|
|
|
|
|
Offers or recommendations of presenters are welcome for any of the following events – please contact dave.henderson@angoa.org.nz
ANGOA is an independent nonprofit incorporated society, supported by an anonymous Family Trust. We receive no funding from Government other than for specific projects, and we sincerely thank the Trust for the independence it gives us. Contributions for specific projects have been gratefully received from the JR McKenzie Trust, the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, the Ministry of Economic Development and Lottery Grants Board.
Subscriptions are an important component of support for ANGOA’s work, helping us remain independent of Government. An Application and Renewal form can be requested from the Coordinator, or printed from the website. Membership is open to any NGO supporting the objects of ANGOA and willing to pay the specified fee ($50). Organisations and individuals who do not qualify as members but who support ANGOA’s aims are welcome to make a donation, and may receive many of the materials ANGOA produces. We thank you warmly for your support.
The Membership Form can be found on the ANGOA website: www.angoa.org.nzunder the heading 'Joining ANGOA'.
More information is available from the ANGOA Coordinator, dave.henderson@angoa.org.nzor from the website www.angoa.org.nz The site includes back issues of Updates for the Community and Voluntary Sector Roundtable and the Community and Voluntary Sector Research Forum.
Postal address: PO Box 24 243, Manners Street, Wellington.
Sustainability is one of the driving features of ANGOA’s kaupapa, and many NGOs could find this report useful as they position and plan for the future for their organisations. Sustainability is much more than the common focus of NGOs on “whether we have enough to fund this year’s activities”
For the first Roundtable of the New Year we have invited a SANZ representative to talk more about the report and its relevance to NGOs in New Zealand.
Sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand (SANZ) produced report “Strong Sustainability: Principles and Scenarios”http://www.phase2.org/documents/SSFNZ_web_310809.pdf is based on the findings of a SANZ/UNESCO Think Tank, and was introduced at an ANGOA Research Forum in Christchurch earlier this year.
The purpose of the paper is to provide insights for people who wish to engage in thinking and debate about a strongly sustainable New Zealand. The paper addresses the confusion around the words ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainability’ and identifies a raft of complex global changes (that have already begun) which will cause abrupt and radical shifts in human living, work, and recreation. In this context, the paper proposes a new economics, reforms in political structures and institutions, and a quite different set of underlying human ethics and values, in order to set New Zealand onto a sustainable path.
Those involved in the Think Tank were all knowledgeable about the subject of sustainability and contributed views from a wide variety of personal and professional experiences. The paper itself has been internationally peer reviewed.
“An excellent paper. It's really hugely encouraging to see someone trying to use the concept of sustainability as it should be used in a futures project of this kind - rather than defaulting to the usual mish-mash of bland and misleading generalisations that one normally detects...I did find this very stimulating, and a really useful way of bringing sustainability into the minds of New Zealanders in a hard hitting and realistic fashion”.Quote from reviewer, Jonathon Porritt (Chair of UK Govt Sustainable Development Commission and Founder Director of Forum for the Future)
This is an opportunity for ANGOA member organisations to raise issues of government policy, recent announcements, legislation out for submissions - Have your say, and find collaborators!
Notes and reports from the ANGOA AGM on 9 December are on the website at www.angoa.org.nz
Pat Hanley, Project Leader for ANGOA, was able to bring together 14 workshops around the country, based on the two discussion documents. Pat reported on the feedback to Ministry of Economic Development in December. Pat also drafted a submission for ANGOA based on input from around the country, and this was submitted to MED by the 29 January deadline. See the final submission can be read on the ANGOA website at www.angoa.org.nz
The next step will be to look at new standards and possible templates for financial and non-financial (i.e. actual achievement) reporting by community organisations. This will assist organisations with improving their accountability and transparency for the benefit of the communities they serve and their members, donors and government agencies. ANGOA has already begun work on this, building on input from the workshops.
