwhiti lead Leslynne Jackson.
"We're there every day with the navigators, we're walking alongside them. We're watching, learning, testing, supporting, supervising and coaching, gathering intel.
"Our navigators gather the full breadth of need unmet by the current system, as much as whānau are willing to share. So, everything that anyone's got a problem with, they can tell us.
"We will then see what the frequency of need is, what the seriousness of need is, where the opportunities for early intervention or prevention are, because we're not turning people away."
File photo: Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence Marama Davidson Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Minister welcomes report "strengthens resolve"
Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence Marama Davidson said a recent report showing the failings of government agencies to deal with the issue had strengthened her resolve.
She said the FVDRC's seventh report, released by the Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand, gave further weight to Te Aorerekura - New Zealand's first national strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence released in December 2021.
"The FVDRC report strengthens my resolve, and the collaborative approach from government ministers who have accountability in this space," she said.
"The report affirms that we are building a strong foundation with Te Aorerekura, while making it clear where our actions need to be even more precise and intentional."
Davidson said the release of the family violence workforce capability frameworks in May was an early but crucial step in providing all workforces with a shared understanding of family violence drivers and to know how to identify risks and to respond appropriately.