Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, June 19, 2023
Police have welcomed Te Pae Oranga, to Raahui Pookeka Huntly, where panels will run at Waahi Pā Marae through the existing partnership with Te Kōhao Health.
Te Pae Oranga means to talk, listen and become well. It uses tikanga and kaupapa Māori and restorative justice practices. Delivered in partnership between Iwi Māori and New Zealand Police, it is a supported ‘resolution option’ that the Police can use to respond to offending, as an alternative to court. It has proved to be a successful way of responding to offending that helps people in trouble to turn their lives around and it is now expanding to help more communities in the Waikato region.
Te Pae Oranga is supported by Māori leaders across Aotearoa, including the Māori King, Te Kiingi Tuuheitia Te Wherowhero VII, who is the programme’s patron.
A key feature is the panels of local community leaders who have valuable knowledge and experience. They support participants (people who have offended) to make a plan to put things right. Those plans include actions that participants must complete and conditions they must follow.
Transformative approach
Police rules state that any offences referred to Te Pae Oranga must carry a maximum sentence of six months or less.
The panel processes hold people to account for offending while being responsive, restorative, and fair. It is available to all people, from all ethnicities, and from all walks of life.
As well as looking at what happened when someone has offended, Te Pae Oranga looks at why and what is going on in people’s lives. That way, the panel can connect them to the right kind of services and support.
Wallace Haumaha, Deputy Commissioner for Iwi and Communities, said “Te Pae Oranga can be transformative, helping victims and offenders to tell their story, and to start along a restorative pathway. The approach supports system-wide efforts to reduce offending and victimisation and improve social wellbeing and outcomes for all.”
“Te Pae Oranga is led by Iwi Māori expertise, wisdom, and knowledge within the local community setting to make sustainable differences for their people and all peoples,” Deputy Commissioner Haumaha said.
Encouraging statistics
Over 17,000 referrals have been made to Te Pae Oranga since October 2017. In the last year on average, 65% of those who have been referred have completed their accountability plans set by the panels to support putting things right and addressing the cause of their offending.
There are now 23 Te Pae Oranga panel providers, with plans to grow to 30 adult sites, with 12 Te Pae Oranga Rangatahi sites.
Waikato District Area Commander, Inspector Will Loughrin, said, ” We have long seen that the standard approach does not work for everyone and growing the reach of Te Pae Oranga in Waikato will support Police mahi to prevent crime and reduce harm.”
“Attending the main panel hui can be difficult and confronting. It is a chance to take responsibility for actions, hear the victim’s voice, make positive change, and have a second chance to move away from the justice system with the support of the community.”
“We have seen participants reconnecting with their whakapapa and cultural heritage, find employment, complete community work, gain driver’s licences, and access healthcare and drug and alcohol services they may not have been able to do in the past.”
“This leads to better outcomes for whānau and our communities”, Inspector Loughrin said.
The history of Te Pae Oranga
Te Pae Oranga began in 2013 when panels were established in the Hutt Valley, Gisborne and Manukau. They applied a more Māori framework to the community justice panel approach piloted in Christchurch from 2010 onwards.
The panels were previously known as Iwi Community Panels or Community Justice Panels, before being gifted the name Te Pae Oranga in 2018.
There are currently panels in 22 other locations: Moerewa, Kaitaia, Whangārei and Kaipara; Waitematā, Auckland City, Papakura, Māngere, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatane, Gisborne, Hastings, Taranaki, Palmerston North, Masterton, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.
For more details watch the video here.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
