Budget 2025: Ethnic leaders seek targeted investment

Ethnic leaders are calling for more targeted investment in their communities ahead of the government's Budget announcement on Thursday.

Without sufficient and sustainable funding, key services such as language help, health assistance, and migrant and refugee settlement programmes could be impacted, they said.

As part of the 2025 Budget, the government already unveiled plans to introduce legislation reforming pay equity, as well as additional funding for capital expenditure, Pharmac, film subsidies, after-hours health care, Māori Wardens and a $190 million Social Investment Fund.

However, it was not clear if there would be adequate funding for ethnic communities, said Vishal Rishi, chief executive of The Asian Network Incorporated (TANI).

Rishi said the only budget appropriations expressly targeting ethnic communities was the contestable Ethnic Communities Development Fund, which is managed by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and currently sits at $4.2 million each year.

Rishi said there had yet to be an indication the amount would increase to reflect the country's changing demographics.

It was important to acknowledge that ethnic communities now made up more than 20 percent of the country's population, he said.

"These communities often face unique challenges that require tailored responses," he said.

"To effectively support us, dedicated programmes and targeted investment are necessary. At this stage, such commitments are not clearly visible in the upcoming budget."

A key area of concern was access to health and social services, where language and cultural barriers continued to limit engagement, Rishi said.

"Existing mainstream pathways are often ill-suited to meet our needs, resulting in widening inequities," he said.

"We would have hoped to see targeted funding allocated to the primary and community care sectors to address these gaps."

Culturally appropriate health promotion measures, mental health and wellbeing support, family violence prevention initiatives and social connection services that TANI operated could all be at risk of being reduced or discontinued without sustained investment, Rishi said.

He questioned whether any part of the new Social Investment Fund would be used to help ethnic communities specifically.

"Right now, we are struggling to offer even the most basic wraparound services," he said. "Without ongoing funding or sustainable contracts - particularly through the newly announced Social Investment Agency and Fund - we may be forced to close our social service arm entirely."

Kelly Feng, chief executive of Asian Family Services, also wondered if ethnic communities would get sufficient funding in the Budget.

"What happens often is when the whole funding stretches into public services ... because everything is so stretched, [the government] will just do the same old thing," Feng said.

"[The government is] not looking at the demographic changes for the Asian population or ... [how] a community [might] demand a different type of service.

"There's no way [the government] really looks into the complex needs of the ethnic community, which has been underserved for so many years."

Feng said a helpline service her organisation provided, which provides mental health support in eight different languages, had already been struggling to cope with the increasing demand.

The service might need to be pared back if the programme didn't receive ongoing funding, she said.

"Mainstream services like [counselling service] 1737 ... do not really serve our population," Feng said.

"We know the migrant community. ... They don't have a lot of family or support system in place and could have much higher needs as well as higher risk."

She said she did not know what would happen to her organisation's school-based youth programme in the middle of 2026 once the funding to the programme ended.

If people had problems assessing the services they needed when early intervention was possible, they might end up needing hospital care or police interventions, Feng said.

She said the $190 million Social Investment Fund should be used to prioritise the needs of vulnerable populations, including ethnic communities.

"I think in the bigger Budget, one of the things that needs to be emphasised is to hold those government agencies and public services accountable for the 17.3 percent Asian population or migrants, refugees and more," Feng said.

"If you don't do well for this population, you will actually end up costing more money for the system."

Arish Naresh, president of the Tairawhiti Multicultural Council, said the Ethnic Communities Development Fund should ideally be doubled to match the growth of ethnic communities nationwide.

His organisation, which provides pastoral care and other community support, would also be forced to scale back services or halt them altogether without adequate funding.

Insufficient funding could undermine the social cohesion and well-being of the communities that were vital to New Zealand's multicultural fabric, Naresh said.

"I want to emphasise that Budget allocations should reflect the actual growth and needs of ethnic communities," he said.

"If the government does not increase its investment, our community and others like ours will miss out on vital services that help migrants and ethnic groups settle, integrate and thrive."

A spokesperson for the Social Investment Agency they expected initial fund outcomes to align closely with government's targets and existing cross-cutting strategies such as the Child and Youth Strategy and the Family Violence and Sexual Violence Strategy and Action Plan.

"The Social Investment Fund is being set up as a new way to commission across portfolios, strengthen existing arrangements and directly invest in the future of New Zealanders who are most in need," the spokesperson said.

"It will also catalyse change - supporting communities and social sector organisations to upgrade existing arrangements so that they align with the social investment approach."