Children and young people are experts in their own lives, and have lots to say about what wellbeing means to them and changes they want to see to improve their wellbeing. Between September and November last year, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Voices Team of Oranga Tamariki collaborated to hear the views of over 6000 children and young people through a combination of online surveys, face to face interviews and focus groups. This presentation by Donna Provoost, Director of the Strategy, Rights and Advice team at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, will share some key insights from this engagement.

The findings have been included in the drafting of New Zealand’s first Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, and are useful for a range of work across policy, practice and everyday interactions with children and young people.

• Speaker: Donna Provoost joined the Children’s Commissioner in March 2012. She leads work across a range of activities to support better outcomes for New Zealand children, including providing advice on children’s rights and child-centered policy, collecting and sharing the voices and views of children, and advocating for the best interests of children and young people.