Jacqui Southey: Save the Children Advocacy Director on OT makes privacy breaches

Save the Children says Oranga Tamariki needs to step up communication in the name of trust, so they can do their job.  

A newly released review has highlighted nine representative privacy breaches, with at least one leading to a mother being abused after her address was shared to her child's father.  

Save the Children Advocacy Director Jacqui Southey told Andrew Dickens if the public don't trust the agency, they'll struggle to receive the reports they need to work effectively.   

Southey says it cannot be underestimated how critical it is for them to step up and communicate how they're rectifying this and making the changes people want to see. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alan A Tamariki. They have still not fixed systems that
led to privacy breaches so serious that in at least
one case, a breach led to a woman being physically abused.
A recently made public review of OT's approach to privacy
found the organization has just been too casual with sensitive data.
In one case, there was a social worker who gave

(00:21):
the address of a child and their mother to the
child's father. The father was on bail at the time,
and he was on bail for rape charges. He should
never know that stuff. Jackie Soalthy is with the Child
Rights advocacy and research director it saved the children and
joins you now good mording to dear Jackie Andrew, why
can't this agency ever get it together?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, the privacy breaches that you've described are incredibly serious
and unacceptable by any measure, and we're very concerned that
there are continued examples and that the report that they
public does describe a plan that has been put together,
but we'd like to understand more about how that plan

(01:06):
is progressing and the way that it will support children
and filo to greater safety within the Au Tamabeti system.
The report shows that the breaches absolutely fail to uphold
children's rights to privacy and protection under the Convention of
the Rights of the Child, and unfortunately, children's privacy can
be seen as a secondary or secondary rights with the

(01:28):
discretion of adults, when in fact children are clearly accorded
their rights to privacy. They should be understood, respected and
ure held across the order in a tammidei system.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
You say they have a plan, but they won't tell
us about the plan. Do they even want to? I mean,
this review was completed eleven months ago and the media
has been pestering for its release the whole time through
the Official Information Act. They to me just don't seem
to want to be accountable.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, I guess it's a difficult situation where sensitive information
is being shared publicly. And one of the problems when
these sorts of issues and I guess misconduct or greatest
breaches come to light is it takes where public trust
in government agencies such as aug tamodiki. And this is

(02:13):
incredibly important because if the public don't have trust in
auto Tamidiki, there's a struggle to for it to work effectively,
and that is to receive complaints of concern and the
trust that they'll be acted on appropriately and that children
and fina will be protected in their system. So it's
really important. It cannot be underestimated how critical it is
that they step up and really communicate how what they're

(02:36):
doing to rectify these issues and make the changes we
want to see.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
I wonder whether they've even got our trust at all.
I mean there's been review after review, there's been report
after report, there's been outrage after outrage, and you know,
changes and plans and we don't get to hear about it.
Do you think they'll ever get round to it.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, it's essential that they do because they are the
government agency that is tasked it's one of the most
critical areas, and child protection the most critical area in
child protection. They are absolutely tasked with upholding the safety,
the rights of protection, and the futures of children and
families in incredibly fragile and vulnerable situations. We need this
agency to do well, to function effectively and to protect

(03:16):
our children.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Jackie Salley, I thank you so much for your advocacy.
Jackie's from Save the Children and a child rights advocacy
and research director.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
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