Thousands of community organisations, Government agencies such as the Charities Commission, the Department of Internal Affairs and many others that make funding arrangements with community organisations, plus the members of Philanthropy New Zealand, will all benefit from simpler, clearer reporting standards.
Nominations sought for Relationship Agreement Steering Group
The OCVS is currently receiving nominations of people from the community and voluntary sector to join a new Steering Group to lead development of a Relationship Agreement that will replace the 2001 Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship. Nominations are due by 10 February and Minister Turia will seek Cabinet approval for the appointments. See the Terms of Referenceand criteria online now.
ANGOA will be nominating Pat Hanley, who has great international experience of such agreements between the sector and government, and was a key figure in ANGOA’s Review of the “Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship” in 2008-2009. The report is on the ANGOA website at "Good Intentions". This was one of the documents that was behind the August 2009 Cabinet decision to hold the national forum in November.
Pat also produced a discussion paper for ANGOA prior to the national forum, “Tangata Whenua, Community & Voluntary Sector — Government Relationship Framework”. See Community-Government Framework
Pat is currently Chair of AGNA, the Affinity Group of National Associations, which is a global gathering of organisations like ANGOA; national umbrella groups for the whole of the community and voluntary sector.
Australiais also working on a “A National Compact for the not for profit sector”
As part of the social inclusion agenda, the federal government is working to develop a national compact with the third sector. This National Compact will be an agreement for a new approach of working together.
As part of the consultation, a new document has been released outlining the principles (that is the rules of engagement) and undertakings that result in a range of actions. These actions, as identified through the consultation, are to:
Download the Australian consultation paper from the social inclusion website:
http://www.socialinclusion.gov.au/Compact/Pages/default.aspx
NZFVWO in conjunction with ANGOA and NZCOSS invites you to a forum to hear three great international speakers in Wellington who will have been featured the week prior at the Community
Economic Development Conference in Auckland.
We’re putting on a three hour seminar at St. Johns Presbyterian Church Hall, Dixon Street and encourage you to attend just so you don’t miss out on hearing these people present about their remarkable exploits in social enterprise and community development.
The line-up includes:
Tuesday 16 February 2010, 9:30AM—12:30PM, St. John’s Chruch Hall, Dixon Street, Wellington
Morning tea will be served. Cost $20 incl. GST. Please RSVP to info@nzfvwo.org.nz
This is a self-funded event with a $20 charge. We will invoice you when you reply and you will be charged regardless of attendance on the day. Cancellations will be accepted, with a full refund, until 5pm on Thursday 11 February 2010.
As many of you know, the Human Rights Review Tribunal has decided in favour of the nine parents of high needs adult disabled children, who have argued in a long-running case that they should be paid for providing this support.
The Government has 30 days to appeal the decision, and Minister Tony Ryall has indicated this is likely in media interviews. The Carers Alliance has urged the Government not to appeal the decision, saying this would affect many important health, disability, and social policy decisions.
Following is part of the MoH response. The full response from MoH is at www.moh.govt.nz.
According to Ministry of Health, the Solicitor-General makes the decision on whether or not to appeal. The Solicitor-General will consider the decision made by the Tribunal and the wider public interest when making his decision. The Ministry has 30 days to lodge an appeal (from 8 January 2010).
As it is not possible to fund the employment of those who provide natural support to disabled people within the current disability support services framework, any redesign of this framework would be a complex task that will take time to complete properly.
Crown Law on behalf of the Ministry of Health has made an application to suspend the effect of the declaration for 12 months from the expiry of all appeals. This allows time for the system to be re-designed should this prove necessary. It also means that there will be no immediate change in practice so disability support services will not be significantly disrupted in the interim.
What do you think? Please send your views to sara@carers.net.nz.We are gathering feedback from our community to inform our discussions with the Ministry, the Minister, and the media. We also invite views from organisations supporting families with health and disability needs. Thank you for taking the time to share your views about this important new development for family carers.
