We need a truly independent champion for our children

Wednesday, 26 January 2022

The new Children’s Commissioner, Judge Frances Eivers, at her official powhiri at Pipitea Marae last year. Significant changes to the Children’s Commissioner have been proposed by the Government without “enough time for many, if not most, care-experienced young people to be able to get their heads around the bill”, Jan Logie writes.

Jan Logie is a Green MP and the party’s spokesperson for Children and Te Tiriti o Waitangi

OPINION: “To all those children who were taken from sanctuary and

thrown in to the mouth of the state

Those of you who have experienced the dislocation of your

innocence physically, psychologically and spiritually

Who have died within State Care

Who have survived State Care

All of that which has happened to you, without your permission

We have reached a reckoning

We see you.'

This is a mihi from the beginning of the report Hāhā-uri, Hāhā-tea – Māori Involvement in State Care 1950-1999. Released just three months ago, it is the tip of the iceberg of evidence showing how our state care system has failed our children, but especially tamariki and rangatahi Māori. From the Ombudsman, to the Children’s Commissioner, the Waitangi Tribunal, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care, and Whānau Ora – all have reported on the failings of successive governments to care for our most at-risk children and young people.

The Labour Government is proposing significant changes to the Children’s Commissioner. Submissions for the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People's Commission Bill – what a mouthful – will close at midnight on Wednesday, January 26. The Government has not consulted young people on their plans and has not allowed enough time for many, if not most, care-experienced young people to be able to get their heads around the bill, let alone prepare submissions. This is inconsistent with our obligations to our children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The primary concerns with the bill are the erosion of the voice of children and young people in its development; the lack of any visible Te Tiriti lens; and an erosion of the independence and teeth of the monitoring of Oranga Tamariki.

Former Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said an independent monitor, empowered to speak out as a watchdog on behalf of New Zealand’s children, was required.

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Jan Logie: “We know from the many reports done over the years that young people who have been in care won’t lay complaints with people within the system, even if they really like them, because they just can’t trust the system.”

* Judge slams Oranga Tamariki over vulnerable children living in hotels for a year

The Children’s Commissioner, which was set up initially to monitor CYPFs and provide a voice for children within our system, will be fundamentally changed to suit bureaucratic ends. It will not be changed for any identified need of children – no-one has even asked them what they want or need. This will erode trust in one of the few statutory bodies children have seen stand up for them.

The State has, for generations, torn apart whānau Māori and allowed the abuse of pēpi and tamariki Māori in our collective care – and the harm of this has been profound. This is why the Waitangi Tribunal called for an independent transitional authority to start transferring child protection responsibilities to hapū and iwi.

The Government has not implemented this clear recommendation and the chair of the Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board, set up to give independent advice, at a recent select committee spoke of Oranga Tamariki as “we” – signalling their lack of independence. This is not the time to reduce external scrutiny on Oranga Tamariki, this is the time to demonstrate we are learning the lessons of the past; that we are willing to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We need a truly independent monitor, empowered to speak out when necessary as a watchdog, as former Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said. Without the strong, independent direction of the Children’s Commissioner as it currently stands, the horrific and traumatising stories of whānau interaction with Oranga Tamariki in the wake of the 2018 Hawke’s Bay case may not have been heard at all. The independence to do this kind of investigative work will be stripped away by the Government’s Bill.

The Bill will create a confusing system between the misnamed ‘independent’ monitor (established within a government agency), the Ombudsman, Oranga Tamariki, and a Children and Young People’s Commission in a watered-down role. This is confusing for everyday people; imagine tamariki in care and their whānau trying to navigate a new system with multiple bureaucratic layers in the midst of stressful and traumatic times. That confusion will reduce oversight.

We know from the many reports done over the years that young people who have been in care won’t lay complaints with people within the system, even if they really like them, because they just can’t trust the system – and they’re not stupid. Just calling something ‘independent’ does not make it independent. One young person looked at the bill and asked, “Do they want a watchdog or a lapdog?” It certainly looks like the latter.

We know we have been and are still causing harm in our so-called child protection system. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We cannot let this Bill slip through select committee without thorough scrutiny. The futures of our most at-risk children and young people are on the line. Advocates, kaupapa Māori academics, even the Children’s Commissioner are calling for changes to the Bill as it goes to select committee. The Greens will continue to push for a truly independent champion for our children – and for their voices to be heard in this process. Every submission matters.