Is sexism increasing in New Zealand?

Pay differences between men and women will be examined over summer in the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology.

‘Examining the gender-based pay gap: Are women more likely to be paid less than men in certain occupations?’ will be investigated by five psychology students selected for a Summer Research Scholarship.

They will be among nearly 500 students who will form a community of scholars at the University of Auckland over the next two months conducting research under the supervision of academics.

Their supervisors, Danny Osborne and Chris Sibley from the School of Psychology, say the research will contribute to an understanding of the current state of inequality in New Zealand.

“Recent studies have shown that inequality is on the rise in New Zealand and around the globe, and we know this has negative consequences for everyone’s health. In short, inequality is bad for society. Moreover, in terms of the values that Kiwis hold dear, inequality threatens some of our basic principles of fairness,” Danny says.

The students will analyse data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a 20-year longitudinal national probability study of social attitudes, personality and health outcomes conducted by the School of Psychology. The NZAVS is led by Dr Chris Sibley, and is unique to New Zealand.

Using this existing data the students will examine how pay differences between men and women, by occupation, have changed over a six year period. The data analyses will reveal if the pay gap is getting larger over time, and if differences exist in the size of this gap across industries.

Participants in the NZAVS are aged from 18 and all the way up to 80s and 90s, so it will cover inequality at various stages of people’s careers from 2009 to 2015.

“With over 15,000 participants in the NZAVS, data entry is a huge part of the task for our summer research scholars, but they will be contributing to some important understandings about where New Zealand society is at when it comes to gender inequality in the workplace.”

Summer scholar Melissa Sare, 20, says she is looking forward to gaining an understanding of how research is conducted in a university setting, while contributing to awareness of gender discrimination in New Zealand.

“I think this is important work because such research affects all New Zealanders. It was also a great way to fill in the long summer break,” she says.

The other students selected for the research are Sarah Christiansen, Sonali Dutt, Harrison Steiner-Fox and Helena Newton. They will also work with PhD student Yanshu Huang.

24/12/2015 News 0

Monitoring places of detention 2015- NZ Human Rights Commission Media Release

Monitoring places of detention 2015

This year the predominant findings of agencies monitoring places of detention in New Zealand is that the mental health of a substantial number of detainees is at risk of worsening while they are under state care.

Chief Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford, speaking as Chair of the National Preventative Mechanism, says the combination of lack of proper attention to mental health and an inability of many staff to cope with the mental health needs of detainees means the government is not consistently providing the care that people have a right to receive.

When a state deprives people of their liberty it has the responsibility to ensure that they receive adequate treatment for all their health needs, including mental health and that the conditions under which they are detained does not injure their health,” Mr Rutherford said.

“New Zealand is experiencing a crisis in regard to managing mental health needs of detainees. Various monitoring visits found unsuitable environments for people with mental health issues particularly in Police custodial facilities, in youth justice and care and protection residences,” he said.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has again found that the number of people in Police detention that suffer from mental impairment, including alcohol and drug dependency is alarming, putting considerable pressure on staff. Mental health related calls for assistance to the Police has increased 350 percent over the last 20 years and incidents involving threatened or attempted suicide attempts by 800 percent.

Its review of police custodial management focused on problems with the way in which people suffering from mental health related distress are dealt with in police custody. It found that the police custodial environment is an entirely inappropriate environment to hold such persons when they have not committed an offence but instead have been detained for assessment as a result of a mental health crisis.

“This is an inappropriate way to treat such people. It can be traumatic for them and exacerbate their mental health condition,” Mr Rutherford said.

“The Ministry of Health must continue to work with Police to develop working practices so that people who need a mental health assessment do not end up detained in Police cells for that purpose.”

Privacy also remains an issue in some detention environments. The Office of the Ombudsman has found that there still is a lack of minimum privacy in some of the prisons it visited. Camera surveillance of toilet and shower areas in some prisons remains an issue. The inspections over the year also observed that unlock periods for youth in particular can be too short.

Both the Ombudsman’s Office and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner have found that our youth facilities have many areas in need of development.

“Some have rundown environments, there is a lack of direction for youth justice facilities, there are issues with children and young people lacking confidence in the complaint system and there is a lack of staff capacity and capability to assist children that need counselling and specialist mental health support,” Mr Rutherford said.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) 2015 report is here

ENDS.

Media enquiries contact: Human Rights Commission, communications adviser, Karen Coltman: 021 574 156 or IPCA Group Manager Operations, Warren Young: 021 557 783.

