Releases

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley have today announced two new Auckland jobs and skills hubs as part of the latest update of the Skilled and Safe Workplaces chapter of the Business Growth Agenda. “I am pleased to announce new jobs and skills hubs at both the Wynyard Quarter and Tamaki, which will give young people a pathway to employment in the construction sector, as well as on-site numeracy, literacy and practical skills training,” Mr Joyce says.

Justice Minister Amy Adams and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say that a comprehensive information sharing framework is to be created to keep vulnerable children and young people safe from harm, as part of the radical overhaul of care and protection. ...

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that the first stage of major state care reforms has passed its second reading in Parliament. As part of the radical overhaul of care and protection, the first raft of legislative changes in the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Advocacy, Workforce and Age Settings) Amendment Bill will: ...

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the latest Better Public Services update shows the number of working age people on a main benefit fell to 279,769 at the end of March 2016, and has reduced the future liability to the benefit system and taxpayers by $3.6 billion. “As part of this Government’s Better Public Service targets, we are working to help more families be independent of welfare and reduce the future costs of long-term benefit dependence,” Mrs Tolley says.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Acting Youth Minister Anne Tolley say young people will be recruited to help raise awareness of rheumatic fever amongst their peers. “Rheumatic fever is a serious but preventable disease. Children and young people from Maori and Pacific communities are the most vulnerable,” Dr Coleman says. “To further help raise awareness about the disease we’re going to recruit and train around 100 young people, mainly Maori and Pacific aged between 11 and 19 years, to talk about how to prevent rheumatic fever.