July 08, 2014
Transforming whanau needs commitment
The outgoing chair of the Whanau Ora governance group has passed the baton and a road map to the new commissioning agencies.
At the whanau ora hui in Auckland today, Sir Mason Durie told the North Island agency, Te Pou Matakana, there is no single thing that impacts on whanau.
That means the three commissioning agencies will need to work across multiple domains whanau, community, providers and policy.
He says being Maori is a defining feature of whanau, and that means people must be able to recognise their heritage and culture, including access to whenua.
Whanau are citizens of the wider society and need equal access to community resources like schools, health services, sports, business and so on.
Providers need to be catalysts who can transform whanau, which will require both a commitment to best practice and continuous innovation.
Sir Mason says at a policy level, the commissioning agencies need to be fostering a collaborative approach across sectors and pushing for government agencies to include whanau in all their policies.
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