38 H U M A N R I G H T S COMMISSION | A FAIR GO FOR ALL? • one Pacific Focus Unit, with a similar approach to The Pacific Advisory Group (PAG) that developed Nga Vaka the Mäori Focus Units, discussed in the case-study o Käiga Tapu, a Pacific framework for addressing family following this section, has been established at Spring violence, reached similar conclusions. In particular, they Hill Correctional Facility. Named Vaka Fa’aola, the recommended increasing ethnic workforce capability unit is supported by the local Pacific communities and and capacity amongst practitioners and service providers prisoners must agree to a set of obligations before they (including both linguistic and cultural capability), and using a are accepted180 strengths-based, rather than deficit-based, approach. While • the Pacific Focus Unit includes the Saili Matagi Violence Prevention Programme. The Saili Matagi therapeutic approach incorporates Pasifika Matua within the delivery of group work sessions to transfer the cultural values, emphasising conceptual similarities, the PAG were careful to distinguish concepts between Pacific communities and developed seven overlapping, but different, frameworks for Pacific communities.185 beliefs and concepts that are familiar to men of Pasifika The Ministry of Justice concluded that a policy framework cultures.181 to address ethnic inequalities in the justice system should While these are welcome developments, a much more thorough evidence base needs to be developed to better include: • responses directed towards reducing ethnic minority and/ understand the relationship between different Pacific or indigenous offending and re-offending, including a communities and the criminal justice system. Statistics broader focus on addressing the structural inequalities already suggest that there need to be different priorities that contribute to differential offending rates for Mäori and Pacific services and programmes, and further community-led research could better determine how those services and programmes could be developed. Recent research commissioned by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs on Pacific pathways to the prevention of sexual violence (2011),182 and community-led initiatives, such as the Nga Vaka o Käiga Tapu (2012) Pacific framework developed to address family violence, are steps in the right direction.183 Developing successful responses to structural discrimination In 2009 the Ministry of Justice published a literature review on bias in the justice system. The report found that although more research and evaluation is needed, features of successful responses include: • including ethnic minority and/or indigenous peoples as a central role in programme design, implementation and governance • adopting a holistic approach, looking beyond the remit • process-orientated responses aimed at enhancing cultural understanding and responsiveness within the justice sector, increasing the positive participation of indigenous and ethnic-minority people within the system, and increasing government accountability through the monitoring and publication of information related to rates of ethnic over-representation • policy-level responses that identify and seek to correct the disproportionate impact of neutral laws, structures, processes, and decision making criteria on particular ethnic-minority groups.186 The Commission believes that a comprehensive approach to addressing ethnic disparities in the justice system must address systemic bias and structurally discriminatory practices. There is, however, no ‘quick fix’ for improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system and addressing the underlying causes of the disproportionate representation of Mäori and Pacific peoples in prisons. In addition to central of the criminal justice system to address structural government intervention and leadership in addressing inequalities more broadly systemic bias, local government and community groups • incorporating appropriate cultural components.184 have crucial roles in preventing crime through encouraging strong parenting models, positive peer group interactions, providing support to at risk families and building communities’ ability to raise neighbourhood consciousness and address local conditions.