Minister for Social Development and Employment Paula Bennett has announced her plans for the new Auckland Social Policy Forum and is encouraging people to have their say on it. The Minister released a discussion document and feedback closes on Friday 21 May 2010.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get the structures that support the social fabric of Auckland right," says Ms Bennett. “The Forum will bring together key political leaders from Auckland and central Government, providing a platform to ensure social issues remain high on the agenda as governance in Auckland changes.
"We want to see a range of organisations and communities involved with the Forum, so those making decisions about Auckland, understand the diverse needs of those groups. "We want to feedback on the form and function of the Forum, the types of issues it should be considering, and how it can best engage with Auckland's diverse communities and social organisations."
"The framework's there, but now we need to flesh it out. I want to make sure Auckland communities, organisations and local government are at the centre of our thinking", Ms Bennett says.
You can read her media release on the Beehive website, and download the discussion document, at:
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/feedback+sought+auckland+social+policy+forum
Of course; but you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise, given the explosion of bright ideas for changing the sector currently being pursued by Ministers and their departments. New government seems to begin with the assumption that local democracy is a problem and that the solution is wholesale change, much of which is intended to reduce citizen influence while at the same time offering a rhetoric that says the opposite. Why is local government in New Zealand so vulnerable to the whims of national politicians?
New Zealand operates in the same legal political tradition as the United Kingdom in which local authorities are regarded in primarily instrumental terms, that is, they are seen as useful mechanisms for doing things, rather than being an inherent part of the community.
Highlighting this was a recent comment from a British journalist. He was reflecting on the decision by the then Thatcher government in the United Kingdom to dissolve the Greater London Authority, and for that matter a large number of other authorities. He noted, with some irony, that what was seen as a triumph of strong leadership in Britain (can we also suggest New Zealand) would, in a number of European countries, have resulted in those particular politicians being jailed for treason. Such is the importance they give to local democracy as a basic right of citizenship.
As seems to happen every time we have a change of government in parliament a new Minister arrives with big ideas on how to fix local government. (Given that local government taxes constitute 2% of GDP, while central government taxes constitute more than 30%, we usually find it hard to believe local government represents the problem). Once again we are faced with a new wave of reform that might have implications for a council near you. The range of issues under consideration is wide, from reviewing the Resource Management Act; setting up a national Environmental Protection Agency; shifting road funding from local roads to national highways of significance; focusing councils on core services; introducing referenda and of course the creating the super city.
The creation of the Auckland 'super city' signals some significant changes for a large proportion of our population. Obvious implications are the loss of representation and the transfer of some important matters of community interest to corporate bodies to be run at arms-length from the council, particularly local streets. Is this the new template for local government in New Zealand?
While this question is asked frequently the answer is probably not. Auckland is pretty exceptional, although some aspects of the new model might spread. There are suggestions that the local government minister likes the idea of strong mayors, for example. The greatest impact is probably the speed by which other parties have sought to use Auckland as an excuse to promote amalgamation or consolidation within other cities and districts. At the moment the government has said it would only support such change if the population agrees, which is really just a re-statement of the existing law.
Whether consolidation is a good thing or not will ultimately depend on local circumstances. Most arguments about consolidation achieving economies of scale have over time proved to be false, yet they might be true in your place. Yet regardless of the economics the real risk is that the local in local government will be lost and the impact of this is that we will have much less say about what happens in our towns and cities.
Mike Reid, Manager, Governance for Local Government New Zealand.
Jac Lynch, Project Manager for the Social Services ITO spoke at several ANGOA forums in the latter part of 2009. Following is a statement by Dr Rory Truell, Social Services ITO chief executive.
“Whanau ora, family-centred and community-building approaches are the focus of workforce planning for social services in 2020. The workforce development project “Skills for the Future of Social Wellbeing 2020” is in its early stages, with a discussion paper due for distribution in April 2010.
Sector leaders have joined the Social Services Industry Training Organisation in initiating the project.
