Media Releases

Jun 23 2020
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Have your say: ComVoices Covid-19 and State of the Sector survey 2020

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
23 June 2020

Community and voluntary organisations are urged to take part in the biennial ComVoices State of the Sector survey.

The survey provides vital information about the wellbeing of our community organisations which then helps ComVoices advocate effectively on your behalf.  We could not have begun to imagine what has transpired over the last few months.  Covid-19 has meant new ways of working and changed the landscape for our community organisations.

“We are keen to see what has changed in the past two years and the impact of Covid-19. How are community organisations faring and what might that mean for the people of New Zealand?” says ComVoices chair Chris Glaudel.

In an election year it’s more important than ever that politicians and decision-makers understand the value of the work we do for community around New Zealand.

The 2020 ‘State of the Sector’ report will include comparative data from earlier surveys and a commentary on current issues and trends facing the sector.

ComVoices invites all community sector organisations to add their voice to the survey, which can be accessed via this link

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ComVoicesSurvey

The survey will close 5pm, 20 July 2020. 

ENDS

For more information, please contact ComVoices Chair Chris Glaudel at 027 462 0605 or at projects@communityhousing.org.nz.

Jun 11 2020
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Six political parties discuss their support for the community and voluntary sector

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11 June 2020

Yesterday, a webinar brought together six Members of Parliament and political party members to discuss their policies, priorities and responses to the needs and challenges of Aotearoa’s community and voluntary sector.

“There’s no doubt over the last couple of months, the absolute value of the community sector has been demonstrated in a very visceral, very genuine, heartfelt and appreciated way,” says Hon Poto Williams, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Labour Party representative.

Jan Logie, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice and Green Party representative, acknowledged that “Central Government relies 100 per cent on our community networks and organisations to be able to deliver on our policy agendas. That reality is not properly recognised yet.”

Discussion around the difficulty of gaining sufficient funding for the community sector occurred. The primary ask from the community sector is the re-establishment of an Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector which was absorbed into the Department of Internal Affairs in 2011. The community sector believes this will improve the sector being viewed as an equal partner across government and will open opportunities to better guide policy and budgetary decision-making for the sector. 

Hon Tracey Martin, Minister for Children, Internal Affairs and Seniors and NZ First representative, talked about the current impossibility of the community sector gaining sufficient funding from annual government budgetary rounds. This was primarily due to the decision-making being located within a government department. She said that the community sector currently isn’t recognised as having the level of mana required within government to advocate for a complete change to the funding system.

Geoff Simmons, The Opportunities Party representative, talked about the biggest barrier for the community sector being the top-down mindset of government. “We design everything in ivory towers and then send it down to community groups to deliver,” Simmons explained.

“[The community sector] is not being heard by the government and they don’t feel that the government understands the issues that they face day-to-day and [therefore are] not taking their policy decisions on-board,” said Brooke van Velden, ACT Party representative.

“We’re all saying the same thing – that we need a systems change – and we all agree with that,” said Alfred Ngaro, National Party representative. “Our NGO and our voluntary sector are the backbone of our country but in order for that to be recognised, we have to realise that part of the systems change, the thinking change, is that social development is not separate from economic development,” Ngaro said.

Watch the full discussion online: https://bit.ly/2AWslna. A summary of the discussions will be published next week.

The webinar was co-hosted by Hui E! Community Aotearoa, ComVoices, Sue Barker Charities Law, and Trust Democracy, and facilitated by Rawdon Christie. Sponsored by the Todd Foundation.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Rochelle Stewart-Allen
Pou Kaiārahi (General Manager) 
Hui E! Community Aotearoa
Phone: 027 36 38 665
rochelle@huie.org.nz

Jun 03 2020
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What does a thriving community and voluntary sector look like as we move into a post-pandemic era?

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Elections matter and are a good opportunity to engage directly with those who make the decisions which impact the wellbeing of our society.  The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the inequalities which have festered far too long. Now is the time to shape a new way forward which provides as much focus on our social, cultural and environmental needs as the economic obsessions of the past.

