Pages tagged “PWC”

  • Submissions update: hot off the press

    There's been a massive effort from all those involved in the submissions process resulting in five submissions lodged this month. These are publically available on the NCWNZ website at Submissions - National Council of Women of New Zealand. Deepfake Digital Harm & Exploitation Bill - S26.07_Deepfake_Digital_Harm_and_Exploitation_Bill_.pdf . Online safety, including safety for women and children, is a key concern for NCWNZ members. The Bill is too narrow in scope and will merely amend a broken legislative and regulatory environment. There are...

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    2 July 2026

  • UN Special Rapporteur Consultation on Violence Against Older Women

    On Thursday May 14th, I had the honour of attending one of three sessions moderated by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem to consult on assessment, prevention and protection of violence against older women. The sessions were intended as a follow-up to the written submission process in April this year to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Violence Against Older Women, in which NCWNZ participated. Each session was three hours, involving different...

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    22 May 2026

  • Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill

    The Health Select Committee has now reported back on the Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill. Overall, the Bill represents a significant improvement, and many of NCWNZ’s concerns, outlined in our submission on 16 September 2024 (.pdf file, S24.15, on the NCWNZ website), have been addressed in some form. In particular, the strengthening of the rights and interests of children born through surrogacy is welcome. However, protections for surrogate mothers have been addressed less comprehensively. Below is a series of topics...

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    15 April 2026

  • Update from Parliamentary Watch Committee

    PWC has been working at pace this calendar year coordinating the NWCNZ submissions process: researching opportunities, distributing Action Items, editing and lodging written submissions, and supporting oral submissions. As I type this update the 20th written submission for 2025 is in progress, with the Education Action Hub responding to the Proposal to replace NCEA. NCWNZ submissions are made publically available on our website, see Submissions - National Council of Women of New Zealand. In addition, our oral submissions will total...

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    1 September 2025

  • Threats to pay equity in Aotearoa New Zealand – NCWNZ responses

    Rosemary Du Plessis – on presenting to the People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity I presented the NCWNZ oral submission during the third hearing of the Committee on Monday 25 August, as lead writer Irene Ryan was unavailable. Although actively involved in the full submission, coordinating the Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch response and as an Economic Independence Action Hub member, it was a bit daunting to present to such a high-powered set of women, and to condense our key points to...

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    1 September 2025

  • Update on NCWNZ submissions

    It's been a busy few months in the lead up to, and during the holidays period, with submissions including the Mental Health Bill and Evidence of Family Violence Bill. The pace has continued with eight submissions completed in 2025 to date: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill - written and oral submissions Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill - written and oral submissions Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Bill Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay)...

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    25 February 2025

  • A NCWNZ development opportunity for writers

    Submissions are one of the ways NCWNZ works to inform and influence law and policy. They represent the views of our members, and require a collective and collaborative effort. We need to grow our writing team to sustain this important mahi. You may be a subject matter expert or have a broad interest in gender equality. You need an ability to analyse and present complex information in accessible language, to be collaborative and have great time management. The training will...

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    25 February 2025

  • Submissions on Stalking and Harassment Bill by Auckland Coalition and NCWNZ

    The Auckland Coalition for the Safety of Women and Children - established in 2006 and including the NCWNZ Auckland branch among its members - has been lobbying for many years to amend the Crimes Act legislation. The Coalition has been consulted several times by Ministry staff and MPs have visited them in person. A draft bill, written in most part by Coalition members Alison Towns and Carrie Leonetti, Associate Professor of Law. Many drafts were reviewed by members of the Coalition...

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    23 February 2025

  • NCWNZ at UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day

    Photo from Wikipedia of Soviet Union Red Army soldiers talking to the children just liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp in January 1945. The boy on the left was telling the soldiers how to identify the surviving Nazi guards hiding in prisoner clothes. Nazis had swastikas tattooed under their left armpits. In 2005 the United Nations designated January 27th the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp and crematoria as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Since then,...

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    9 February 2024

  • NCWNZ oral submission to expand laws supporting victims of family violence

    On 1 February 2024, Bernice Williams of the NCWNZ Health, Safety & Wellbeing Action Hub presented an oral submission to the Parliament's Justice Committee | Komiti Take Ture who are working on expanding the courts' power to better protect the victims of family violence in Legislation Bill 285-1. The members of the Justice Committee who heard the submission were: James Meager (Chair, National); Todd Stephenson (ACT); Marama Davidson (Green); Ginny Anderson (Labour); Dr Duncan Webb (Labour); and, Tracey McLellan (Labour). The recording with...

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    7 February 2024