Geoff Lewis, Inquiry Director at the New Zealand Productivity Commission for its recent inquiry into More Effective Social Services, was a speaker on day one of the TacklingPovertyNZ workshop. You can view this presentation on our YouTube channel or play below.
Geoff shared the conclusions from the More Effective Social Services report and his presentation explained what he thought the report offers in regard to tackling poverty. His presentation offered a broad, system-wide approach to tackling poverty. Geoff explained how the current silo structure of the social services system works against effective integration. To overcome this he suggested a new architecture of the system is needed before integration of departments and social services can be effective. Geoff also asserted that the system needs to be able to learn and adapt, and to encourage refinement and extension of the Ministry of Social Development’s investment approach.
About TackingPovertyNZ
The TacklingPovertyNZ workshop brought together 36 young New Zealanders between the ages 18 and 25 to prepare a youth perspective on the issue of poverty in New Zealand and how we might, as a country, go about tackling it. Participants spent most of their 72 hours in Wellington working hard at Treasury, in order to present their findings to MPs and other guests at the finale at Parliament on Wednesday, 9 December 2015. Every year, the McGuinness Institute has worked in collaboration with the New Zealand Treasury to create a place for young New Zealanders to explore complex public policy issues together. The workshops have always proved exciting, enjoyable and insightful. The McGuinness Institute would particularly like to thank the staff at the New Zealand Treasury for their continued support and encouragement. This initiative is ongoing and we will be releasing further developments in the next few weeks on the TacklingPovertyNZ website.