Rape Crisis reject "data-for-funding" contracts

Rape Crisis groups say they will refuse to accept contracts with the Ministry of Social Development if it insists on making them hand over private information about clients in exchange for funding. As of July the Ministry plans on requiring all the NGOs it has contracts with to hand over information about clients - including their name, age, ethnicity, address and the names of any dependent children. Last week Nine to Noon spoke to Murray Edridge - the Ministry's head of community investment who said the Ministry needs that information to ensure it's getting value for money out of the contracts and to link up data different government departments have on people. Kathryn Ryan speaks to Andrea Black, spokesperson for the National Collective of Rape Crisis and Related Groups Aotearoa and to Lesley Ayland the Chief Executive Officer of WellStop - an organisation which gives counselling and treatment to perpetrators of sexual violence.