We are committed to meeting our Tiriti o Waitangi obligations as a government agency and partner in the Māori Crown relationship. Our Māhutonga programme aims to integrate Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori principles, concepts, and practices into the way we work. Māhutonga sets out the direction we want to take with our organisational culture and our Māori customers. It includes a number of strands of activity, ranging from building the Māori cultural capability of our people, to enhancing our engagement and service delivery approach with Māori
A core part of our Māhutonga work is building our Māori cultural capability. We are developing Te Arapiki, a stair-cased learning approach that aligns to the expectations set out by Te Arawhiti (the Office for Māori Crown Relations) for all public servants. Te Mata o Te Arero is our Māori language plan which supports the revitalisation of te reo Māori. We are committed to supporting the use of te reo Māori in our workplace.
The service delivery strand of Māhutonga includes Mauri Ora Te Whānau. This is a statement of our intent to improve whānau wellbeing through taking a whānau-centred approach to our work with Māori customers.
Our research, including the Māori Customer Landscape, is helping us to bring whānau, hapū and iwi perspectives into our work. By exploring the wider context of the Māori world view and perspectives, we can better understand what is important to our customers. The appropriate application of this understanding helps us to think differently about the types of services that will help best meet their needs and improve outcomes for them.
We are in the process of establishing a panel of Māori experts who can advise us on how best to engage on policy issues of significance to Māori so that our tax and social policy advice to Ministers is more informed and better reflects Māori perspectives.