Children's Commissioner slams select committee over Oranga Tamariki oversight Bill
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
The Children’s Commissioner has slammed a parliamentary select committee for undermining child safety after it recommended a new oversight system for Oranga Tamariki.
The controversial ‘Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill’ comes amid a Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care, which many opponents of the bill had hoped would be concluded before any changes to Oranga Tamariki were submitted.
The Social Services and Community Select Committee released its report on the proposed bill on Monday, after receiving more than 500 submissions from the public.
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Under the proposed legislation, the role of the Children’s Commissioner would be replaced by a board of between three and six people.
The board would be run under a newly established Children and Young People’s Commission and focus on advocacy work.
Monitoring Oranga Tamariki is currently the responsibility of the Children’s Commissioner, but under the proposed bill this would no longer be the case. Oversight would be shared between two organisations.
An ‘Independent Monitor’ would focus on tracking how effectively Oranga Tamariki is supporting whānau engaged with its services and identify areas of improvement while the Office of the Ombudsman would be solely responsible for investigating and resolving complaints against the organisation and its providers.
Children’s Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers was damning of the select committee’s failure to wait for the final report from the Royal Commission.
“To pre-empt that work would be to make a mockery of those who were brave enough to tell their stories,” Eivers said.
“Did we really want to listen to their insights, because we are still designing new legislation without even waiting to hear them?
“In the same vein there has been inadequate consultation - particularly with children and young people and Māori - before such significant decisions were made. How can that be, unless there wasn’t really an appetite to hear what they had to say?”
Eivers said she struggled to comprehend how the select committee progressed the bill through largely unaltered.
“When such a clear, resonant message is sent to Government, the failure to listen to the people they vowed to represent speaks volumes,” she said.
While some changes, like the establishment of a ‘Chief Children’s Commissioner’ were positive, Eivers said all other changes undermined safety and exposed the most vulnerable children to danger through lack of effective monitoring.
“The Government has the laudable vison to make NZ the best place to raise a child. Let these not just be worthy words - it is time to walk the talk and put our mokopuna, our children first and at the centre of the decision-making process,” she said.
The proposed bill attracted hundreds of submitters who were critical of the oversight changes. The committee received 403 written submissions, with only eight submitters supporting the changes.
Concerns were alsoraised by Starship Hospital during the select committee hearing.
The children’s hospital felt the change would stop any efforts to fix the system, which would largely be felt by whānau Māori.
“Separation of these functions will disperse relevant information and processes and will create more layers of bureaucracy, delaying outcomes for tangata whenua/mana whenua, and their tamariki.”
The report included a raft of comments from the Act Party, Greens and National Party all expressing some opposition to the bill.
National and the Greens highlighted the overwhelming number of submitters against it, and suggested the Government wait until the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care had been finalised.