Legal lowdown newsletter#25 by Community Legal Services South Trust

ISSUE

COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES SOUTH TRUST

25 July 2015

LEGAL LOWDOWN

Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015

ANTI-CYBERBULLYING LAWS The

Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 (the Act) passed into law this month with the aim of deterring, preventing, and mitigating harm caused to individuals by digital communications and to provide victims of harmful digital communications with a quick and efficient means of redress. The Act also sets out 10 Communication Principles aimed at reducing cyberbullying that provide that a digital communication: Principle 1: should not disclose sensitive personal facts about an individual. Principle 2: should not be threatening, intimidating, or menacing. Principle 3: should not be grossly offensive to a reasonable person in the position of the affected individual. Principle 4: should not be indecent or obscene.

Principle 6: should not make a false allegation. Principle 7: should not contain a matter that is published in breach of confidence. Principle 8: should not incite or encourage anyone to send a message to an individual for the purpose of causing harm to the individual. Principle 9: should not incite or encourage an individual to commit suicide. Principle 10: should not denigrate an individual by reason of his or her colour, race, ethnic or national origins, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

The Act also imposes a maximum sentence of 2 years imprisonment or a $50,000 fine for breaching the new laws. For m ore in for m at io n www.cyberbullying.org.nz

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Principle 5: should not be used to harass an individual.

SAFETY LAWS Vulnerable Children

OUR CASEWORK

MAORI LEGAL NEWS Maori Language

PACIFIC ISSUES NZ Visa Applications1

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VULNERABLE CHILDREN

The Vulnerable Children (Requirements for Safety Checks of Children’s Workers) Regulations 2015 came into effect on 1 July 2015 as a result of reforms to the Vulnerable Children Act 2014. The new changes provide that all paid employees or contractors of Statefunded organisations, who will be working as a children’s worker, must complete safety –checks Children’s workers are “core workers” if they work alone with children or have primary responsibility for children. Core workers are subject to a

NEW SAFETY CHECKS FOR CHILDREN’S WORKERS

workforce restriction if they have specified convictions. The state-funded organisations that will be required to ensure their children’s workers are safety checked include schools, early childhood services, school bus services, public hospitals, medical practices belonging to primary health organisations, publically funded providers of social or support services, and providers of services approved under legislation to work with children. There will be a phasing of the safety checking requirements in over three to four years to give organisations time to have all of their children’s workforce checked:

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From 1 July 2015 new core children’s workers starting a job or con-

tract must be safety checked before they start work

 

From 1 July 2016 new non-core children’s workers starting a job or contract must be safety checked before they start work By 1 July 2018 existing children’s core workers (i.e., those currently employed, or engaged as a contractor) must have been safety

checked By 1 July 2019 all existing non-core children’s workers must have been be safety checked.

Who does not have to be safety checked Under the Vulnerable Children’s Act, the requirements don’t apply to volunteers, unless that unpaid work is part of an educational or vocational training course (e.g. a student teacher at a school as part of an education qualification). Organisations are still encouraged to safety check volunteers, but are not legally obligated to do so under the new regulations (although some organisations may need to do so because of other requirements – for example, as a condition of their contracts with government agencies). Businesses, unfunded non-government organisations, and voluntary organisations are also encouraged to voluntarily adopt the new standards. The regulations do not cover parents, guardians or people with care of a child receiving funding to secure regulated services for their child. An example of this is a parent employing a person to care for their disabled child with funding from the Ministry of Health. Local Government is not subject to the requirements until a later date (up to 1 July 2017). More information will be made available once decisions about the timing have been made. © CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966

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NGĀ TAKE MĀORI

Issues affecting Māori communities

TE WIKI O TE REO MĀORI KI CLSST

TE REO MĀORI IN LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

I tēnei marama, I whakanui tatou I te wiki o te reo Māori. I whakaritea e mātou, tētahi whakataetae reo Māori ki tō mātou tari, a, he ako I ngā kupu Māori te mahi. Ko ngā kupu I akona he kupu e pā ana ki ngā mahi ture me ngā mahi hāpori. Ko ngā aronga matua o te whakataetae nei, he whakatairanga I te reo I te wāhi mahi, ka tahi, he rongo-ā-taringa I te reo Māori e kōrerohia ana e te waha tauiwi, ka rua. I wikitōria I a Jonny Nu’u te whakataetae reo Māori, he whanaunga a Johnny no te motu o Hāmoa.

Te reo Māori in legal proceedings has come a long way since the Māori language became an official language of New Zealand. In this month’s Ngā Take Māori, we take a look at the status of te reo Māori in legal proceedings, today. In 1987, the Māori Language Act 1987 (“the Act”) was passed into law which had the effect of making the Māori Language an official language of New Zealand and establish Te Taurawhiri I te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission).

In 1988 the Act also provided the right for the following persons to speak te reo Māori in legal proceedings: (a) a member of the Court or Tribunal; and (b) any party or witness; and (c) any counsel; and (d) any other person with leave of the presiding officer.

