The Saga of Section 7AA

Today I attended ANZAC commemorations and watched a frail veteran place a paper poppy on the memorial to his deceased colleagues. I listened to heroic stories of young men who served in horrific circumstances so those of us who followed them, could live in a free and democratic society. I felt the sadness of many. I ?reflected on the impact the loss of those young men has had on future generations and how we are as a nation today.

My thoughts intruded. I have been trying to digest the High Court decision which overturned the summons on Minister Chhour to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the proposed repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act (the Act”) ??Why was a summons even needed – why wouldn’t she want the opportunity to explain her thinking to help others to understand?

The most upsetting part of all of this is that the process which will lead to the repeal of section 7AA is not democratic and ignores the reason why the last National Government enacted it.

On the one hand, I think we should not need section 7AA ?because the obligation to improve outcomes for Māori children was enshrined in the ?Children Young Person and Family ?Act 1989 ?which was enacted following the report Te Pūao te Ata Tū, ??On the other hand, I have no confidence that without explicit obligations on the Chief Executive change will not happen.

Tama Tū Tama Ora? Tama Moe Tama mate! You stand, you live, you sleep, you die! This whakatauki which accompanied Te Pūao te Ata Tū highlighted the urgent need for change in how the state responded to the needs of children, particularly Māori children in need of care and protection. Te Pūao te Ata Tu called out the institutional racism of the then Department of Social Welfare and made many recommendations, the most emphatic being the need for services to be provided in partnership between the Crown and Māori.

I was excited in 1989. I had just qualified as a lawyer and the Children Young Persons & Their Families Act 1989? now the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 had been enacted.

The Act enshrined some of the hope of Te Pūao te Ata Tū. Section 4 recognised the importance of Tino Rangatiratanga for whanau, hapu and iwi of tamaiti māori.

The Act introduced Family Group Conferencing (FGC) ?a prerequisite dispute resolution mechanism before the State could become involved with children’s care and protection. This process has been recognised internationally and emulated in many other jurisdictions since that time.

The Act has been reviewed along with many reviews? of the working of Oranga Tamariki,?? Section 7AA was enacted to once again bring about change because of the ongoing failure by Oranga Tamariki to work in a way that improved outcomes for māori children

Quite frankly the Chief Executive being required to work strategically and innovatively with partner organisations, to improve outcomes for māori children and indeed all children is something we should just expect. In 2021 the then Prime Minister called out the fact that Oranga Tamariki was not meeting expectations. He could only do this because of the report filed by the Chief Executive under section 7AA.

Section 7AA has had an impact on many of us who work in the Family Justice System. I have learned about the impact of colonisation - the loss of land, the degradation of the environment, the loss of connection to place, the loss of language, poverty, poor health and social outcomes. Most importantly I have come to see the children filled with potential and hope constrained by these impacts.

I ?have embraced the obligation to change my thinking and my practice. Where before I may have seen intergenerational dysfunction as intractable, now I see the potential created through addressing the intergenerational harm.

My experience since section 7AA came into effect is that strategic partnerships have developed between Oranga Tamariki and Māori kaupapa organisations which have benefitted the families I work with. Whilst my anecdotal information is no better or worse than Minister Chhour’s the Fourth report of the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki shows the benefit of section 7AA.

Last week I had the privilege of working with whanau who faced challenges with family violence, drug addiction and other issues. They had accepted the challenge to change, accepting support from iwi and other kaupapa māori services and walking the pathway together as whānau to a better outcome for their children. This pathway was facilitated by a strategic partnership between iwi and Oranga Tamariki and is exactly the way of working imagined and recommended by Pūao te Ata Tū.

I am not sure that the full implications of repealing section 7AA have been thought through. I can only be sure of one thing. I am changed because of section 7AA and my change is not dependent on section 7AA remaining or being repealed. The obligation to honour ?Tikanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi remains in the Act; and because I am tangata tiriti o Aotearoa. There should be less obligation on the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki

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