Two powerful native animals stand among the pou (pillars) of VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai, a charity that works to amplify the voices of children and young people in state care in Aotearoa. One is the tohorā, the southern right whale, which dives to depths of hundreds of metres, navigating cold and turbulent waters, before returning to the surface. The other is the tūī, perhaps our most loquacious native bird, which is never shy to say all it needs, singing loud and proud so that everyone hears its voice. 

VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai stands for Voice of the Young and Care Experienced – Listen to Me. The charity was established in 2017 to promote the needs of children and young people in care and advocate for their rights. Based in the organisation’s national office in Uptown, Mary-Lynn Huxford is VOYCE’s National Care Experienced Youth Participation Advisor. A former vice chair of the National Youth Council, Mary-Lynn interacts with government, media and other organisations to effect change on behalf of young people who have experience of state care.

She explains that there are two core branches of VOYCE’s advocacy: the one-on-one work of whakamana, represented by the deep diving whale, and the collective voice of whakatairanga, which is represented by the boisterous tūi.

VOYCE’s kaiwhakamana are the frontline staff who work with young people every day, providing support to any young person in care who needs it.

“It may be that they’re unhappy in their current placement, or they feel unsafe,” says Mary-Lynn. “They might not be getting their appropriate allowance or money from either Oranga Tamariki or from their care- givers. Or it could be more serious systemic issues, like years of prolonged abuse. Our frontline advocates are there to support young people navigate through this system.”

This is the role that is represented by the tohorā: “It says that we’ll journey with our young people to the depths of what they’re going through and back to the surface again.” 

The second core branch, whakatairanga, is about amplifying young people’s voices - represented by the tūī. This is the side of the organisation that Mary-Lynn works in.

"The main function of my role is to awhi, or support, our young people in their collective advocacy and activism. We use a tuakana-teina model, a kind of sibling relationship that you can use to guide someone, bring them alongside you and walk them through things. So my role is to help support our next generation of young advocates. Ultimately we make sure that we're amplifying the voices of those who have care experience, whether they’re a baby or they’re transitioning into their adult life.”