What we do

The purpose of the Data Issues of Significance report is to highlight issues for Māori data as identified by the Board, providing guidance for partners and stakeholders in their data management and planning.

The Board’s advice and advocacy of the issues of significance to Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau is based on the understanding that information on Māori wellbeing requires relevant and reliable data. Noting the importance of quality, strengths-based data for Māori, the Board adopted a Data Strategy  in 2016 to guide its use of data.

In the Data Issues of Significance report, three main data challenges are addressed:

• Te Ao Māori approaches to measurement

Measuring and monitoring wellbeing from a Te Ao Māori view requires data collection methods and measurements that are fit for purpose. To enable this, local government must build their capability on how to engage with Māori and how to appropriately integrate Māori values in government decision-making. This may include the development of critical toolkits and techniques that enable staff to apply a Māori lens to their research and policy analysis.

• Place-based data

Administrative and survey data for Māori and iwi populations are generally difficult to access at the regional and local level, despite Tāmaki Makaurau having the country’s largest Māori population. Further, data at lower levels, such as local board level, is often neither available nor collected. Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau need to be supported by planning which is based on relevant and reliable data.

•  Data integration

The Board supports initiatives on data management and integration, provided that such strategies are developed based on a realisation of a Treaty partnership with Māori. All data activities should be within a Treaty framework. This involves an understanding of the social and cultural licenses to operate in an ethically appropriate way, where data sovereignty, integrity and safety are critical points.

The Board believes there is great opportunity for stakeholders at central and local level to collaborate on practical solutions to ensure a greater emphasis on Māori culture and to bridge the Te Ao Māori indicators gap.