What’s underway for 2024/25

As the Public Service’s approach to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion is maturing, the Commission expects more organisations to develop consolidated diversity, equity and inclusion plans, combining their pay gaps and diversity and inclusion plans into one.

The Commission will build on advice provided in late 2023 to help organisations streamline their planning. Importantly, the Commission will also simplify the reporting expectations of organisations so that their focus remains on doing the important work of creating diverse workforces and inclusive workplaces and closing pay gaps, so that they may better serve New Zealanders.

In preparing additional advice on this kaupapa the Commission will work with the Office of the Auditor-General to address the findings in its report on its observations from its central government work in 2022/23, particularly on the need to see improvements in how public organisations report at an agency level on major initiatives, using meaningful performance measures, and presenting performance information that explains how well they are serving and making a difference for New Zealanders.

With ethnic representation for all public servants above or close to population levels, efforts are focused on developing the pipeline to ensure the senior leadership of the future reflects and is more responsive to the communities the Public Service serves.

The new Papa Pounamu priority area, for Public Service organisations - to foster diverse leadership - focuses on growing future leaders and proactively creating pathways to senior leadership for people from historically under-represented groups. This requirement is echoed in the Leadership Strategy.(PDF, 1.7 MB)

Examples of current initiatives (by no means an exhaustive list) to foster diverse leadership across the Public Service include:

• Te Pae Tawhiti at the Ministry of Education is a targeted Māori leadership programme to prepare aspiring kaimahi Māori for their next role and Te Ara Tāwhawhai | Māori Mentoring, a development programme for kaimahi Māori to grow and develop their cultural capacity and capabilities to mentor, lead and serve communities.
• The Department of Internal Affairs has:
  • Te Aka Matua Māori Leadership Programme which offers a pathway of learning for kaimahi Māori ready to take the next step in their career journey: to grow, lead and influence for a relaunch in 2024/2025, and
  • Avei’a Pacific Leadership Programme, which focuses on creating a pathway for public sector leadership development with the goal of increasing Pacific representation in tier one to three roles.
• Oranga Tamariki has an in-house Makahiki Pacific Leadership Programme to develop and strengthen the leadership capabilites of Pacific kaimahi.

In 2024 the Commission’s work to support the closing of pay gaps across the system will focus on:

• implementing an extensive targeted Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities work plan, that includes partnering with existing initiatives in agencies, accelerating progress for wāhine Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities, informing our work with data and the voices of wāhine Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities
• undertaking work to reduce occupational segregation, which remains a major issue, especially for Pacific and ethnic public servants
• contributing to the Disability and Rainbow Four-Point Plans, including publishing updated guidance on removing bias and discrimination from remuneration policies and practices, and equitable flexible working policies with a view to ensuring workplaces are fairer for disabled and rainbow public servants.

The Commission will continue to support delivery of pay equity across the system. The Commission expects sustained momentum of new claims over the next three years, primarily in the public and government funded sectors.