Wellington Multicultural Services Centre (Wellington)

I have been looking forward to this visit hosted by the ChangeMakers Refugee Forum as an excellent opportunity for me to see at first hand, the change you want to see in the world.

As I understand the aim of your group, the focus is on encouraging active citizenship through ‘learning friendships' - the type of personal engagement that makes change possible.

Through such friendships, you are creating a learning community.

Evidence of such a community is seen in the fact that this centre is home not only to the Changemakers refugee forum, but also to Multicultural Learning and Support Services; ESOL Home Tutors; Interpreting Wellington; Refugee Services Aotearoa New Zealand and Refugees as Survivors.

Together these six groups help to provide assistance with employment skills; career coaching; counseling; communication and all sorts of other services which enhance refugee health and wellbeing.

It is about joining up communities; finding your own local solutions and developing a shared voice to represent refugee communities throughout New Zealand.

And so it is a perfect setting in which to launch the evaluation of the Settling in Programme.

The Settling in Programme has always operated from the premise that social services for refugee and migrant communities must fit the needs of those communities themselves - not the funder or the social service agency.

The programme runs along the lines of being ‘strengths-based' and is strongly collaborative.  By that we mean that refugee and migrant communities themselves identify the social issues that they see must be addressed.  It's about listening; working together; and building on each others strengths.

In each region a co-ordinator is employed to work with refugee and migrant communities and to act as an intermediary with the host community.

As would be expected the range of needs to be met are as wide and diverse as the communities themselves.  As examples, there are:

• Supporting lifeline services in Arabic, Burmese, Dari and Farsi languages;


• Establishing Newcomers Networks in Whakatane and Motueka;


• Support groups for older people;


• Workshops on parenting within the New Zealand context and preventing family violence;


• Playgroups;


• And leadership forums for women.

Settling in has been operating now since 2004 and it was considered a good time to evaluate the programme.

Settling in reaches right throughout Aotearoa - there are programmes in Auckland, Hamilton, Hawkes Bay, Palmerston North, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson/Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Ashburton and Christchurch.

This in itself, is one of the great challenges of the programme.

The evaluation found that the large geographical regions that the staff are responsible for creates enormous pressures with a need to stretch resources and an almost impossibly large workload.

This is a scenario I can relate to, from my position as a Maori electorate MP. 

The seven Maori electorate MPs have to cover the same geographical regions as the 63 general electorate MPs so we are well used to having to be very creative with the ways in which we can stretch across vast areas of land.

Despite all odds, the evaluation found that Settling In is contributing to the achievement of an impressive range of outcomes, including health and wellbeing, social connectivity, host community relationships and settled family lives.

And I want to particularly commend those involved for ‘sticking to your knitting' - that is, remaining singularly focused on the strengths of your communities and safeguarding that precious flexibility to respond to the specific needs of these communities.

I am aware that for some stakeholders, such an approach may have created tensions, in that there wasn't a pre-prescribed work programme to work from.

But I say to you, well done, for being of your community, for your community, about your community.

I am really pleased that Settling in has been so successful and I know that such success is due in no small part, to the commitment and the belief of the staff who support this programme.  

It is also about the holistic approach that is taken to meet all the needs of the refugee and  migrant community - bringing the services to them, trying to ensure that collaboration and cooperation will achieve what we might call a seamless service.

I understand that this is one of the key issues arising out of the evaluation.  The resource levels of just $500,000 per year are really tight and I know there is a high level of demand across your communities for the services.

So there is a real need to ensure any doubling up of services is reduced and overlap avoided.  It might be that in future you want to explore further the possibilities of joint ventures with local government or small businesses in order to make the funding stretch as far as possible.

I am aware that the evaluation also pointed to the need for a monitoring and reporting framework and I believe this could be useful for ensuring you have a way of measuring the progress you have made in achieving the outcomes and aspirations of your peoples.

Finally, I want to commend all of those involved with Settling In, and in particular the excellent work that is being undertaken here at the Wellington Multicultural Services Centre for meeting what I might best describe as the protocols of engagement.

You may be aware that in Te Ao Maori, a key protocol for building a relationship is that of the powhiri.

During the process of powhiri the visitors will acknowledge the people of the hau kainga, iwi, hapu as a mark of respect to their sacred land and landmarks.

It also honours them as ahi kaaroa, the keepers of the home fire.  Within the process we will also acknowledge those that have departed as a memorial to the past, present and we might speak to the kaupapa, the key reason we are gathering.

The hosts welcome them to their sacred territory and acknowledge the different people that form the visiting group.

In many ways, this is what settling in, is all about.  It is about acknowledging the communities that comprise the refugee and migrant populations. 

It acknowledges the influence of the people and the cultures that each call home; and it also extends the hand of welcome.  It puts communities in touch with agencies to deliver their own programmes to meet their own needs.

And we hope through extending the hand of welcome, the health and wellbeing of the refugee and migrant communities will be protected; social relationships will develop, and there will be confidence for all in operating within the New Zealand context.

I am delighted to release this very positive evaluation for Settling in; to commend all the communities and agencies for the success to date, and to wish you all well in continuing to meet the needs of your people.

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