October 2007 - Deborah Morris-Travers

One of my major focuses in October was on the changes required to the Every Child Counts website. I met with the web designer in Auckland to discuss the look and functionality requirements for the site.

While in Auckland I also met with other people who are interested in what the government is doing to support families. Building networks and understanding what other organisations' concerns are is a necessary part of my work.

In preparation for 2008, we have started talking to economists about what it costs the nation if we leave children on the margins of society; in poverty, abused, neglected, and not thriving. During October, we worked on the development of a terms of reference for this work.

17 October was International Anti-Poverty Day and I prepared a media statement for Every Child Counts to comment on the levels of child poverty in New Zealand. This resulted in a radio interview in which I discussed the impact of poverty on children and what needs to be done to reduce child poverty.

Political parties have started developing their policies for 2008 and in October I drafted comprehensive feedback on the draft policies of one of the political parties.

I also drafted a submission on the Family Court Matters Bill, advocating for children's needs to be central to the considerations of whether proceedings should be public. We also called for children to be enabled to participate in decisions about their care following a family break-up.

In October I participated in meetings with the Families Commission to contribute to the development of the programme for their conference in late 2008.

I was also preparing for my attendance at the Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect on the Gold Coast in Australia, in November. I was preparing to co-present a workshop on the role of Non-governmental Organisations in the campaign to repeal New Zealand's corporal punishment laws (Section 59 of the Crimes Act).

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