Tatou tatou--working together: a model for government/non-government collaboration.

• Author: Maynard, Kristen

Abstract

"Te Rito", the Government's strategy for preventing, reducing and addressing family violence, was launched in March 2002. Te Rito was developed by a large group of government and non-government agencies working together in partnership. The collaborative working relationship that was established from the outset was key to the strategy's successful development. This article describes the development process that underpinned Te Rito, discusses some of the associated challenges and constraints from both a government and non-government perspective, and demonstrates innovative ways of meeting some of these challenges.

INTRODUCTION

Family violence is a significant social issue in Aotearoa/New Zealand, one that concerns communities and government alike. Because of the extent of this problem, in June 2000 the then Ministry of Social Policy (now Ministry of Social Development) (1) undertook a review of family violence prevention in New Zealand to inform policy directions, future funding and delivery of services.

While government has a responsibility to ensure that all people in this country remain safe and free from violence, much of the preventive, supportive and therapeutic work associated with family violence is provided by the non-government/community sector. Cognisant of this fact, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) sought to involve community agencies in the review in a way that genuinely valued the knowledge, expertise and experience that communities have to offer.

Two positive outcomes were achieved through involving non-government/ community representatives in the review of family violence prevention. First is the development of Te Rito, an agreed cross-sector family violence prevention strategy. Te Rito takes a broad, multi-faceted approach to family violence prevention, is vision-based, strongly reflects community input, and has identified and built on past and existing initiatives. It also sets out the Government's key goals and objectives, a set of guiding principles, and a five-year implementation plan for maximising progress toward the strategy's vision of "Families/whanau living free from violence".

Second, a strong collaborative working relationship has been established between government and non-government organisations (NGOs). The intention is to continue to build on this relationship through the next phase. This is vital to ensuring that the strategy's vision, goals, objectives and areas of action are successfully implemented.

MSD has also been engaged in a major work programme aimed at building strong and respectful working relationships between government and communities. The Community and Voluntary Sector Working Party, chaired by Dorothy Wilson, published a report Communities and Government--Potential for Partnership, Whakatoopu Whakaaro (2001a). This report reflected on a range of issues including the strong sense of exclusion from key information that iwi and community organisations experience and their belief that officials lack understanding of the iwi and community sector.

In response to this report, in 2001 MSD published a Statement of Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship. The Government intends to break down the "silos" government agencies operate in and improve the way agencies engage communities in policy and decision making. The aim is to ensure that the knowledge, wisdom and practical experience of the community sector contributes fully to policy decisions.

While the family violence prevention strategy was to a large extent developed concurrently with the Community and Voluntary Sector Working Party project, it demonstrates a style of working that is wholly consistent with the key directions of the Statement of Intentions.

In this paper we:

* describe the process used for developing Te Rito, the New Zealand Family Violence Prevention Strategy;

* discuss some of the challenges and constraints of working collaboratively; and

* demonstrate ways in which these challenges were met.

PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT

By 2000 number of years had past since the publication of the New Zealand Government Statement of Policy on Family Violence (Department of Social Welfare 1996), the development of the Family Violence Crime Prevention Package and the introduction of the Domestic Violence Act 1995. In light of this and the Government's commitment to a number of international conventions specifically related to intra-familial violence (2) and to addressing all forms and degrees of violence, the Government considered it timely to review current approaches to family violence prevention and to identify future action.

In September 2000 the Minister of Social Services and Employment, Steve Maharey, directed MSD to develop a "plan for future action" that identified short-term and medium-term priorities, including resource implications for current and future family violence prevention initiatives. MSD's initial task was to identify the key agencies that would need to be involved in the review and to develop an agreed project plan. Fortunately, there were two key family violence groups already established that could assist with this task.

The first of these groups was the Family Violence Focus Group (FVFG). FVFG was established in 1994 by the Crime Prevention Unit as a mechanism to develop and recommend strategies to reduce the incidence of family violence. (3) At that time membership was restricted to a small group of government agencies, but it has subsequently been extended to include NGOs. Its membership now consists of a wide range of government and non-government organisations operating at a national level. (4) Members of FVFG act as a conduit for information-sharing between the national and community levels.

The second group was the Family Violence Advisory Committee (FVAC). FVAC was established in 1994 by the Minister of Social Welfare under section 30 of the Social Welfare Transitional Provisions Act 1990, to provide confidential expert advice to the Minister on family violence. (5) Members were appointed by the relevant Minister on the basis of their knowledge and expertise in the family violence prevention area, and their practical experience in the community.

MSD invited all members of these groups to participate in developing the project plan for the review. A core team, representing FVFG and FVAC, was formed to produce the first draft. Once developed, it was distributed for wider consultation to all members of FVFG and FVAC. The project plan set the scope and potential areas of focus for the review and identified the key tasks to be undertaken. The NGOs, in particular, advocated a fully comprehensive approach to the review that took into account all forms of family violence (partner abuse, child abuse/neglect, elder abuse/neglect, parental abuse and sibling abuse), and the linkages between these.

The Minister of Social Services and Employment subsequently approved the project plan in September 2000. Although the plan provided some focus and guidance on how the review...