Wider involvement will be encouraged, including with the health and disability sectors. Social services are moving towards integrated and holistic ways of working. “It’s clear that workforce strategies must reinforce these approaches. We’ll be looking at core competencies needed of organisations, workers and leadership as well as issues to do with professional development, recruitment and retention.”
For more information, please see the link
http://www.socialservices.org.nz/sites/ssito.org.nz/files/workforce-development-project.pdf
The ITO is based at Exchange Place, 5-7 Willeston Street, Wellington. PO Box 2637, Wellington 6140
Tuesday, 16 February from 12.15 - 1.30pm, Large Gallery, Turnbull House, Bowen St, Wellington
Mental health and wellbeing – possibilities for the future: Hugh Norriss
For many if not most people the term mental health means something to do with a mental illness, or having a mental health problem. It’s as if mental health is something to be avoided, or at least not valued.
Mental health also has a positive side to it however, closely aligned to concepts such as wellbeing, happiness, flourishing and positive psychology. Positive mental health is a state that can increase general health and wellbeing, and resilience.
Hugh Norriss is the Director of Policy and Development for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
He has worked in management and planning roles in not for profit and public mental health services over the last 14 years, and has held the position of Director of Policy and Development for the Mental Health Foundation since April 2009.
Cost: New Zealand Futures Trust members: $5 Non- NZFT members: $15
Please register your interest in attending by Friday 12 February 2010. Contact details: Box 12 008, Wellington, 6144. Ph: Yvonne 04 383 5080, e-mail: info@futurestrust.org.nz
Grant Thornton has recently conducted its biannual Not for Profit Sector Survey which has produced some interesting findings for the sector. The Grant Thornton 2009 Not for Profit Survey builds on earlier surveys undertaken in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
This session will equip you with the key findings and provide a chance for you to ask questions about current concerns such as the economic downturn as well as ongoing challenges that the sector faces.
Seminar contents
Date: Tuesday 9 February 2010: Registration 12pm: Seminar time 12.30pm – 1.30pm
Refreshments and networking opportunity after the seminar
Venue: Grant Thornton Level 13, AXA Centre 80 The Terrace Wellington
Cost $15 members (incl GST) $20 non-members (incl GST) $15 student affiliate
You must register and pay by Thursday 4 February 2010.
Please contact Kimberley Wadsworth, tel 04-474 7887 or email kimberley.wadsworth@nzica.comfor the form.
The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector invites you to attend a free seminar, presented by Mary-Alice Arthur and the Art of Hosting Community of Practice. It offers a powerful framework to enable you to strategically take and evoke leadership.
Using methods which foster conversations that matter, we’ll take a hands-on approach so people get engaged, become clear on their commitment, and can take action - supporting each other to step in and step up.
Thursday, 11 February 2010; Ministry of Social Development Auditorium, Level 3, Bowen State Building, Bowen St, Wellington. Refreshments: 1.15pm; Presentation time: 1.30–3.30pm
Contact OCVS for more details. You must RSVP: Space is limited, so reserve a place by email: ocvs@msd.govt.nzor phone: 04 918 9555 by 4 February 2010.
A new course called Political Marketing will be offered on February 18 from 9:00AM—4:30PM. The course is intended for elected politicians, staff working in and for political parties, government staff and advisors, council staff and councilors, NGOs and candidates who want to understand how to use marketing to achieve their goals. There are two places available for people working in the voluntary sector at $247.50—half the full price of $495 excl GST. You can enrol using the following link
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/ceed/course.aspx?portfolio=professional&cid=525.
Victoria University’s Centre for Continuing Education is also able to offer a limited number of heavily discounted places on some of our popular professional development courses.
The courses, prices, number of available places and links to course outlines are available from
Continuing Education Continuing-Education@vuw.ac.nzor from correen.field@vuw.ac.nz or www.victoria.ac.nz/ceed
Strategic Pay is pleased to announce the Not-for-Profit Sector Remuneration Survey 2010 and invite your organisation’s participation. Our survey has proven to be the most comprehensive and authoritative survey or remuneration in this sector. And it continues to grow.
