Diversity, equity and inclusion has had a dedicated focus at Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake since 2017. When developing our 23/24 roadmap last year, we committed to understanding the experiences of Māori, in terms of career development and the barriers that have been faced.
Through ongoing kōrero, and kanohi-ki-te-kanohi (face-to-face) engagements, Māori have shared their experiences and insights. We have worked in partnership to establish the actions that will create a positive impact on Māori representation, and in turn reduce the pay gaps.
This focus is supported and reinforced through Kia Toipoto – Public Service Pay Gaps Action Plan guidance, from Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission.
Over the last 2 years we have taken an active approach in working with Māori to understand lived experiences. This has been through wānanga, hui and leveraging existing insight and resources.
This helped us to establish the high-level areas of focus of:
- People leaders - leaders gaining a better understanding of the cultural needs, practices and value of Māori.
- Recruitment practices – focused on Māori cultural practices and enabling Māori to be unapologetically themselves.
- Individual skills and support – support and empower the individual to realise their potential.
- Promotion and visibility of Whānau Māori networks – increase feelings of inclusion and provide opportunities for capability growth.
- Māori career pathways – supporting the overall increase of Māori representation at senior level and in technical roles.
Our engagement with Māori also helped us to shape up the approach to work on Māori representation in partnership with Māori, in parallel with work undertaken as part of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion roadmap.