Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:606;Page:3562] 
8.  
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Social Services and Employment 
: Are young people aged 16 and 17 who have no support from family or partners eligible for unemployment or sickness benefits; if not is he concerned that such people may be at risk of turning to activities such as prostitution to make ends meet? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Social Services and Employment) 
: 
 Young people aged 16 and 17 who have no support from their parents are able to receive the independent youth benefit. Unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds living with a partner and children can receive the unemployment benefit as appropriate. 
Sue Bradford 
: Does the Minister have any plans to improve access to the independent youth benefit so that situations like one in Auckland at the moment where a young girl is being refused the independent youth benefit after exiting the sex industry are not allowed to continue? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: It may be worthwhile for the House’s sake to say that about 2600 young people between 16 and 17 years of age are on the independent youth benefit in New Zealand. The benefit is available only in the circumstance of a family breakdown such that the young person cannot go home and it requires the enlistment of specialist services to ensure that that is the case. I think that is the appropriate way to handle it.  
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban 
: What is the Government doing to ensure that 16 and 17-year-olds are engaged in appropriate education training or employment? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: It is the Government’s goal to ensure that young people of that age are engaged in education and we are committed by the year 2007 to having all 15 to 19-year-olds engaged in appropriate education training or work. We are doing a number of things but let me mention three: the expansion of what is called the Gateway programme which we are aiming to have in all decile 1 to 5 State schools by that time; the expanded Modern Apprenticeships scheme which will have at least 7500 young people engaged by 2006; and the encouragement of more Maori participation in trade training initiatives with the objective of having a vast increase in numbers by that time as well. In other words we want pathways for all those young people.  
Katherine Rich 
: If that young girl is involved in child prostitution and wants to get out but needs the help of the State while she prepares herself to do other work why does the Minister not go back to his office today and ask Work and Income New Zealand to review her case so that she is able to leave her life of prostitution as she wants to do and so that the welfare State can do what it is supposed to do—that is temporarily support those in need while they prepare to get back into other sorts of work? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Good point! If the member who released the statement today tells me whom we are talking about we can do exactly that.  
Craig McNair 
: How are young people of 16 or 17 with no support from family or partners expected to know how to access the financial hardships scheme to pay for the exorbitant National Certificate of Educational Achievement fees of $150 which have risen from $80? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As the Minister of Education made clear yesterday in relation to that and other questions this fund is available and he intends to make sure it is promoted more vigorously.  
Dr Muriel Newman 
: Is the Minister aware that his own official statistics show that in 2002 the number of 16-year-old Maori girls receiving the independent youth benefit hit an all-time record high and given that he has been in power for 3 years does he accept any responsibility? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I do not have the figures for Maori here with me. I said before overall there are about 2600 young people on the independent youth benefit at the moment. That is definitely a reflection of the nature of the circumstances of young people in families around this country. I say again that they do not get on to that benefit without going through a process that ensures that independent people with expertise judge that the family situation is not appropriate for that young person. I can only assume that the young people the member is referring to are in those circumstances.  
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister have any national or regional figures from the Department of Child Youth and Family Services that indicate the numbers of under-age young people discovered to be working in the sex industry at present; if so what are they? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: No I do not have those figures with me. In fact I am not sure whether we collect the kinds of statistics that would give us a reliable picture of that issue. But if the member wishes to take it up with me we have a number of research projects going on at the moment that might well help. In relation to the independent youth benefit I would like to mention that the number on that benefit has been reduced by 22 percent in the last 12 months.  
Sue Bradford 
: The Minister’s latest point may indeed explain one of the reasons for the situation that has arisen given that most young people cannot access a member of Parliament to help them with their situation. What are young people—such as the 17-year-old I am referring to—supposed to do when they spend weeks if not months in a totally unsupported situation trying to exit the sex industry with no means of support and with the department absolutely refusing to give them the benefit? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I can only say that if the member is aware of that individual and tells me who she is we will follow the case up. It is one of the problems is it not that young people in those situations are often very isolated. One of the things we can do is to encourage community-based groups in particular and groups perhaps like the Prostitutes Collective to ensure that young people seeking to exit the sex industry are guided in the right direction so that they can get help.