Look past rights, says trust head

It is as important for parents to understand their responsibilities to children as it is to understand their rights, says a support service head.

Family Help Trust chairwoman Sally Thompson was speaking after yesterday's issue of the first report on human rights in New Zealand, which found children and young people were most at risk of human rights abuses.

Highlighting children's rights without looking at parental responsibility sent an incomplete message, Mrs Thompson said.

"When parents understand they have responsibilities - and perhaps more importantly how to meet those responsibilities to the best of their ability - that's when we start to see an improvement in our children's lives."

The report said almost one in three children and young people lived in poverty, and New Zealand had the fifth-highest rate of child deaths from maltreatment in the 30-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.


Changing this could be done "only by instilling a sense of pride and responsibility in parents, with the skills and knowledge needed to provide a better future for their children".

However, it would take more than benefits to solve the problem.

More than 5000 New Zealanders contributed to the report, Human Rights in New Zealand Today.

Chief Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan said that, overall, New Zealand met international rights standards and even set standards,

"The country can take pride in its achievements but there are some critical areas where we are failing."

Among the most pressing issues were violence and poverty affecting children and young people.

"Violence, bullying and harassment represent the most flagrant human rights abuses, and are present in too many New Zealand homes, schools, workplaces, playgrounds and playing fields."

Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro, whose office wrote the children's and young people's part of the report, said: "If we can get it right for this country's children, we will have succeeded in getting it right for all New Zealanders."

New Zealanders thought human rights were important but most people, including public officials, had limited knowledge about human rights in a formal sense.

"However, New Zealanders do value fairness, which is often expressed in terms of giving people a fair go," Ms Noonan said.

The report said New Zealand had the elements needed to protect human rights. These included democracy, rule of law and an independent judiciary free of corruption, effective government structures, processes for monitoring human rights and other forms of accountability and recognition of the vulnerability of individuals.

The most pressing issues to emerge from the report included poverty and abuse experienced by children, barriers to disabled people and the vulnerability to abuse of people in detention and institutional care.

- NZPA