 

Editor’s notes:

For information about the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture visit:

https://www.hrc.co.nz/your-rights/human-rights/international-human-rights-legislation/international-obligations/

The National Monitoring Mechanism is:

the Ombudsmen: prisons, health & disability, Immigration, children & young persons’ residences

the Independent Police Conduct Authority: police custody

the Children’s Commissioner: children & young persons’ residence

The Inspector of Service Penal Establishments: Defence Force.

The Human Rights Commission has a coordination role as the Central NPM with responsibilities for coordination, reports, systemic issues and liaison with the UN.

16/12/2015 News 0

SHANTI NIWAS EMERGENCY HOUSING PILOT PROJECT

Shanti Niwas is happy to announce the opening of ‘Shanti Niwas Emergency Housing (SNEH)’

SNEH will provide Emergency shelter for the senior citizens, from the Indian and South Asian community who are in an abusive environment, at risk of being abused, or in dire need of emergency housing.

Shanti Niwas has been in the fore front of providing various culturally appropriate services for the enhancement and wellbeing of the older people of Indian and South Asian origin living in Auckland region since 1994.

In 2012 KHUSHI – Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention project was started, to recognize, prevent and respond to abuse and neglect of older people and ensure their wellbeing. While delivering its services, Shanti Niwas noticed the need of providing short / long term shelter for the seniors in abusive situations or in dire need of housing in our community.

The main objective of this shelter is to provide a safe and secure environment to our elders in such situations. Clients will be housed for an initial period of three weeks, with a maximum stay of three months. The initial period of three weeks will be used to provide breathing space for families as well as enable our Social workers to assess and identify suitable programmes for arriving at positive outcomes for the elderly.

Our first option would be to get our elders back to their families, however if moving back with the family is just not an option then we will look into alternative long-term arrangement. Shanti Niwas will assist its clients by providing ongoing counselling and mediation services. Our Social workers will work with the clients and help them with the process of resettlement. Shanti Niwas proposes to charge a small fee to the clients to defray a part of the expenses incurred in running and maintaining the SNEH facilities. SNEH at this stage will not cater to clients with high medical needs due to lack of resources.

Dosti Visiting service of Shanti Niwas will supplement the rehabilitation / resettlement of the client after discharge.

Dosti is a befriending volunteer service where the volunteer visits elders who live alone or with partners and are house bound or socially isolated from community either due to ill health, age, mobility, culture or other issues.

Caregiver – Trained In-house caregiver will assist the clients in the facility.

CRITERIA

60 years+

Indian and South Asian origin

Clients without high health needs

SNEH is open for admission.

Interested persons may contact Nilima Venkat, Project Manager, or by telephone 096221010 Mob: 0212028406

Vijay Viswanathan, Volunteer coordinator, SNEH project Mob: 02108750936,

Email:

09/12/2015 News 0

Draft Incorporated Societies Bill has been released for comment – have your say

On 10 November the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hon Paul Goldsmith, released an Exposure Draft of a new Incorporated Societies Bill, together with a request for submissions.

The closing date for submissions is Thursday 30 June 2016. All submissions should be sent to . Any queries should be sent to the same email address.

Further information and all relevant documents can be found on the Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise website.

What does this mean for registered charities?

Around 7,000 registered charities are also incorporated societies, so may need to make changes to their rules, depending on the legislation, and when it is enacted.

It is important for registered charities to understand the intended timeline arising from this legislative change. The timeline involves:

  • A revised Bill based on submissions received will be introduced into Parliament in 2017 and hopefully enacted in 2018.
  • After the new Bill is passed, it is intended that current incorporated societies will have up to four years to amend their rules to ensure they comply with the requirements of the new Act. Registered charities may have to change their constitutions.
  • It will be at least four years from the date of enactment before the new Act is fully brought into effect. This may well be in 2022.

The timeline shows the changes will take time and therefore charities will not have to review their constitutions until the final form of the Incorporated Societies Act becomes clearer.

04/12/2015 News 0

The annual return for registered charities is being updated

Most of you know that registered charities must report annually to Charities Services. Charities are required to complete an annual return, and submit accompanying financial statements, within six months of the end of their financial year. This provides for the on-going accountability and transparency of registered charities, as the information is publicly available on the charities register.

The annual return for registered charities is being updated. The changes are being made for a couple of reasons – to ensure that we have accurate information about your charity on the register, and to broadly align the financial information collected through the annual return with what needs to be reported in the financial statements under the new reporting standards.

