62 S e cti o n One – General Central and local government A number of government departments focus on specific aspects of race relations, Indigenous peoples, minority rights and cultural diversity. They are the Ministry of Mäori Development (Te Puni Kökiri), the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, the Office of Ethnic Affairs, the Office of Treaty Settlements and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. All public agencies have a responsibility to ensure equitable access to their services and to address inequalities, their communities; and to ensure that Mäori are able to contribute to the decision-making process. Councils are required to develop long-term community outcomes and have a community plan for their implementation. Local authorities also have significant responsibilities in relation to Mäori under the Resource Management Act 1991. Many councils have well-established relationships with local iwi, hapü and whänau, and some also with Pacific and other ethnic groups. and there are many agency strategies and policies to give Civil society effect to this responsibility. A telephone interpretation A range of organisations that represent different ethnic communities take an active role in the wider community. Such organisations include both iwi (particularly postsettlement groups such as Te Rünanga o Ngäi Tahu) and pan-Mäori institutions (such as the New Zealand Mäori Council), and organisations representing most ethnic communities, such as the New Zealand Chinese Association, the Indian Central Association and the Samoan Advisory Council. While many of these organisations work hard to promote and celebrate diversity, they focus less on underlying race relations principles. One example of an organisation whose role is to foster relationships between communities is the Federation of Multicultural Councils, which acts as a national umbrella organisation for the ethnic communities of New Zealand. The federation’s primary purpose is to advocate, lobby, support and share information among the regional councils and New Zealand’s ethnic communities. The federation aims to provide an opportunity for people from all segments of New Zealand’s diverse society to address the challenges facing our multicultural communities. 13 service for government agencies, Language Line, was established by the Office of Ethnic Affairs in 2003. The Government has policy frameworks to meet the needs of ethnic communities 11 (Office of Ethnic Affairs, 2002) and to address responsiveness to Mäori and Pacific peoples. Key social and economic policy ministries with a particular responsibility for reducing disparities include the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Building and Housing, the Department of Labour, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economic Development. The New Zealand Police also have specific strategies for Mäori, Pacific and ethnic communities. The State Services Commission (SSC) has responsibility for ensuring that government departments meet their obligations under the State Sector Act 1988 regarding equal employment opportunities (EEO). In 2008, under section 6 of the act, the SSC launched Equality and Diversity, the new EEO policy for the public service. Applying to all departments in the public service, the economic, environmental and cultural well-being of The New Zealand Diversity Action Programme (NZDAP) provides a mechanism through which community organisations who seek to enhance their diversity capability and foster harmonious race relations can take action. The programme started from community reaction to the desecration of Jewish gravestones in two Wellington cemeteries in July and August 2004. The sixth anniversary of the NZDAP was marked at the Diversity Forum in their communities; to have regard to the diversity of Christchurch in August 2010. policy is aimed at basing appointments on merit while recognising the employment aspirations of Mäori, ethnic and minority groups, women, and people with disabilities.12 Local authorities are required, under the Local Government Act 2002, to promote the social, 11 Office of Ethnic Affairs (2002), ‘Ethnic Perspectives in Policy: Helping ethnic people be seen, heard, included and accepted.’ Accessed 23 June 2004 from http://www.ethnicaffairs.govt.nz/oeawebsite.nsf/Files/EthnicPerspectivesPolicyPartOne/$fileEthnicPerspectivesPolicyPartOne.PDF 12 State Services Commission, ‘Equality and Diversity: New Zealand Public Service Equal Employment Opportunities Policy.’ Accessed 6 May 2010 from http://www.ssc.govt.nz/display/document.asp?DocID=6908. 13 See New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils website, accessible online at http://www.nzfec.org.nz/page/about-us.aspx