The Māori Report

WHAKAPAPA OF THE Māori REPORT

The Māori Plan for Tāmaki Makaurau sets out Māori outcomes, aspirations and measures for monitoring progress of outcomes. The Māori Report for Tāmaki Makaurau 2016 reported on a subset of headline indicators from the Māori Plan. The Māori Report 2020 is an update of the 2016 report based on the most recent data available.

When the Independent Māori Statutory Board launched The Māori Report 2016 it was the first of its kind, measuring Māori wellbeing from a te ao Māori approach and using data for Tāmaki Makaurau.

In 2019, the Board also published five Value Reports with over 100 indicators based on the Māori Plan and the Board’s Issues of Significance. The Value Reports take an in-depth view on Māori wellbeing, based on the five values of:

The Māori Plan, the Māori Reports and the Māori Value Reports are used to inform the Board for prioritising and advancing its statutory document, the Schedule of Issues of Significance, for mana whenua and mātāwaka. Furthermore, these reports will build an evidence-base of Māori wellbeing over time.

THE Māori REPORT 2020

The Māori Report 2020 (this section of our website) is a digitised update of the 2016 report, based on the most recent data available. The 2020 "report" focuses on the 23 headline indicators that were in the 2016 report, and displays these in up-to-date infographics. Headline indicators are chosen to help us track Māori wellbeing in Tāmaki Makaurau across the five values - Whanaungatanga, Rangatiratanga, Manaakitanga, Wairuatanga and Kaitiakitanga - and four pou - cultural, social, economic and environmental. The data and information under each value comprises the digital Māori Report 2020. Each value page opens with a key direction from the Māori Plan.

See the Glossary below for definitions of Māori terms.

Purpose

The Māori Report reinforces the wellbeing framework in the Māori Plan. It is linked to the Board’s statutory purpose of promoting issues of significance for mana whenua and mātāwaka of Tāmaki Makaurau.

The Board monitors Māori wellbeing to underpin its advocacy positions for areas like marae, cultural heritage, transport, housing, te reo and climate change, to ensure equity and improved wellbeing for Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.

How were the Māori Report indicators chosen?

The Māori Plan for Tāmaki Makaurau was created in 2012 after wide-ranging consultation with mana whenua and mātāwaka communities. This consultation was complemented by research and evaluation provided by a consortium of researchers and experts.

The first version identified over 100 indicators of relevance to Māori wellbeing. The Board then worked with Māori data and tikanga experts and with local and central government technical experts to identify a smaller set of “headline indicators”. Criteria for inclusion included: 

  • relevance to Māori
  • validity; grounded in evidence
  • available and cost-effective
  • empowerment and enablement-focused
  • action-focused
  • able to be disaggregated
  • statistically sound and robust
  • timely and consistent over time

This work resulted in the framework and indicators in the 2016 Māori Report for Tāmaki Makaurau. Some indicators have since been replaced with better quality indicators, or because some indicators are no longer measured and/or available.

What does the data tell us?

The indicators show positive progress in a number of areas:

  • There are proportionately less rangatahi in Tāmaki Makaurau not in employment, education or training (NEET) than across Aotearoa and the NEET rate continues to fall.
  • Auckland Council has been supportive of papakāinga developments and mana whenua are developing land to provide much-needed, affordable and sustainable housing. However, Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau still have lower housing affordability and rental affordability than Māori across Aotearoa.
  • Housing affordability aside, Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau appear to be in a better position financially than Māori in the rest of Aotearoa (based on household income).
  • Employment and income prospects have improved through more apprenticeships, increasing qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and high proportions of Māori in management positions.
  • Māori parent representation on school boards in Tāmaki Makaurau is high and increasing, compared with other regions.
  • Auckland Council, via the Auckland Unitary Plan, is formally recognising and protecting a growing number of sites of significance to mana whenua.

The challenges of measuring Māori wellbeing

The Māori Report indicators all reflect the Māori Plan’s core values of Rangatiratanga, Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga, Wairuatanga and Whanaungatanga.

The Māori Report indicators are based on existing and publicly available data that represent and illustrate areas of importance to Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau. Over time, these indicators will be updated to bring a greater te ao Māori perspective. However, Māori data and information often reside in siloed agencies and organisations and data are rarely available at the sub-national level. This creates challenges for reporting on Māori wellbeing in a consistent manner.

Read more about Māori data challenges in our Data Issues of Significance report.

DATA ISSUES – THE 2018 CENSUS

Many of the indicators rely on responses to the Census of Population and Dwellings. However, the 2018 Census data suffered from substantial quality issues. The response rate for Māori was just over 68%. Stats NZ had to backfill data using the 2013 Census and government administrative data (for example, birth records and education enrolment data).

The independent panel who reviewed data quality of the 2018 Census rated:

  • the quality of ethnicity data as ‘moderate’, rather than Stats NZ’s rating of ethnicity as ‘high’ quality.
  • household data is generally of low quality and will not enable comparisons with 2013 Census figures

Importantly, a lack of alternative iwi data meant that Stats NZ was unable to release official iwi statistics due to insufficient data quality. A review of iwi data is currently underway, but Stats NZ has acknowledged that it did not meet its Treaty obligations to Māori with the 2018 Census.