In July 2012, an initiative of the District Courts Head of Bench saw the announcement of the opening, adjournment and closing announcements in all District, Family and Youth Courts being made in both te reo Māori and English.

From October 2013, by direction of the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief High Court Judge the opening , adjournment and closing of sessions in all Photograph: Johnny Nu’u, winner of our in-house Māori language competition:

higher Courts were and continue to be conducted in both te reo Māori and English.

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PASEFIKA ISSUES HEALTH INFORMATION FOR NZ VISA APPLICANTS

Panel Physicians will now be required to process health examinations online and grade the health examination with: (a) “A” where there is no significant medical history or abnormal findings present or (b) “B” where there is significant medical history or abnormal findings present. A grading does not determine whether a person meets the health requirements. That determination is made by an immigration officer who may refer the medical certificate to a medical assessor. The approval process usually will take about 6-8 weeks. A list of approved panel physicians can be found via the INZ website. A list of countries in which eMedical is now available can be found here. There are also a number of countries that have been confirmed as part of the panel physician network, however eMedical will not be made available. These countries include Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati and Tuvalu. A full list of these countries can be found here

Koe konga eni ‘oe mau “newsletter” ‘oku lave atu ia ki he ngaahi ongoonogo moe ngaahi isiu fakalao fekau’aki moe kakai pasifiki. Koe mahina ni ‘oku mau vakai’i ‘a e founga fo’ou ‘oku fakahoko he Immigration New Zealand fekau ‘aki moe ngaahi sivi mo’ui lelei. This part of our newsletter covers legal issues regarding people from the pacific. This month we are looking at the new process whereby INZ deals with medical examinations.

For applicants with a history of tuberculosis (TB) it is likely that a referral to an Immigration New Zealand medical assessor will be necessary. In these circumstances, applicants should provide all medical documents of past diagnosis and treatment.

In order to apply for a New Zealand Visa, the person applying must have an acceptable standard of health whereby they are: (a) unlikely to be a danger to public health; and (b) unlikely to impose significant costs or demands on New Zealand’s health service or special education services; and

If a decision is made that a person does not have a sufficient standard of health then the visa application will be declined unless a medical waiver is granted by INZ. INZ will only consider medical waivers for residence class visa application if the applicant meets all the other requirements of the visa application. INZ will only consider medical waivers for temporary class visas if the applicant meets all the other requirements of the visa application and:

(c) Able to perform the functions of the visa for which they have been granted Applicants may also be required to provide medical and chest X-ray certificates to establish they are of an acceptable standard of health. If an applicant does require a medical and chest x-ray certificate then they must see an approved panel physician

(a) is the partner or dependent child of a New Zealand citizen or residence class visa holder, or (b) Has applied for a temporary visa as a seconded businessperson, or

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) have entered into a partnership with Australia’s Department of Immigration and Boarder Protection (DIBP) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada in the use of eMedical, an online immigration health processing platform.

(c) has been recognised as having refugee or protection status in New Zealand. For more information, please see the INZ website (link) Source: Immigration New Zealand

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Legal Education

UPCOMING SESSIONS

Legal Education STATS

LEGAL EDUCATION Our legal education sessions are part of our preventative services which aim to reduce the number of legal disputes occurring in our communities. Through our legal education services, we seek to inform, and educate the community on their legal rights and responsibilities in relation to various legal topics. It is also an opportunity for individuals to ask questions about specific areas of law they may not understand. For more information on our Legal Education sessions visit the education tab on our website to download/view our education booklet or contact us on (09) 274 4966

#top3

education sessions #1 NZ Legal Systems

Legal Services

ON AIR We currently have 2 on-air legal information slots which are part of our preventative services. We provide these services every Wednesday. Each week we look at a different area of law. The details of our on-air services are as follows:

#2 Employment Law

Planet FM: Kiribati Voice, from 1:00pm

Radio 531pi: Pacific Drive Time, from 2:00pm

Family Law

To listen to our on-air services, tune in, live via the links below:

ÂŠ CLSST, 2015 - (09) 274 4966

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MAORI LAND CLINIC

FREE MAORI LAND ADVICE

A free Māori Land Advisory Clinic provided in partnership with the Te Mata Law, Bennion Law and Manurewa Marae, (First Wednesday of every month - by appointment only). Below are the dates for the 2015 Māori Land Advisory Clinics:

TE MATA LAW:

BENNION LAW:

5 August 2015 7 October 2015

2 September 2015 4 November 2015

CLINIC DETAILS: Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave MANUREWA 30mins appointments from 10am -1pm

For more information or to book an appointment (with a lawyer) contact Wi Pere Mita: (09) 274 4966 or wipere.mita@clsstlaw.com

OUTREACH CLINICS: Our Community Otara CLSST Office 120 Bairds Road Otara

Manukau Salvation Army 16B Bakerfield Place Manukau

Papakura Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau 4a Opaheke Road Papakura

Appointments available: Monday – Friday

Appointments available: Monday-Friday

Appointments available: Thursday

Pukekohe 6A Rouslton Street Pukekohe

Manurewa Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Tuesday

Appointments available: Wednesday