Statement of Intent 2013 to 2016 - Human Rights Commission

20 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION | STATEMENT OF INTENTWe undertake strategic policy interventions to providethe Government with constructive, practical, independentadvice about what international standards and the humanrights approach mean in the New Zealand context.In the 12 months ending 30 June 2012, we recorded 6147new human rights enquiries and complaints. Of these, 4061requested us to intervene, with 1539 (38 per cent) of thesecomplaints alleging an element of unlawful discrimination.Disability, sex and race-based discrimination remain themost common grounds of complaint. Close to half ofall unlawful discrimination complaints continue to be inthe areas of employment and pre-employment. Whileresolution of complaints is typically limited to addressingdiscrimination experienced by individual complainants, 95outcomes in the past year resulted in systemic change.What we will doOver the next three years, our focus will be on deliveringservices that increase awareness and application of humanrights standards by the Government, other duty-bearers,and in the community in order to strengthen the protectionof human rights in New Zealand.We will continue to fulfil our statutory responsibility tomonitor and report on New Zealand’s compliance with itsinternational and domestic human rights obligations.During 2013–14, we will:1 develop, in consultation with interested parties, thesecond national plan of action for the promotion andprotection of human rights in New Zealand (NPA),drawing on the second Universal Periodic Review2 fulfil specific responsibilities as the central NationalPreventative Mechanism (NPM) under the OptionalProtocol of the Convention against Torture thatincludes coordinating the statutory responsibilities ofthe other four New Zealand NPMs and completing anannual report to Parliament on the implementation andimpact of their work3 fulfil specific responsibilities as coordinator of theindependent monitoring mechanism to monitor,report on and advocate for the implementation of theDisability Convention4 produce an annual review of the reporting of GoodEmployer obligations by Crown entities5 provide specialist human rights education andpromotion to duty-bearers so that the State’s humanrights obligations and the human rights dimensionsof the Treaty of Waitangi are reflected in policy andpractice6 provide human rights community developmentprogrammes to enhance people’s capacity to identifyand address their own human rights issues7 encourage organisations to participate in the NewZealand Diversity Action Programme to undertakeprojects contributing to human rights and harmoniousrelations, equality and cultural diversity in their ownorganisations and communities; and host the NewZealand Diversity Forum8 provide an enquiries and complaints service thatassists individuals and groups to resolve human rightscomplaints including those of unlawful discrimination;undertake strategic legal interventions to strengthendomestic law in relation to fundamental human rightsstandards; and through the Office of Human RightsProceedings, provide representation or instituteproceedings.Who we will work withWe will engage with UN treaty bodies in fulfilling ourmonitoring and reporting responsibilities. We will also workwith the UN Human Rights Council on New Zealand’s nextUniversal Periodic Review. We will work with the Office ofthe Children’s Commissioner, UNICEF, Action for Childrenand Youth Aotearoa, the Child Poverty Action Group, andSave the Children who are also participants in the informalUN Convention on the Rights of the Child monitoringmechanism.We will work with the other four NPMs (the Office of theOmbudsman, Independent Police Complaints Authority,Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and Inspector ofService Penal Establishments), in fulfilling our statutoryresponsibility as the central National PreventativeMechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Conventionagainst Torture.