Auditor General’s immigration report a wake-up call
The Auditor General’s report on Immigration New Zealand’s role in supporting new migrants to settle and work is a
wake-up call for Immigration New Zealand, according to Multicultural New Zealand, the Federation of Multicultural
Councils.
The report finds serious shortcomings in the governance of the government’s settlement strategy, a lack of cooperation
between government agencies, inadequate use of existing resources, insufficient monitoring, and poor evaluation and
monitoring frameworks.
It says that Immigration New Zealand has “narrowly interpreted its role in coordinating the governance of settlement
support throughout government” and sees this as a “missed opportunity.”
The report recommends an improved settlement governance structure and approach, better coordination of government
agencies involved in settlement support, monitoring and review of the governance structure, and better evaluation and
monitoring frameworks and outcome reporting.
It calls for continued improvement in the information provided to potential migrants, better targeting of resources to
overcome known barriers to employment, and the extension of services such as job search and English language training to
secondary skilled migrants and temporary work visa holders.
“Multicultural New Zealand welcomes the Auditor General’s report and calls on Government to implement the
recommendations in the time frames proposed” President Tayo Agunlejika says. “We are particularly pleased that the needs
of secondary skilled workers (family of the principal applicant) and workers on temporary permits are recognised.”
Mr Agunlejika also welcomed the call for a greater focus on leadership of the Settlement Strategy and coordination of
the contributions from various government agencies. “The government’s settlement strategy and the Auckland and
Wellington regional strategies were introduced some years ago with a lot of fanfare, but commitment to them is shown to
have lagged over the years. There is a need for renewed effort with an updated strategy and clear leadership” he said.
“Our constituent multicultural councils have been concerned at the reduction in settlement support services at the local
level, such as cutbacks to the Settling In Programme operated by MSD’s Family and Community Services, and planned
changes to local settlement support services provided by Immigration New Zealand. These tend to reduce the resources
available to local communities to support not just employment outcomes but also social outcomes for new migrants in
terms of participation in the community.”
“It is vital that regional settlement strategies are developed for all regions in addition to refreshing the national
strategy and Auckland and Wellington regional strategies, so that coordinated services are available in local
communities.”
Read the full report here: http://www.oag.govt.nz/2013/new-migrants
ENDS