The New Zealand Carers' Strategy and Five-year Action Plan
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The Strategy
The New Zealand Carers’ Strategy and Five-year Action Plan was published on 28 April 2008 and is a major step towards valuing the immense contribution of carers to New Zealand.
The Carers’ Strategy, is supported by a Five-year Action Plan to begin addressing some of the issues that impact on the thousands of New Zealanders who assist friends and family members that need help with everyday living because of ill health, disability or old age.
The Carers’ Strategy was developed in a partnership between government agencies and the New Zealand Carers Alliance, a network of over 40 non-governmental organisations.
This strategy is an important first step in acknowledging the very real difference carers make in people’s lives. Improving support for informal carers is important for developing strong healthy families and meeting future challenges of providing care.
Vision
This Carers’ Strategy outlines the Government’s vision for carers in New Zealand:
New Zealand Aotearoa is a society that values individuals, families, whanau or aiga who support others who need help with their everyday living.
This will be achieved when:
- carers have choices and opportunities to participate in family life, social activities, employment and education
- carers’ voices are heard in decision-making that affects them.
Principles
The Strategy provides a framework of principles to guide policy development and the delivery of services by Government Agencies and Non Government Organisations (NGOs) that work with carers. These are:
- recognise diversity: acknowledge and respond to the diversity of needs and aspirations of carers
- be proactive: enable family focused support to be in place for carers when they need it
- enable carers: enable carers to have choices and the autonomy to develop, grow and sustain their personal, family and community support systems; and ensure that formal supports are reliable and are able to provide real support to carers
- be inclusive: acknowledge that the needs of carers, family, whanau, or aiga and the person being supported are often intertwined.
Implementing the strategy
The actions in the Action Plan address areas identified by carers during the consultation process.
There are actions to achieve five objectives. The objectives are:
- Provide information
- Protect the health and wellbeing of carers
- Enable carers to take a break
- Provide financial support for carers
- Provide training and pathways to employment for carers.
These actions are priorities for 2010:
|
Objective |
Action |
Responsibility |
|
1. Provide information |
1.1 Carers are consulted about their information needs and the findings are used to update ‘A Guide for Carers’ and the carers’ website |
Ministry of Social Development |
|
2. Protect the health and wellbeing of carers |
2.1 ACC will work across Government to develop a wellbeing and learning programme for informal carers |
ACC in conjunction with Carers New Zealand |
|
2.2 Update informal carers’ training requirements |
Ministry of Health |
|
|
2.3 Improve mechanisms for providing informal carers of people with mental illness or addiction with supports in the health sector through revised specifications for those services |
Ministry of Health |
|
|
3. Enable carers to take a break |
3.1 Increase the flexibility and reliability of respite care for informal carers |
Ministry of Health |
|
3.2 Increase residential respite services for older people |
Ministry of Health |
|
|
3.3 Provide additional assistance with recruiting relief carers |
Ministry of Health |
|
|
4. Provide financial support for carers |
4.1 Access to income support for families with high and complex needs continues to be improved through information, training and awareness raising |
Ministry of Social Development |
|
4.2 Research is undertaken to better understand the cumulative effect of means-testing on work incentives for households with caring responsibilities |
Ministry of Social Development |
|
|
5. Provide training and pathways to employment for carers |
5.1 Encourage and support employers to recognise carers’ skills and needs |
Department of Labour |
|
5.2 Investigate ways to support carers into employment |
Department of Labour |
Stakeholders
A key part of keeping the Strategy vibrant and effective is a partnership of commitment to the Strategy between government and stakeholders. These stakeholders, along with Government, will have a role in achieving the vision of this Strategy and include:
- carers
- families, whānau, aiga or circles of friends of carers
- people receiving support
- the community and voluntary sector, including NGOs and advocacy
organisations - funders
- employers, unions and other workplace organisations
- crown entities, for example ACC and District Health Boards
- the wider public.
A Guide for Carers - He Aratohu mā ngā Kaitiaki
As part of the Carers Strategy on 24 September 2009 the Associate Minister of Social Development and Employment, Hon. Tariana Turia launched the guide about support for carers.
