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Tangata whenua – Māori Workforce
Regional actions
- The RSLG has endorsed Tāmaki 10,000 as a Māori Regional Labour Market Strategy.
- The RSLG will support Tāmaki 10,000 and Whāriki- Māori Business Network to work together to explore workforce opportunities for Māori and support outcomes for Māori small to medium enterprise.
- The RSLG will advocate for foundational incentives to be developed for employers and kaimahi Māori as lifelong opportunities to upskill, learn, develop and maintain employability through economic periods of growth and disruption.
- The RSLG will stand by programmes and initiatives that address both pay equity and pay parity for Māori in the workforce and support industry sectors and businesses that promote good pay for the right skills and career development
Key milestones
- The Tāmaki Makaurau RSLG has endorsed Tāmaki 10,000 and there is an agreement in principle that both organisations collaborate on regional relationships.
- The focus of the RSLG is working in partnership with iwi, urban Māori and Māori providers across Tāmaki Makaurau who make up the Te Pae Herenga o Tāmaki (TPHoT) TPHoT is a collective of urban Māori and iwi Whānau Ora organisations driving the charge to support Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau to make aspirational change.
- The RSLG hosted TPHoT and lessons learnt during COVID-19 were shared, including the impacts of employment and economic disparity for Māori.
- RSLG supports the initiative on seeking new and devolved funding that fosters sustainable and meaningful employment benefiting whānau, the organisations they own and work in, communities and the economy.
- Tāmaki 10,000 and Whāriki- Māori Business Network achieved the milestone signing of a memorandum of understanding committing to sharing resources and networks to promote, accelerate and fund initiatives that facilitate the development of Māori economic success.
- RSLG also works closely with the Whāriki Business Network to better understand the challenges faced by Māori employers’ businesses and how best they can be supported in the region to flourish
Anticipated outcomes
- To capitalise a significant regional opportunity for future growth and whanau prosperity for Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.
- To accelerate and scale-up Māori-owned enterprises, through Tāmaki 10,000 and Whāriki Business network
- To accelerate more Māori into well-paying jobs here in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Pacific workforce
Regional actions
- The RSLG will support Pacific workforce upskilling initiatives, led or facilitated by Pacific communities that will help Pacific people through education, micro- credentials, digital and tech, as well as literacy and numeracy projects e.g., Project Ikuna.
- The RSLG will support initiatives that close the gap in pay for Pacific in the workplace and supports industry and sector businesses that promote good pay for the right skills and provide opportunities for career development e.g., Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry.
- The RSLG will advocate through its networks and relationships to connect Pacific businesses with support and resources (delivered by key regional stakeholders) to build resilience and growth.
- The RSLG will support career information and advice initiatives that have reach with Pacific people in relevant aiga and groups.
Key milestones
- The RSLG is working closely with Project Ikuna which is a 4-year programme developed by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited in conjunction with and co funded by MBIE. Project Ikuna achieves this by development and delivery of micro credentials through the workplace (3450 creds delivered to date) credential domains include digital skills money management and leadership.
- The RSLG has engaged with The Southern Initiative’s Social Procurement, Amotai, Uptempo, Pacific Peoples Workforce Challenge, Mori, and Pacific Trades Training programmes, all which support improving labour market outcomes for Pacific people.
- The RSLG advocates to connect Pacific businesses with support and resources delivered by key regional stakeholders to build resilience and growth. The RSLG is working closely with business leaders and industry including the Pacific Business Trust and Ministry of Pacific people to support Pacific businesses and employees to achieve wider reach and employment outcomes.
- The RSLG is working closely with Ministry of Education and TEC, to help reach Pacific community and young learners in terms of retention, transitions and to support learning outcomes.
Anticipated outcomes
- To accelerate career development and upskilling of Pacific workforce currently in low skilled, low paid
- To ensure Pacific workers and the Pacific business community are well-connected to networks and resources that support business growth, increase resilience and improve labour market outcomes for the Pacific community.
- To work with Pacific community leaders to improve retention, learning outcomes and transitions support for young learners.
Rangatahi – Ensuring sustainable and equitable education and employment outcomes for the region’s youth
Regional actions
- The RSLG will advocate secondary schools, vocational education institutions, Ministry of Education and Māori and Pacific to address the crisis of large numbers of south Auckland rangatahi leaving school without qualifications during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The RSLG supports secondary schools to prototype initiatives that encourage young people across Tāmaki Makaurau to stay and complete secondary school before moving into high-quality tertiary education, employment or enterprise. (EDAP 3.1.4).
- The RSLG promotes enhancing careers delivery pathways beginning at school while acknowledging the region’s people are on a career continuum and face-to-face post-school learning is vital with
- a focus on regionally led solutions and career job support and pastoral support.