The new annual return will take a bit more time to complete. Charities will be asked to check and update their charity’s details (including details of officers and contact information for the charity) and answer a few new questions. Some of the new questions relate to obligations under the new reporting standards. Other questions help us identify charities that may have obligations under tax or anti-money laundering legislation.

We will also ask for additional identifying information about officers, including full name, date of birth and home address information. Currently, we only have an officer’s first and last name. This is not enough information for us to accurately identify individuals when we need to. The date of birth and home address information will not be publicly available.

The new annual return form will be available from April 2016. When charities submit their first performance report under the new reporting standards they will have to use the new annual return form. (The performance report will include non-financial and financial information and replaces the financial statements charities previously submitted.)  There will be a transition period, so that charities that are not yet required to report under the new standards can still complete the current annual return form.

All charities are strongly encouraged to complete the new annual return form online. This will be easier for charities, as some of the information will already be included on the form. And there will be useful help boxes and further information online to support charities to complete the new return.

We will keep the sector updated about the introduction of the new annual return form through our regular newsletters and information on our website.

Find out more about the new reporting standards, including when your charity will need to report using the new requirements and links to what a performance report for your charity might look like.

04/12/2015 News 0

Hikoi for Homes

Join the Hikoi for homes

The groups leading the Hikoi believe that because housing is a basic human need access to decent quality, affordable and safe housing should be seen a human right.  This means that our society and more specifically the State has an obligation to ensure that everyone living in New Zealand always has access to adequate and secure housing.  The groups further believe that this obligation means that housing needs to be considered as more than a commodity whose allocation is decided entirely by markets and the profit motive.

The Hikoi will be run by CPAG with support from many other community members and organisations including AAAP, Unite Union and First Union. ‘

Campaign Asks
An immediate stop to the sell-off of state and council housing
A $1 billion annual budget for the provision more state, public and not for profit housing
Setting minimum standards for all rented housing
Greater tenure protection for tenants
Rent freeze for five years
A statutory right to be housed
State subsidies for modest income homeownership programmes

11/11/2015 News 0

Buddy Day

Buddy Day is about doing altogether better for kids.

On Friday 13th November, for the fifth year running thousands of life-size cardboard ‘Buddies’ are being sent out into the community for the day, which are dressed, decorated, and brought to life by local schoolchildren.

The Buddies are designed to raise awareness, start conversations and drive change about the role every adult plays in the lives of kids – from preventing child abuse to providing great environments for children to flourish.

On the morning of the day there will be a special breakfast event in each participating city – Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington. The breakfast is a great kick-off to the day where participants can pick up their Buddies. There will be some short speeches from business and community leaders talking about the purpose of the day. At the breakfast event, you will ‘adopt’ a cardboard cut-out Buddy for the day and take your Buddy with you everywhere you go – out to meetings, to your engagements, on any flights you might be taking that day, and even out for coffee and lunch.

If you are unable to be at the breakfast, you may still like to adopt a Buddy that week.

The Buddy Day messages are simple: Buddy Day is about doing altogether better for kids
• Every child deserves a great childhood
• Doing better for kids is everyone’s business
• It takes a community to look after a child
• Buddy Day is your opportunity to do better for kids

With you as an influential and respected leader by our side, we can inspire more people and do altogether better for kids in New Zealand.

I look forward to having you join me and participate in Buddy Day this year – you can register to be a carer: http://www.tfaforms.com/332773.

04/11/2015 News 0

Raise the age of leaving foster care

Lifewise has teamed up with agencies around the country and ActionStation to create an online petition asking the Government to raise the age of leaving foster care.

www.actionstation.org.nz/wedontstopcaring

Currently in NZ, young people leave care on their 17th birthday. While most teenagers their age are worrying about things like homework, these young people are scrambling to find a place to live and how to support themselves. Our staff see the worst possible outcome for many of these young people –  with no support networks, and nowhere to go, many teenagers become homeless before their 18th birthday.

With the current review of CYF, this is the perfect opportunity to ask the Government to raise the age of support from 17 to 21. We have collaborated with Youthline, Child Poverty Action Group, Wesley Community Action, Christchurch Methodist Mission, Dingwall Trust and ActionStation to create this petition. So far the Review Panel is on board and has supported lifting the age.  We need to keep the pressure on however so that government follows through and takes action.  Close to 7,000 New Zealanders have signed the petition so far.  Please help us get to 10,000.

03/11/2015 News 0