Community sector underfunding drives whānau ora demand

Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare says a lot of pressure is coming on the programme because of cut backs and underspending in the voluntary and welfare sector over the past decade.

The Minister is attending today’s Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu symposium where projects funded by the South Island commissioning agency share their stories.

The agency says it is able to fund less than a quarter of the whānau and groups who apply.

Mr Henare says whānau ora has proved itself as an effective way to deliver social services, but there is pressure for more resources in health, mental health, and youth matters right across the board.

"Over the last 10 years systematically a lot of that resource has been stripped away from the services in the NGO sector, the services in the community sector, and I am wearing much of the frustration from that sector as I have met with them over the past year and a half and we are working hard to make sure we can support those sectors," he says.

Mr Henare says the case has been made for increases in next month’s Budget.

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