Hui E! Community Aotearoa, ComVoices, Sue Barker Charities Law and Trust Democracy are bringing together Members of Parliament and political party members to tell us about their party’s vision and planned policies to support a thriving and sustainable sector. The kōrero will be a free webinar moderated by a political commentator and there will be time for questions from the audience.  As an on-line webinar, you can participate from wherever you live or work.  Please join us and make your voice heard!

Webinar: Educating political parties to help the community sector

When: Wednesday 10 June, 4pm-5.30pm

Where: Online (Zoom)

Who:  Confirmed speakers are Poto Williams (Labour), Jan Logie (Greens), Tracey Martin (NZ First), Alfred Ngaro (National), Brooke van Velden (Act) and Geoff Simmons (TOP)

Grab your webinar ticket here to receive the link – Sign up for a free ticket.

You can also keep up to date with the latest information and join the conversation on the webinar Facebook event page where we encourage people to join now to initiate discussion around the most important issues to be focused on during the webinar.

A good guide to what may be in store can be gleaned from what the parties have suggested their priorities will be at the last election.  Have a read of this short summary of Community & Voluntary sector party policies from 2017 in advance to understand the promises unfulfilled.

We gratefully acknowledge the Todd Foundation for their support of this webinar.

Mar 05 2020
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Have your say: ComVoices State of the Sector survey 2020

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Our work in the community and voluntary sector is needed more than ever with the pressures on individuals and whānau in our communities – and in an election year we want to be able to clearly say what we do and how our sector makes a difference to the lives of so many New Zealanders.

The information we gather from the biennial ComVoices State of the Sector survey tells us about the wellbeing of our community organisations, which we can then weave into our conversations with politicians and other decision-makers. It’s very much a case of ‘news you can use’.

Please take some time to complete the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ComVoices2020

Your response will be anonymous, and it might be helpful to have your financial information handy before you begin.  As all responses will be anonymous we cannot remove duplicate entries and ask that each organisation fills out the survey only once.

The survey is open until 5pm, 31 March 2020. We’ll then analyse the responses and report back to you in May 2020.

Please share the survey with organisations in your network

Any questions, please feel free to contact ComVoices by email at admin@comvoices.org.nz

Dec 11 2019
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Community and voluntary organisations continue to make a difference in our communities

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Media release

12 December 2019 – For immediate use

Community and voluntary organisations continue to make a difference in our communities

The country’s community and voluntary organisations are delivering services where they matter – to New Zealanders in need – even as they continue to grapple with a number of significant challenges.

That’s one of the key findings from a survey of community and voluntary sector organisations carried out by their network ComVoices (https://comvoices.org.nz). The survey is carried out biennially to provide a snapshot of how community organisations are faring.

ComVoices Chair Chris Glaudel says community and voluntary organisations provide many essential social services to individuals and whānau in communities around New Zealand.

“We help people and their communities flourish, often in the face of some tough times, and we’re proud of the contribution our member organisations are making to the wellbeing of this country,” he says.

“At the same time, there’s no doubt that we’re operating in an increasingly complex environment with some challenges around funding and other resourcing, and we’re working with people who often have high or complex needs, and in communities that can really do with a hand.

“We’re continually adapting to the requirements of the environment we’re in as we’re committed to providing valuable social services to our communities, while continuing to advocate for more resources with the people able to make these decisions.”

The main survey findings include:

Service delivery

  • 69 percent of organisations report more people are using their services than two years ago (65 percent in 2016), but only 31.5 percent (34 percent in 2016) have more staff than two years ago.
  • 5 percent are doing more work than specified in contracts (68 percent in 2016).
  • The needs of clients and the community are becoming increasingly complex. As a result, service provision is becoming more challenging and time-intensive.

Financial pressures

  • 34 percent of organisations were unable to offer staff a wage increase in the last two years (42 percent in 2016).
  • One organisation is facing closure and 10 are worried about their financial viability. Nearly half the organisations are struggling to make ends meet – an increase from 33 percent in 2016.
  • Half the organisations are using their reserves to help fund service delivery, and half of those will only be able to sustain this for one more year or less.
  • The sector is highly reliant on grants, donations and central government funding. Nearly 45 percent of respondents are seeking to support themselves by generating their own income.

