Hon Peeni Henare Te Minita mō Whānau Ora Minister for Whānau Ora
20 February 2019 PĀNUI PĀPĀHO MEDIA STATEMENT

Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare has welcomed the findings of a review to improve how the Government supports whānau and families to achieve wellbeing.

“The Whānau Ora Review Report – Tipu Mātoro ki te Ao, has been released today and affirms this unique approach is working well for Māori and Pacific families,” Peeni Henare said.

“The findings paint a picture of progress and positive changes for families. The findings show Whānau Ora is a successful contemporary indigenous wellbeing initiative, driven by Māori cultural values, working successfully and could be taken wider.

“The review found many examples of Whānau Ora working, and people’s lives being turned around as a result of the approach.

“The report reveals that there is potential for whānau centred approaches to be implemented right across the Government.

“I’ve asked Te Puni Kōkiri to work with other agencies in the social sector to see where the Whānau Ora approach can be implemented. I will report back to Cabinet later this year with the findings.

“I’d like to thank the Whānau Ora Review Panel members Caren Rangi (Chair); Tania Hodges; Te Rau Kupenga; Donna Matahaere-Atariki; Kim Ngarimu and Brenda Steele for their hard mahi.

“They met with 184 whānau, 74 partners and providers, 104 Whānau Ora Navigators, 19 Whānau entities and 126 Government agencies at 19 locations throughout the country.

“The Whānau Ora Review Panel engaged with a range of whānau, providers, and agencies throughout the consultation period and met twice with each of the Commissioning Agencies – Te Pou Matakana, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu and Pasifika Futures.

“The report provides good news for all those involved in delivering Whānau Ora services. In fact Whānau Ora champions, whether they be navigators, providers or the Commissioning Agencies, are uniquely positioned to provide leadership and guidance to the wider sector about how Whānau Ora can change social service provision in Aotearoa.

“Expanding Whānau Ora is the bigger opportunity. This is how we extend the reach of what has been achieved to even more whānau across the country,” Peeni Henare said.

The high level findings of the report are that: • the Whānau Ora Commissioning Approach results in positive change for whānau and creates the conditions for the change to be sustainable; • the Whānau Ora Commissioning Approach operates within and meets the requirements of, a structured accountability system and operates in a transparent manner; • Whānau Ora and whānau-centred approaches demonstrate a number of features that align closely with success factors identified in recent reports on good social investment. The Panel were of the view that there is the potential for whānau centred approaches to be applied more widely across government; • A number of challenges and improvements were identified in the Whānau Ora Commissioning approach and environment.

You can find more information, and a copy of the report on Te Puni Kōkiri website – https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/whakamahia/whanau-ora-review

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