Part 8: Aligned portfolios – supporting young people to participate confidently in their communities

Role of the Minister Responsible for Youth Affairs

The Minister responsible for Youth Affairs has an important role as an advocate for New Zealand’s young people across government. The Minister ensures that, where necessary, policies from other Cabinet portfolios take into account youth issues and perspectives to enhance their wellbeing. The Minister is also responsible for the Youth Development Appropriations within Vote Social Development.

Ministry of Youth Development

The Ministry of Youth Development’s (MYD) focus is on supporting young New Zealanders aged 12 to 24. It has a small national office team in Wellington and four regional teams based in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch, supported by the wider Youth Policy and Development Group within the Ministry of Social Development. Together they provide support and advice to the Minister of Youth Affairs on key issues and trends affecting young people. This includes:

Engaging with young people through initiatives such as the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, Youth Parliament, Youth Week and youth attendance at local and international events. Young people are also connected to opportunities through MYD networks and social media tools to provide a youth voice in decision making.

Supporting organisations and government agencies to take a youth development approach by providing advice and services to support young people and those working with young people. This is to make sure young people are appropriately engaged and informed on policies and services that reflect their needs.

Purchasing youth development services in communities through the Services for Young People Fund (supporting organisations working with young people) and the Youth Development Partnership Fund (supporting local authorities to work with young people).

Current issues and trends

The youth population is becoming more ethnically diverse

In 2013, young people aged 12 to 24 years made up 18% of New Zealand’s total population. As with general population trends, the youth population is becoming more ethnically diverse with growing numbers of Māori, Asian and Pasifika young people.

Overall the outlook for most young New Zealanders is positive, yet adolescence remains a critical time

Since 2001, the health and wellbeing of young people in New Zealand has improved significantly. In particular, risk-taking behaviours, such as cigarette smoking, binge drinking and use of marijuana have reduced. Education outcomes, school participation and achievement are also increasing, with 2,700 more young people achieving NZEA Level 2 in 2013 than if the achievement rate had remained the same as in 2011.

Many young people are actively involved in their communities, making meaningful contributions through sport, culture, arts, volunteering and academia. However, adolescence remains a critical period both developmentally and socially. It is a time when risk-taking accelerates, and many young people suffer stress and depression. Death rates for young people also climb dramatically during this period.

Serious social issues persist for those living in areas of high deprivation, and for Māori and Pasifika youth

Persistent poverty and hardship for children and young people increase the chances of poor outcomes later in life. Young Māori and Pasifika, and those in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, are over-represented in negative social indicators.

Specific challenges include the consistently high number of 16 to 21 year-olds not in employment, education or training, more young people reporting their family often or always worries about having enough money for food, and the high levels of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among these young people.

Supporting young people to achieve their potential

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual and Intersex (LGBTI) sector is being supported to address issues of mental health, discrimination and wellbeing

The LGBTI youth sector (12 to 24 year-olds who are sexuality or gender diverse) experience high incidences of bullying, discrimination, mental distress and suicide. Work is underway to support the sector to address these issues by supporting community and families to build leadership, networks and infrastructure, complemented by work to identify and improve inclusive government policies and processes.

Youth enterprise initiatives are being expanded to promote innovation

Social enterprise uses commercial methods to support social or environmental goals. Supporting young people to develop skills in innovation and entrepreneurship will help them contribute to the strength and resilience of their communities.

The Expanding Youth Enterprise Initiatives will support initiatives focused on financial literacy skills, business enterprise education and social enterprise projects.

Connecting young people to their communities through the Youth in Emergency Services programme

The Youth in Emergency Services programme is designed to strengthen community connections by providing young people with life skills and training in local emergency services. It is targeted at 16 to 19 year-olds in smaller, more disadvantaged communities and has increased the sharing of resources and collaboration between local emergency services.

The programme has been trialled across six communities and will be expanded to 20 more communities over the next two years.

Future opportunities

There are opportunities to improve support and outcomes for young people.

Increasing opportunities for active youth citizenship

Youth citizenship helps young people to develop the knowledge, relationships, skills and conviction needed to play an effective role in their local, national and global communities. This empowers young people to have a voice in decisions and processes that affect them.

Supporting young people to understand their rights and responsibilities within a democratic society helps to remove the barriers they may face and enables confident participation. Strengthening civic education and understanding is an important part of providing young people with the tools they need to represent themselves and the issues that matter to them.

The skills and experiences young people gain through community work and volunteering are attractive to employers and build resilience in young people. There are opportunities to promote and facilitate citizenship by connecting young people with community activities and allowing them to track their efforts in real time through digital-media tools. The development of a social record, acknowledging community and voluntary contributions alongside educational achievement, is one way this contribution could be recognised. This would be a long-term and significant piece of work.

Developing youth-friendly communities to provide a platform to ensure young people want to stay in, or return to, their communities

The concept of child and youth-friendly communities is based on the idea that a city designed for its youngest citizens will benefit everyone. These communities provide opportunities for recreation, learning and fun, involve young people in community affairs and facilitate access to jobs. Whangarei is on its way to becoming New Zealand’s first Child and Youth Friendly City. There are opportunities to expand on this beginning and support communities to come together to make their cities and towns the best possible places for children and young people to live.

Supporting young people’s engagement in building a sustainable environment

Climate change, green technology and managing the needs of the agricultural and conservation sectors are pressing challenges future generations will continue to grapple with. Many young people are already actively involved in developing solutions to these challenges and there are opportunities to further invest in young people to develop kaitiakitanga for the environment.

Partnerships with local businesses, philanthropic organisations, the community sector and social sector agencies, will provide young people with greater opportunities to access environmental education, take part in decision-making processes, and contribute to economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Partnering with agencies and communities to achieve healthy lifestyles and access to suitable health care

One-third of all New Zealand children and young people are considered overweight or obese. The long-term effects of this include negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing, decreased engagement with education, and poorer employment outcomes.

International experience has shown success in strategic cross-government and community partnerships in addressing obesity and physical inactivity and providing accessible youth-friendly health care. Increasing young people’s access to quality sexual and reproductive health care and education is also an important part of managing long-term health and wellbeing. There are opportunities to partner with key agencies and community organisations to make sure young people are well informed, stay healthy and access appropriate care when they need it.