As in previous years, this survey will meet the needs of the following stakeholders in your organisation’s remuneration process:
This knowledge will be critical to your organisation in ensuring that your employees are remunerated as fairly as possible within your available resources. Contact David Shannon: Phone 09-303-4045, David@strategicpay.co.nzYou will receive the full information pack for the Survey in March.
Remuneration Workshops
Strategic Pay’s Not-for-Profit Remuneration Workshops in Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton were very well received and will be repeated in 2010. We hope to be able to deliver one in Christchurch this year. Key to such workshops is collaboration with local social services networks. If you are part of such a network that would like to assist in putting on a workshop, please contact us. We are also eager to hear from anyone with ideas or suggestions for the content of our workshops.
If you are interested, now is the time to enrol in our Waikato University’s Post Graduate Programme in Social Enterprise. Courses incorporate interests in associated fields such as not for profit management, corporate social responsibility and third sector research. Whether your interests lie in community development, arts and culture, social justice, human rights, sport, health, education, environmental or religious organisations, we can shape the assignments to serve your interests. We offer programmes of study at Post Grad Certificate and Diploma level, as well as Masters and PhD study for those ready for an even greater challenge.
All qualifications are taught on line with web based discussions as our main learning environment. Our students may be based anywhere in the world (last year we had students from New Zealand, Vietnam and Bermuda). You can ‘be in class’ at any time of the day or night. Courses may be taken as full time or part-time, allowing existing work, family and/or community commitments to be honoured.
Several scholarships are available: Further information can be found on the University of Waikato Scholarships website:http://www.waikato.ac.nz/research/scholarships/
If you have questions regarding the programme and/or its content check out our website www.management.ac.nz/socialenterpriseor contact either Maria or Suzanne at the email addresses below. If you have enquiries about enrolling, contact Kimberly Barclay Kerr at kbarclay@waikato.ac.nz.
ANGOA is an active member of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and the linked group AGNA – the Affinity Group of National Associations.
By David Robinson, New Zealand Social and Civic Policy Institute; Board member of CIVICUS and a member of the ANGOA Coordinating Committee
The challenge facing civil society as we enter the second decade of the 21st century is to preserve the independence of citizens and their right to act collectively without Government direction or coercion – as individual citizens, as members of associations of all kinds and, when appropriate, in partnership with Government. Although sometimes criticised as having negative connotations the very strength of civil society is expressed by the definition of organised groups as NGOs (non-government organisations). These associations are created outside of government and, while they need to adhere to the general laws of a country, they are not creations of, or subject to direction by, the state. To read more, click here.
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said on Thursday the concept of civil society has no place in his country, just as a panel headed by his son Seif al-Islam was about to propose a law permitting the creation of non-governmental organisations. In a televised address to the General People's Congress (GPC), Kadhafi said the idea of a civil society "is a bourgeois culture and an imitation of the West that has no place here. In the West, a distinction is made between "an official governmental society and a civil society (made up of) non governmental institutions," he said, while in Libya society is "entirely civil." After he headed a coup that overthrew the monarchy, Kadhafi introduced in 1977 the state of the masses (Al-Jamahiriya), built on people's congresses whose representatives sit in the GPC. This body, in theory, takes all political decisions, passes legislation and names ministers. To read more, click here. Google News/AFP
The Policy Press, in association with the Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN), is publishing the first issue of Voluntary Sector Review in March 2010 (3 issues per year - March, July and November). Institutions can trial the journal free of charge for the first year. View more informationor send Ann Moore an email at ann.moore@bristol.ac.uk.