Organisational pressures

  • The sector continues to undergo restructuring, with 44 percent of organisations saying they have restructured in the past two years. Restructuring is often carried out to change or improve the way an organisation works, or to improve its financial position.
  • Half the organisations say the specifications in their government contracts have changed significantly over the past two years. This can result in additional compliance requirements and costs, without additional funding.
  • Forty percent of organisations say the contract changes have not benefitted them.

A full list of ComVoices members is available at https://comvoices.org.nz/about-us/#who.

ENDS

For more information, please contact ComVoices Chair Chris Glaudel at 027 462 0605 or at projects@communityhousing.org.nz.

Reports On Events

Jun 22 2020
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Educating political parties to help the community sector

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Wednesday 10 June 2020

A webinar brought together six Members of Parliament and political party members to discuss their policies, priorities and responses to the needs and challenges of Aotearoa’s community and voluntary sector.

For a summary of the discussions visit the Hui E! Community Aotearoa website

You can read the full webinar summary compiled by Hui E! Community Aotearoa here

Oct 02 2019
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Minority communities gaining equitable access

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Snap, Crackle and Pop breakfast for MPs and the community sector

25 September 2019, focus: Supporting minority communities to gain equitable access to meet community need

Read the following commentary from Vanisa Dhiru, President, National Council of Women NZ

New Zealand is now home to more than 230 different ethnic groups speaking in excess of 160 different languages. To service and engage with such diversity is a challenge – not only for the public sector but the community sector as well. This was the back drop for the ComVoices Parliamentary breakfast held last week in Wellington where supporting minority communities to gain equitable access to meet community need was the focus.

Post the terrorist attacks of 15 March, racism, social inclusion and the diversity of New Zealand has been very much in the public discussion; and how we can all adequately deal with such issues. The lack of capability to understand and effectively respond is one of the many areas community representatives have highlighted in the past months.

Panel member Tayo Agunlejika, Executive Director of Multicultural New Zealand underlined the absence of ethnic diversity in governance roles in NGO’s, local councils and leadership roles in the public service. Even when such representation is sought, there can be resistance – such as recent racist letters that have been sent to ethnic women running in local body elections, defacing of campaign collateral, and bias appointment processes.

Inspector Rakesh Naidoo from Police National Headquarters shared his experience of an organisation building the necessary language and cultural skills to reflect the communities they serve. Without such essential skills, organisations such as the NZ Police would not be able to professionally service their communities and retain trust and confidence. He spoke of our nation’s connection with the Asia Pacific region, and our close cultural and economic connections with this part of the world. He shared the need to think globally when we act locally.

Equitable recruitment, diversity of boards, governance succession planning and partnering with tangata whenua were highlighted as some immediate solutions that could be implemented to address access.

Attendees observed the lack of representation around the discussion tables, given the broad services they provide to our diverse communities. I reflected on my own journey of being a manager and leader in the NGO sector and how few ethnic leaders there are.

The saying “nothing about us, without us” is important to reflect on when we are developing service provision, and have an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

NZ born Indian Vanisa Dhiru lives in Wellington and has held a number of paid and volunteer national leadership roles across the community sector. She is a member of the AsiaNZ Leadership Network and Global Women NZ.

Mar 13 2019
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Surprising discoveries and critical friends at a Parliament Breakfast

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Snap, Crackle and Pop breakfast for MPs and the community sector

6 March 2019 , focus on youth wellbeing.

Read the following commentary from Rod Baxter, Director of Impact, Prince’s Trust New Zealand .

When I first received the invite for this event, I had this preconceived vision of a fancy lavish breakfast with mountains of gourmet cuisine. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead, the breakfast was described as “light”, which is evidently a euphemism for “insufficient”. It’s actually all my fault however, as I was too busy talking to interesting people and missed the vegetarian option. I enjoyed three slices of fruit.

It turns out I was never there for the kai; something more powerful was happening.

