The concept of government departments working with community groups to improve the wellbeing of children and families would appear to be common sense.
But Michael Naughton, an Australian public servant who has helped the state of Victoria do just that with impressive results, says working together is not as easy as it sounds.
"A former boss of mine . . . used to say working together is rocket science.
"It is difficult, it takes time, you have to work with a range of stakeholders of various capacities, you have to deal with conflicts, you have to be respectful of each other's views, you can't rush it, and you have to create a sustainable, lasting relationship."
Mr Naughton, the assistant director of Victoria's child protection operations, was a keynote speaker at the Social Service Providers Aotearoa national conference being held in Dunedin yesterday and today.
Victoria has similarities to New Zealand, with a population of 5.2 million and a significant overrepresentation of indigenous children coming to the attention of child, youth and family services.
Major reforms had been introduced in Victoria since 2002 to try to halt the rapid growth in the number of people approaching the department about children believed to be at risk, Mr Naughton said.
In the late 1980s, his department dealt with 15,000 notifications annually; by 2002, the number had risen to 35,000.
The reforms included rewriting legislation, setting up 24 specialist child-welfare teams, pouring money into community organisations dealing with families, building up Aboriginal-led health and welfare bodies, and enabling every 4-year-old to attend preschool.
Thirty child-protection officers had been assigned to community organisations where their role was to listen, advise and encourage.
Mr Naughton said while notifications had continued to climb in Australia's other states, they had remained near 2002 levels in Victoria.
New Zealand also realised no agency could "do it alone" when it came to improving the wellbeing of children and families at risk, Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson told the 120 delegates at the conference yesterday.
In recent years, the Child, Youth and Family department had been merged into the Ministry of Social Development and the Government had launched its Pathways to Partnership initiative which promised $446 million through four years to 802 community-based organisations providing child, youth and family services, she said.
"But what's the catch? There is only one. Pathways to Partnership isn't just about making more money available; it's also about getting better results. [It] will demand that we all focus more on achieving outcomes and less on outputs or programmes.
"It will demand that organisations work together to reduce duplication, share ideas about what works and get more resources into what really makes a difference."
