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Speeches
Only speeches made by the Children's Commissioner over the last 12 months are displayed. If you wish to view an earlier speech, please click to view all speeches.
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15 August 2008
Challenges for the Future: Opportunities for Maori
There has always been a disjunct between ‘life’ inside the hallways of academia and the ‘life’ that goes on outside these institutions. Terminology and information such as socio-demographic contexts, age and sex structure of the population, and disaggregated datasets seem to leap off the pages of textbooks and articles in libraries and bookshelves in lecturer’s offices.
And yet these terms and others just like them, health and wellbeing indicators, economic standard of living and iwi profiles. These words add to the language and the ways in which we can, and do describe, what is happening to tamariki and taiohi Maori and their whanau. And while they have validity and currency, sometimes I cannot help but feel disconnected from this seemingly endless stream of information.
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2 June 2008
Speech for the Official Exhibition Opening of ‘Creative Children Making a Difference in NZ Communities'
By securing this space for children, Te Papa is contributing to our implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which we ratified in 1993 and has been signed by almost every country with a democratically elected government in the world. Article 13 talks about each child’s right to freedom of artistic expression. Article 31 recognises the importance of children’s rights to participate freely in cultural life and the arts and names the State’s role in encouraging the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for artistic activity. Today, Te Papa opens an importance children’s art space in New Zealand.
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16 May 2008
Children's Health: the Big Picture
Thank you for this opportunity to deliver the opening address at the NZ Paediatric Surgical Nurses and Anaesthetic Technicians Inaugual Conference.
I have been asked to speak on the topic "Children's Health: the Big Picture." Well, first-off I must say it is indeed a big picture. I have deicded to tackle the topic by providing a broad overview of some of the key health issues affecting NZ children and young people; outlining what we know children need to develop healthily; and with this in mind, leaving with you the vision I have for how we can better meet the needs of our children and young people.
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3 April 2008
The Essential Role of Social Work in Child Welfare
The role of social work in child welfare is actually becoming more important to us as a society, rather than less important. Social work is the core statutory profession responsible for the safety of children and young people. They are at the centre of the Child Welfare legislation, the Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989. There are, however, a number of emerging and established challenges to this role, some of which I will elaborate during this speech, and a number of which I will only be able to touch on in passing.
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6 December 2007
"Give me Five": Taking action to support and protect our children in the first five years
Media coverage of the deaths of babies and toddlers by maltreatment in New Zealand has been explicit this year. It has exposed the New Zealand public to a problem they can no longer ignore. We have heard of a baby being hurt on that icon of the New Zealand backyard, the washing line; and seen photos of a baby beaten to death. The result is, the public are galvanised and for the first time, there appears to be some ownership of child abuse as a community problem. Many people in the community are asking, “What can I do?”
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