Jane Zintl, Ara Taiohi’s CEO, opened in a grounded and balanced way, simultaneously acknowledging a sobering reality for young people with appropriate humour. Jane celebrated our Ministry of Youth Development and connected an undervaluing of this Ministry is an undervaluing of young people. Jane also introduced the Minister for Youth as a “youth worker” and I wished he was wearing the jandals and Warriors shirt referred to.

There’s something very profound in this interaction. It’s the first time in a long time that the youth sector and Government have demonstrated this type of relationship. I heard it once described as a “critical friendship” in a dual sense; it’s critical the sector and government have a partnership and we critique each other in a friendly way.

The Hon. Peeni Henare was similarly and refreshingly grounded in his aspirations for diverse young people. The Minister personally named taiohi in the room and seemed genuinely interested to hear their voices. The forthcoming panel certainly provided space for this.

Esme Oliver started the panel with spoken word. Esme is a young youth work student who shared two raw, honest and processed experiences: first with a foster brother struggling with mental health and secondly one of the most comprehensive bicultural analyses I’ve heard in a while. Praxis are clearly doing a fine job training the incoming generation of youth workers.

Laura O’Connell-Rapira summarised Action Station’s ‘Nga Hauora’ research into youth wellbeing and concluded with a timely challenge about student protests about climate change as demonstrable active citizenship.

Finally, Simon Mareko from the Ministry of Youth Development integrated his extensive youth work experience with his new adventure as a public servant by personalising the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa (launched in 2002) with relevance for our contemporary challenges and with more humour and interactivity.

Collectively, there was a sense of unity connecting the Minister’s desire for up-to-date thinking, Esme’s experiences, Laura’s research, Jane’s sector perspective and Simon’s formal announcement about the YDSA review. And that was the most pleasant surprise: unity. There was an overwhelming humility during dialogue between MPs and the community, together searching for the best ways to serve Aotearoa’s young people.

Personally, I grew up in Wellington and Government has always felt accessible. I notice now that there are added barriers and a greater distance for young people who want to have a say. During the weekend of Te Matatini, I strolled past the Beehive with my cousins and their kids. Reon’s Year 9 and Brooklyn is Year 8. They asked me where Jacinda works and “can we go in for a visit?” At this breakfast, I’ve realised the answer is yes. And we’ll all be better off for it if more young people do.

Although they need to get in quick to the kai, so they get more than three slices of fruit! No taxpayers dollars are wasted! Which is another pleasant surprise.

Apr 13 2018
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Snap, Crackle and Pop – a report on the first of the ComVoices Breakfast series

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The background

Recently, ComVoices hosted the first of a series of breakfast events that aspire to create a new kind of relationship between Parliamentarians and the community sector, through wānanga style breakfasts that explore areas of mutual interest. We hope that through shared learning, we can build a different kind of conversation and relationship between our sector and MPs.

ComVoices is a Wellington based network of national community and voluntary sector organisations. Collectively we represent a vast and diverse range services that span Aotearoa’s breadth and support communities across the country. We’re a broad network, and as a network we work to our many strengths, collaborating in the knowledge that we each bring something important from our sphere within the wider sector to the table. We identify issues of common interest, share insights and work to make great things happen.

Late last year we canvased the idea with around 20 Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum. With resounding support from the crew we spoke to at a conceptual level, we planned a first breakfast with a special guest, some evidence about our current state, and some co-design of topics for further events. Poto Williams, a fabulous Assistant Speaker of the House, agreed to host. ComVoices members invited along people who are delivering services on the ground. And early one morning in very late March, with the first real southerly of the year blowing cold round the Beehive, we gathered for kai and kōrero and talked about what awesomeness would look like in the relationship between the sector and Parliament.

What we talked about

People talked about busting silos, more information flowing between the buildings of government and the community sector, relationships rather than transactions. Everyone present wanted a better understanding between decisionmakers and the people delivering on the ground, based on open, honest, trusted and interactive relationships.

