Date Published: 19 May 2023
Budget 2023 was released yesterday, signalling some welcome improvements in how whānau, tamariki and young people will be supported in Aotearoa New Zealand. There is a need for greater focus on addressing systemic inequities.
“This wellbeing budget clearly recognises some of the hardships and impossible decisions whānau in Aotearoa are currently facing and provides some helpful stopgaps. But it fails to address the upstream reasons why people are falling behind, such as inequality which largely affects Māori and Pacifica.” says Braden Clark, Kaiwhakahaere Chief Executive of ANZASW.
Mr Clark notes that promising initiatives are included, such as extending the 20 hours ECE subsidy to 2-year-olds, which will allow women to re-enter the workforce earlier, continued investment in the School Lunches Programme which reduces hardship for children living in poverty and removing prescription co-payments which remains a significant barrier for lower-income whānau accessing the medication they need.
ANZASW is also heartened to see attempts to improve equity for the disability community with the introduction of wage supplements to replace minimum wage exemptions and half-price public transport fares.
However, these initiatives provide band-aid solutions to hardship rather than working towards the vision of an Aotearoa New Zealand where everyone is valued, has endless opportunities and what they need to thrive.
Importantly for social work, the allocation of resources to ‘Grow a Diverse and Resilient Social Sector’ misses key issues behind building our workforce and retaining social services staff. We call on the Government to meaningfully address issues relating to student hardship while studying, including paying students whilst they are on placement, as well as pay and work conditions across the sector. We are pleased to see an allocation of budget to family and sexual violence providers to support service delivery, however investment in the workforce is needed.
ANZASW will continue to advocate for resourcing in these key areas, particularly building our workforce and supporting students to enter our profession so that social workers can continue to support whānau, tamariki and rangatahi living in hardship to imagine and attain a future where they thrive.
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