Supporting community-led responses to family violence
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MSD is working with our community partners and Te Puna Aonui partner agencies towards greater integration of family and sexual violence sector decisions and responses in communities throughout New Zealand.
There are two projects with funding provided as part of Budget 2019 that MSD are leading:
- Funding for family violence non-government organisations (NGOs) to participate in Safety Assessment Meeting (SAM) tables
- Funding iwi and NGO participation in regional governance.
Funding for NGO participation at SAM tables
MSD has almost completed the first phase of funding for family violence specialist NGOs to attend SAM tables, in 46 communities around New Zealand.
Safety Assessment Meeting (SAM) tables are generally established by Police and operate under varying models, such as the Family Violence Interagency Response System (FVIARS) or Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke.
The funding aims to reduce family violence harm by ensuring decisions made at SAM tables are informed by family violence specialists, alongside government agencies.
MSD is a main funder for many family violence providers and we're working closely with Police family harm teams who understand local SAM (or similar) processes, to implement this funding.
Over the past 12 months, the 46 SAM tables around New Zealand worked together to decide which NGOs are best placed to be funded to take part in their local SAM table meetings. These local NGO specialists will now be funded to keep playing an integral role to help inform safe, effective risk assessments, safety planning and triaging at these tables.
Having family violence specialist NGOs participating at SAM tables provides a range of benefits including:
- Enabling family violence expertise to be used to effectively assess risk and plan the most appropriate safety plans
- Ensuring everyone who experiences family violence gets access to the best local service – for them, and
- By funding NGO participation at SAM tables, we're building an essential system foundation for future work to come.
The allocated funding for NGO participation at SAM tables is $4.6 million per financial year.
Funding iwi and NGO participation in regional governance
Regional family violence governance groups operate in the 12 police districts and have different structures and meeting times through the year. These governance groups work to reduce family violence by bringing together diverse efforts, knowledge, and local expertise, to provide high level strategic oversight. This includes discussions on recent trends, approaches, and high-risk and high-profile cases, to inform effective strategies to reduce family violence in the community.
The regional family violence governance meetings generally occur monthly and are often chaired by Police or iwi.
The total national funding for iwi and NGO participation in regional governance is $400,000 each year. Based on guidance from the State Services Commission, a daily meeting fee of $360 + GST has been set for any NGO or iwi representative who attends a family violence regional governance meeting
As the regional governance groups vary significantly across the country, the funding has been left open for individuals, NGOs and iwi to apply, as relevant for each region. Groups can apply for up to one year's worth of funding at a time (eg 12 x $360 = $4,320). Retrospective application’s can not be considered.
From 2023, applications will open for a six-week window as follows:
- 1 April closing mid-May
- 1 October closing mid-November
Completed applications can be sent to: ICR_B19@msd.govt.nz
Any questions?
Our family and sexual violence system in Aotearoa is changing. These projects are an important step in shifting from government-led to community-led decision making.
If you have any questions about these projects, please email our team: ICR_B19@msd.govt.nz
