Hon Carmel Sepuloni
Minister for Social Development

31 May 2018 MEDIA STATEMENT
South Auckland hosts the first data and social wellbeing hui

Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Associate Minister Peeni Henare today got the Government’s engagement on data and social wellbeing underway with the first hui held with NGOs in Manukau.

“NGOs play a critical role in our social sector and their input is incredibly important to help us build an approach and policy that works for the sector and the people it supports,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

“In today’s environment with more data available than ever before, these NGOs regularly deal with the practicalities of how to best protect and use people’s personal information.

“This Government wants to remove the confusion about when it is appropriate to collect and share this information and develop an approach for investing for social wellbeing where that data can be used constructively to support New Zealanders.”

“It’s very positive to see our NGOs getting involved here in South Auckland today,” Peeni Henare said.

“It’s important our communities trust how Government uses data and hearing directly from the NGOs is a step towards the work we need to do to build public trust and confidence in data use.

“Today was a great start to the engagement process with representatives from a diverse range of more than 20 NGOs including Barnados, Habitat for Humanity, Voyce, and Maori and Pacific Services.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what other ideas and discussions emerge from service users, government agencies and other NGOs around the country over the coming months.”

Editor’s Note:
The Social Investment Agency’s (SIA) Your voice, your data, your say on social wellbeingengagement will run through to August and includes workshops with NGOs, government agencies and people who use social sector services in 28 locations around the country. Input from the sessions will inform the Government’s approach to investing for social wellbeing and a draft policy for the social sector, relating to personal information.
People can also participate via survey on the SIA website and hard copies of the surveys are available in Citizen Advice Bureau offices around the country.
The Government’s investing for social wellbeing approach will then be finalised and a draft data protection and use policy will be shared publically towards the end of the year. In 2019, the policy will be reviewed and made final.
More information, including a schedule of nationwide workshops, can be found athttps://sia.govt.nz/our-work/yoursay

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