New Zealand: Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa Newsletter 60

This E News 60 tells you about:

Repeal S59 Crimes Act
ACYA Annual General Meeting
ACYA Website administrator appointed
Submissions
Convention v Curriculum
Corrections ( Mothers with Babies) Bill
Minimum wage and Remuneration (Amendment) Bill
Killed in care
Social Report 2006
Task Force on violence within Families
UNICEF Report - Violence to children
YouthLaw
Repeal Section 59 Crimes Act
We await Select Committee report due by 22 November 2006

ACYA Annual General Meeting
The minutes of the AGM are posted in our website: http://www.acya.org.nz/?t=37

ACYA Website Administrator appointed
The ACYA website and E News is crucial to what we do. We are pleased to announce that Fred Tan has accepted the appointment.

Submissions

Convention v Curriculum
We are looking to make a submission and have asked Sarah Te One and others to look at this for us .The New Zealand curriculum draft is available and submissions are required by 30 November. Human Rights issues are addressed. The Health D3 levels 6,7,& 8 and Social Science, Social Studies Levels 6,7 & 8 appear to skirt around Human Rights issues. We think the wording should make clear reference to Human Rights Conventions. Is there a duplication in having two key subjects address the issues.?

Corrections ( Mothers with Babies) Bill
ACYA made a submission to the Select committee supporting the bill. A key provision is to increase the time allowed for the baby to stay with the mother from 6 to 24 months. Some child advocacy agencies have reservations on this issue while others wish to take the period to three years. There are other desirable features of the bill.

Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill
We have made a submission supporting the Bill. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Minimum Wage Act 1983 to extend its provisions to apply to payments under a contract for services that are remunerated at below the minimum wage. Currently certain types of work, such as pamphlet deliveries, are not subject to any minimum wage requirements because remuneration is paid under a contract for services.

Killed in Care
The NZ Government refuses to abide by Article 37 (c) and registered a Reservation when signing the Convention. The death of a 17 year old is a tragic consequence. R Ludbrook looked at the issues, as set out in E News 59. We await the outcome of numerous reports.

Social Report
The two children on the front page indicates a child friendly atmosphere. Yet when the data and text are studied in the light of the Convention there are significant omissions. It deserves some attention.

Task Force for Action on Violence within Families- The First Report July 2006.
The 34 page report is well written and has clear intent and some timelines.

Key headings:

Our vision and approach
Leadership
Changing attitudes and behaviour
Ensuring safety and accountability
Effective support services.
The first deadline is September 2006 Nationwide scheme to build strong working relationships between Government and Non Government Organisations ( Item 4, page 24)

UNICEF REPORT - Violence to Children
David Kenkel of UNICEF prepared this press release (edited)
"New Zealand has nothing to be complacent about. In a UNICEF / INNOCENTI report written in 2005, New Zealand ranks 3rd worst out of 27 OECD countries in terms of children's deaths from maltreatment. New Zealand has levels of child maltreatment deaths that are 4 to 6 times higher than the average for the leading countries.

It also shows that being indigenous significantly increases the likelihood of violence. Maori children are known to be significantly over-represented in poverty statistics and as the UN study predicts Maori children are twice as likely to be assessed as abused or neglected."
www.unicef.org.nz

YouthLaw
The Annual Report shows that YOUTHLAW had a busy and successful year.
The Strategic Plan was tabled and addressed by a member of the Springboard Trust. This project is a valuable tool in progressing the effective service to a large number of youth. Sue Bradford spoke to Repeal of S 59 which is addressed elsewhere on our website.

Best wishes, ACYA, 27 October 2006 www.acya.org.nz

 

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