- The RSLG advocates for strengthened careers advice and bringing stakeholders together to design and implement a purpose-built careers advice ecosystem for Tāmaki Makaurau including ‘by and for’ structures for Māori and other groups disadvantaged in the labour market.
- The RSLG supports Māori-led delivery of support and pastoral care to rangatahi and whānau to make subject and employment pathway choices, understanding future workforce opportunities.
- The RSLG will review the recommendations from the Youth Employment Action Planand will incorporate these, where appropriate, into the ongoing work of the RSLG.
Key milestones
- The RSLG is closely working with the Regional Public Sector Commissioner (RPSC) as part of the Ministry of Education - Youth Attendance and Engagement Working Group to support initiatives to help youth return to education. The NCEA Change Programme is enhancing learning by promoting equitable access for all students, and ensuring literacy and numeracy are now co-requisites to gaining an NCEA qualification.
- The RSLG is engaged with Selwyn College Auckland to better understand paradigms shifts in the way schools can support learners and help them transition from secondary school into employment, and how we can collectively support ākonga with being present, participating and progressing in school.
- RSLG has engaged with Kainga Ora on self-sustaining Trade Academies inside high school being piloted at Massey High School in collaboration with Kainga Ora to give students access to build The students can sell those houses to their local community, which helps them build on a values-based notion of serving the community, and the profits are reinvested in the trade academy.
- The RSLG is supporting MIT and its School of Secondary – Tertiary
- The RSLG has been working closely with TEC, MoE, Te Pūkenga-MIT and has provided specific advice for supporting young learners in Auckland, bringing stakeholders together through the “Connect” meetings to support a careers advice ecosystem for Tāmaki This includes ‘by and for’ structures for Māori and other groups disadvantaged in the labour market
- The RSLG has engaged with Restaurant Association who, with Ringa Hora are kicking off a Rangatahi Council for the Hospitality industry – the key purpose for this is addressing the skills shortage, looking at training and skills pipelines for the industry, perception and other key areas for our industry.
Anticipated outcomes
- The RSLG will advocate for secondary schools, vocational education institutions, Ministry of Education and Māori and Pacific - to address the large numbers of South Auckland rangatahi leaving school without qualifications during the COVID-19
- The RSLG aims to support secondary schools to prototype initiatives that encourage young people across Tāmaki Makaurau - to stay and complete secondary school before moving into high-quality tertiary education, employment or
- The RSLG promotes enhancing careers delivery pathways beginning at It also
- acknowledges the region’s people are on a career continuum and face-to- face post-school learning is vital with a focus on regionally led solutions and career job support and pastoral support.
Ethnic communities, former refugees and recent migrants, fostering the region’s potential future workforce
Regional actions
- The RSLG advocates workplaces to make the most of Auckland’s increasingly diverse workforce by establishing practices of pay equity, recognition of prior education and work experience and most of all, freedom of cultural expression, fairness and human dignity across workforce operations and supply chains.
- The RSLG promotes skills and entrepreneurial support initiatives, including career guidance to be given to former refugees, recent migrants and ethnic communities for enhanced labour market participation.
- The RSLG supports more accessible opportunities for English language courses for ethnic communities and migrants.
- The RSLG will review the recommendations of the Former Refugees, Recent Migrants and Ethnic Communities Employment Action Plan and incorporate those, where appropriate, into the ongoing work of the RSLG.
- The RSLG supports community and government-led initiatives, including recognition of relevant skills and experience, and support for the recently Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment report on eliminating worker exploitation.
Key milestones
- Lack of English language training and drivers’ licences continue to be a barrier to obtain work in Tamaki Makaurau for ethnic communities, former refugees, and recent The RSLG has been working with regional government officials to support secondary school transitions into employment and developing a proposal for driver licencing to be available as a future offering in the secondary schools Gateway programme. Driver licensing and language training would complement the work readiness training toolbox for Gateway students and provide ‘work ready’ offering in terms of increased labour market mobility.
- The RSLG has arranged a number of immigration policy related webinar and information sessions for RSLG members and key stakeholders to better understand relevant policies.
- The RSLG has also identified that the construction and infrastructure industry employ a significant number of migrant workers. There is a need to help improve their English in the workplace and ensure translation of health and safety resources for new migrant workers. The RSLG recognises a need to engage with employers on employment best practice for their migrant
- RSLG has identified that ethnic groups in Auckland have very different employment and salary rates. Solving this discrepancy is crucial to ensuring that everyone has access to Auckland’s opportunities and that it attracts.
Anticipated outcomes
- To provide these communities with the capabilities to easily enter the region’s workforce
- To support employers and ethnic communities, former refugees and recent migrants to better understand working rights, and immigration
- To ensure that employers are aware of their legal obligations for migrant workers and ensuring trade unions, ethnic communities, former refugees and recent migrants are resourced to support and advocate for migrant worker
- To ensure pay transparency legislation goes towards closing the gender, Māori, Pacific, and other ethnic pay gaps.