The Public Service is committed to building and maintaining capability within organisations to engage with Māori and understand Māori perspectives. 

Te whakawhaake i te kaha o te hononga i waenga i te Māori me te Karauna i roto i te Ratonga Tūmatanui Building Māori Crown capability in the Public Service

The Public Service Act 2020 places explicit responsibilities on Public Service leaders to develop and maintain the capability of the Public Service to engage with Māori and to understand Māori perspectives.   

Te Taunaki Public Service Census 2021 

Public servants are building their capability to engage with Māori and are being supported by their agencies to do so, this was reflected in Te Taunaki Public Service Census 2021. 

In Te Taunaki, we saw that most public servants (69%) understood how their agency's Te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi responsibilities apply to its work. 73% of respondents valued their knowledge of te reo Māori and want to grow it. Some 65% said staff at their agency are encouraged to use te reo Māori, 59% are supported to develop their skills and 58% use at least some te reo Māori at work. 

Workforce Data — Māori Crown 

Growing Māori Crown Capability 

To support the public service to meet these commitments, Te Arawhiti developed and led the implementation of Whāinga Amorangi: Transforming Leadership, supported by Te Kawa Mataaho, Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.  

The Whāinga Amorangi framework has helped all public service agencies develop plans to build their individual and organisational capability to engage with iwi Māori, focusing on te reo Māori, the history of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Treaty of Waitangi. All plans were assessed and endorsed by a panel of experts, hosted by Te Arawhiti, in early 2022.  

Some of the resources available to support the system to grow their capability include: 

Te Reo Māori capability 

The recognition of these responsibilities in the Public Service Act 2020 also aligns with the government’s commitments under Maihi Karauna. Maihi Karauna is the Crown’s Māori Language Strategy that addresses the revitalisation of te reo Māori and sets a vision for the future of te reo Māori.

Maihi Karauna — Te Puni Kōkiri

Other resources to support use of te reo Māori across the Public Service include: