Acknowledgements

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Terms of reference
• Acknowledgements
• Overview
• 1. This inquiry
  • Introduction
  • Our kaupapa
  • The evidence used to support this inquiry
  • The structure of this report
• 2. The dynamics and drivers of persistent disadvantage
  • Our quantitative research
  • Too many New Zealanders experience persistent disadvantage
  • The drivers of disadvantage are systemic
  • Power imbalances create advantage for some people and compound disadvantage for others
  • Discrimination and the ongoing impact of colonisation compound disadvantage
  • Our public management system is part of the problem
  • The public management system is evolving to respond to complex societal challenges
• 3. Our vision - a fair chance for all
  • Strengthening te Tiriti o Waitangi as a “macro setting” for the public management system
  • Common features of wellbeing approaches
  • Aotearoa New Zealand’s application of wellbeing approaches
  • Vision and principles for a fair chance for all
• 4. Re-think the macro settings and assumptions of the public management system
  • Macro settings increasingly emphasise wellbeing, but more actions are needed
  • There are challenges with the way the current policy and public management system operates
  • Broaden the values within the system to include the many dimensions of wellbeing and indigenous worldviews
  • Set long-term wellbeing objectives
  • Recognise the interests of future generations
  • Establish a social floor
• 5. Re-focus public accountability settings to activate a wellbeing approach
  • Accountability settings have a powerful influence over how the public management system operates
  • Aotearoa New Zealand lacks the checks and balances found in other democracies
  • There are three critical gaps in the design of our accountability system
  • These gaps arise from the interplay of features that strongly incentivise certain ways of working
  • Commission an independent, first-principles review of accountability settings, building on existing work
  • Progress more immediate public accountability policy work
  • Introduce legislation that imposes stronger accountability on ministers for addressing persistent disadvantage
  • Support more locally led, whānau-centred and centrally enabled ways of working
• 6. Enable a public management system that learns and empowers community voice
  • Current approaches to learning are not sufficient to drive improvement
  • Learning needs to be locally led, whānau-centred and centrally enabled
  • An ongoing focus on learning by doing and real-time feedback
  • Learning needs to happen at all levels of the public management system
  • A learning system can help the system focus on what matters to individuals, families, whānau, and communities
  • Actively involve whānau and communities in innovation, learning and policymaking
  • The learning system must enable two-way learning and accountability between communities and central government
  • Build stronger connections with communities
  • Create a leadership and stewardship function for learning in the public management system
  • Establish a government-wide learning policy
  • Invest in the capability and capacity of the learning system
  • Invest in data collection to allow wellbeing and disadvantage to be measured over the life course and between generations
• 7. Conclusions
  • Summary of recommendations
  • Suggested roadmap for implementing our recommendations
  • All findings and recommendations
• Commonly used terms
• Appendix A: Well-being for Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 – Further details
• Appendix B: Public consultation
• References