There was also a common desire to establish personal and professional connections, and through these connections generate what is needed to permanently change the conditions for New Zealanders for the better- rather than fixes shaped by the electoral cycle. Breakfasters wanted to be equal partners in a cohesive system, for the system to create shared solutions and participatory and accessible modes of communication.

The road map for future breakfasts

Having outlined what awesome would look like, there was even more snap crackle and pop as we designed a road map through topics for exploration at future breakfasts. A collection of these, in no particular order, follow:

  • Taking a community sector topic – like mental health or homelessness – and analysing it from a wellbeing perspective, using the living standards framework that Treasury have published in draft form
  • Creating conversations around ‘tricky’ issues and work it through to the point of action
  • The contracting/commissioning landscape for services across the country
  • What’s the shape of leadership in the sector?
  • Hearing the voices of the sector- being heard
  • A session focused on young people…

This last suggestion is the first one we’ll be picking up – ComVoices are cooking up a special breakfast where young people working in our sector will give their views of the future of our democracy, our economy and our communities.

Watch this space!

Dec 06 2016
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Meeting with James Shaw Greens Co-Leader

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ComVoices briefed James Shaw on key issues from the State of the Sector Survey 2016.  He was told that the sector is not averse to change, streamlining, identifying  need and demonstrating outcomes, but the sector is finding it difficult to engage with Government – the rhetoric is separate from the reality. In the lead –up to the general election, James said that the Greens will be focussing on inequality, the environment and structural elements in the economy.  James’ view was that people don’t vote on policy, and so the Greens will be focussing on the Green’s vision, values and social identity.

Jun 16 2016
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Parliamentary Breakfast

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Parliamentary Breakfast – Shreya Basu, Open Government Partnership Regional Civil Society coordinator for Asia Pacific

Grant Robertson, MP for Wellington Central hosted this parliamentary breakfast for guest speaker Shreya Basu. Her topic was NZ and the Open Government Partnership – what should you know, and why should you care?  More than 80 people attended the event which was generously sponsored by the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Victoria University (IGPS).

Jun 07 2016
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Meeting with the Hon Peter Dunne, Minister for Internal Affairs

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A productive meeting was held with the Minister who fundamentally agreed with the two propositions that ComVoices wanted to discuss: the establishment of a more formal relationship with Government; and the potential for a Social Values Act (SVA) similar to the UK model. The Minister thought that some form of accord or standing agreement could be developed that spelt out the levels of responsibility between the sector and Government.  He said that ComVoices needs to form a good relationship with the Government through the Minister of Finance who is thinking about where we go in the long term.  If we were able to get the Minister’s engagement then we would get traction on our concerns.

May 17 2016
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Meeting with Marama Fox, Maori Party

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Ms Fox said that the party combines strategically with the Hon Peter Dunne and David Seymour.  On many things the three parties differ, but on the legislation and issues they agree on, they work together and can wield significant influence.  Topics discussed with Marama were: influencing Government, prioritisation to the neediest to prevent people becoming vulnerable and how to make ComVoices heard with Government. At present, Government sees the sector as “Government Providers” working in its own interest.  It does not recognise the sector’s purpose and mission and that perception has to be changed.

Apr 14 2016
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Meeting with David Seymour, Leader of ACT NZ

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Views were shared around the funding relationship with government, the British social value act, the relationship with Government, how to build on our shared interests, public advocacy, and the case for sector umbrella groups. While holding only one seat, David said ACT could leverage off that and that in the future, ACT will grow substantially putting it in a better position to make more demands of government. In closing David said he has limited capacity, but we are always welcome to write and we will certainly get a reply.

Mar 14 2016
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Meeting with Andrew Little and Poto Williams

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Meeting with Andrew Little, Leader of the Labour Party and Poto Williams, Community and Voluntary Sector spokesperson

Topics covered in the meeting were the funding relationship with Government, a more formal relationship with government, gender remuneration inequality in the C&V sector and the two current bills affecting the sector – the Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill and Public Collections and Solicitations (Disclosure of Payment) Bill.  Poto assured the meeting that the sector can feed its thoughts on current issues and policies to her as the coming year is about developing the relationship and ComVoices has the opportunity to influence Labour’s thinking.