By Stephen B. Heintz
As we look out over the next decade and on toward mid-century, it is clear that we are living in revolutionary times as humankind faces a number of unprecedented social, economic, environmental, political and security challenges. The nature and scope of these profound challenges underscore the fundamental reality of our age – global interdependence. Six and a half billion human beings inhabit Earth along with some 1.8 million other known species, sharing one planetary ecosystem, one climate, and, increasingly, one polity. The reality of global interdependence is that people all across the globe will experience the profound challenges ahead, albeit in different ways and with variable intensity. Finding solutions to these problems will require innovative new forms of broader and deeper global cooperation, among nations, peoples, and the public, private and nonprofit sectors. For details, click here.
Pat Hanley - Association of NGOs of Aotearoa (ANGOA) New Zealand and Chair of the AGNA Steering Committee
The Affinity Group of National Associations held its Annual General meeting and related workshops in Johannesburg from September 20th – 22nd. There were representatives from 32 National Associations in attendance. By the close of the AGM on the 22nd there was a genuine feeling of solidarity and a commitment to work collaboratively to “protect the space occupied by civil society” and to strengthen our capacity and leadership nationally, regionally and internationally.
Read more... civicus.org/affinity-group-of-national-associations/agna-newsletter#Reflections
Ivan Cooper - The Wheel, /Ireland
How can civil society better engage with Government? Let’s start by learning from each others practice writes Ivan Cooper, Director of Advocacy with AGNA’s Irish member, The Wheel
There was a great deal of interest at the AGNA meeting in Johannesburg in the whole area of how civil society can better work in partnership with government.
Fundamentally, our national associations are all about supporting effective civil society participation in our national lives – and to be effective this usually involves working with our governmental colleagues. But practice varies a great deal across the different members of AGNA.
Read more... civicus.org/affinity-group-of-national-associations/agna-newsletter#Governance
This 65 page report by an Analyst in Economics and a Senior Specialist in Economic Policy was produced by the U.S. Congressional Research Service in November 2009.
In a scenario thick with déjà vu for NZ organisations, the opening summary states: “A number of policy issues have direct or indirect consequences for the nonprofit and charitable sector, including the establishment of a social innovation initiative, changes in the tax treatment of charitable donations, responses to the economic downturn, and health care reform. The nonprofit and charitable sector represents a significant portion of the U.S. economy. The sector is also highly diverse. Having a greater understanding of the nonprofit and charitable sector as a whole may help policymakers evaluate proposals that may impact the sector.
The first section of this report provides a formal definition of the nonprofit and charitable sector.
The term “nonprofit sector” is generally intended to refer to organizations with federal tax exempt status; “charitable sector” refers to the subset of these organizations that have 501(c)(3) public charity status.
The next section reports on the size and scope of the charitable sector. Charitable organizations are estimated to employ more than 7% of the U.S. workforce, while the broader nonprofit sector is estimated to employ 10% of the U.S. workforce. In 2009, the charities filing Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service reported approximately $1.4 billion in revenue and reported holding nearly $2.6 billion in assets. Nonprofit institutions serving households (largely charities) constituted more than 5% of GDP in 2008.”
Subsequent sections of the report look at how charities are funded, provide an overview of the charitable sector’s relationship with government, and a number of policy options are examined, including:
To read the full report (1.09 MB) http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40919.pdf
My name is Tanja Kurtz and I currently study psychology in Göttingen, Germany. I would like to volunteer (from May to September) in a non-profit organization. Do you have any opportunities for volunteering or could you tell me which organization might help me? Please contact Tania directly at eclaircie@web.de
Dave Henderson
ANGOA Coordinator
Email: dave.henderson@angoa.org.nz
Phone and fax: (04) 972-7708
PO Box 24 243, Thorndon, Wellington
This message is produced by ANGOA, the Association of NGOs of Aotearoa. All the information is intended to assist readers pursuing an interest in matters relating to research in the community and voluntary sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. An effort is made within available resources to ensure accuracy but no guarantee is given or implied. If you have contributions, comments or suggestions, please forward them to dave.henderson@angoa.org.nz
| Copyright ANGOA, © 2004-2010. All Rights Reserved. | design: well-connected.net |