Statement of Intent 2013 to 2016 - Human Rights Commission

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10 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION | STATEMENT OF INTENTOur operating intentionsTä mätou koronga whakahaereHuman rights are our core business. They are reflectedin our goals that people in New Zealand enjoy theirhuman rights, duty-bearers uphold their human rightsresponsibilities, and people live together harmoniously byshowing a common respect for each other’s human dignity.We direct our activities to the critical human rightsissues facing people in New Zealand, as well as buildinga greater understanding and respect for human rights inour communities. Every year we review the human rightssituation in New Zealand to determine where we cantake practical steps and make a positive contribution toachieving improved human rights outcomes for everyone inNew Zealand. From our review of the current human rightssituation in New Zealand, we have designed our workprogramme around four outcome areas:1 work and education2 housing, health and community3 violence and abuse4 human rights mainstreaming.In this section, we analyse what the current situation is inrelation to each of these outcome areas, set out what wewill do to achieve improvements in these areas, identifywho we will work with in carrying out our activities, andwhat impact we intend to make in these outcome areasthrough the services we provide.In detailing what our operating intentions are over the nextthree years, we acknowledge our support for the outcomesof other agencies where these complement our ownpriorities. In particular, in aspiring to improve educationalachievement of children and young people fromeconomically disadvantaged areas and with disabilities, andto reduce violence and abuse within secondary schools, ourwork programme complements the Office of the Children’sCommissioner’s priority focus which is to improveoutcomes for children.The following diagram sets out our foundations, outcomeareas, the key services we provide, and our key externalaudiences.Human Rights CommissionHuman rights foundations• Treaty of Waitangi 1840• New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990• United Nations Paris Principles 1993• Human Rights Act 1993• International human rightsinstrumentsOutcome areas• Work and education• Housing, health and community• Violence and abuse• Human rights mainstreamingServicesEducation, promotion and advocacy• human rights education, advocacy andawareness programmes• community development programmes• good practice guides• tools and resourcesEnquiries and complaints, and legalinterventions• information, referral and disputesresolution process• legal interventionsOffice of Human Rights Proceedings• legal representationMonitoring and reporting• advice and guidance to government andcivil society• engagement with civil society to identifyissues• provision of analysis and informationto duty-bearers and international treatybodiesExternal audiences• Influencers and decision-makers• Public• Interest groups and partners• Media
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION | STATEMENT OF INTENT11Outcome area one:Work and educationOutcomeStructural discrimination and barriers to equality eliminatedso all people in New Zealand have access to decent andproductive work and quality education.Situation analysisInequalities in employmentWomen continue to be paid approximately 10 per centless than men on a median hourly basis and are overrepresentedamong workers earning at, or just above, theminimum wage. Women remain under-represented inleadership roles in both the private and public sectors. Thegender pay gap in the public service is wider than that ofthe whole labour force. These inequalities are more acutefor Mäori women, Pacific women, young women, andwomen with disabilities.Despite the ethnic composition of the public servicebroadly matching the ethnic composition of the NewZealand population, significant ethnic inequalities in payand management roles persist across the public sector.Mäori, Pacific and Asian peoples are under-represented insenior leadership roles. The pay gap between Mäori andEuropean New Zealanders is 11 per cent, while it is 19 percent for Pacific peoples, and 12 per cent for Asian peoples.Population-wide, Mäori and Pacific rates of unemploymentare three times higher than that of European NewZealanders, while the rates of unemployment of peoplefrom other backgrounds (Asian, Middle Eastern, LatinAmerican and African) are approximately twice as high.Employment data on people with disabilities is collectedinfrequently. In all three disability surveys to date,conducted as part of the general Census, people withdisabilities of working age are more than twice as likely asnon-disabled people to be unemployed. We will contributeto the work of the Disability Convention independentmonitoring mechanism on guidelines on reasonableaccommodation in employment, led by the Office of theOmbudsman.Young people have been disproportionately affected bythe global financial crisis and, when they are able to findwork, are often employed in more vulnerable sectorswhere there is less job security, high turnover, lower wagesAll human beings are born free and equalin dignity and rights. They are endowedwith reason and conscience and shouldact towards one another in a spirit ofbrotherhood.Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human RightsInternational human rights standardsThe International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights (ICESCR) refers explicitly to equalopportunities at work and establishes the maininternational human rights standards relevant tothis outcome, along with core International LabourOrganisation conventions. Both ICESCR and the Conventionon the Rights of the Child provide for the right toeducation. Other human rights standards further assertthese rights for identified vulnerable population groups.and more part-time and casual hours. The unemploymentsituation of Mäori and Pacific youth is acute. The Pacificyouth unemployment rate is at least twice that of the youthunemployment rate for European New Zealanders; the Mäoriyouth unemployment rate one and a half times. Disabilityadvocates and commentators note the double disadvantagein the labour market of being both disabled and young.Provincial and rural New Zealand communities areparticularly vulnerable to layoffs in dominant locationbasedindustries. The loss of several hundred jobs from onecompany or one industry in smaller centres has a much moresignificant effect on the whole community than is the casein urban New Zealand.Inequalities in educationMäori and Pacific peoples continue to experience significantdisadvantage in terms of educational outcomes. Incompulsory education, approximately 50 per cent of Mäoristudents leave school with no educational qualificationscompared to 21 per cent of the overall population. Pacificexpulsion rates are over three and a half times higher thanfor New Zealand European students; the expulsion rate forMäori students three times higher.
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Statement of Intent 2013 to 2016 - Human Rights Commission

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