13 July 2021
Mr Terry Thomas
[FYI request #15886 email]
Dear Mr Thomas
Official Information Request
Our Ref: OIA 2021-0078
I refer to your official information request received on 23 June 2021 for:
“al guidance and advice provided by you to any agency, department, ministry or Crown entity,
or other organisation/entity funded by government, and any advice to ministers, on naming
conventions, particularly the adoption and use of Maori names for those entities and for staff
titles and documents/reports created by those entities.
Also any guidance and advice to the entities described above on the use of Aotearoa instead of,
or as a supplement to, the use of New Zealand in documents and communications.
Please also provide any guidance, direction or expectation provided to you by any minister on
these subjects.
This request includes formal guidance to/ from the commission as wel as informal, such as that
provided in emails or minuted/recorded/noted in meetings.
Please limit this request to information created since the 2017 election.”
Al government departments including Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission (the
Commission) are covered by the Crown’s commitment to
Maihi Karauna, the Crown’s Strategy for
Māori Language Revitalisation 2019 – 2023, that among other things requires departments to develop
and implement their own Māori language plans.
After Parliament agreed in the Māori Language Act 1987 to recognise Māori as an official language of
New Zealand, use of te reo Māori language has increasingly become more common in wider New
Zealand society. In line with this shift, most government agencies have taken steps to adopt te reo
Māori, including acquiring Māori names to use at their discretion alongside their English name.
Government agency use of other Māori terms, such as referring to the country as Aotearoa or
Aotearoa/New Zealand, has also been increasing in line with this broader use in society. However,
there is no specific government directive to use ‘Aotearoa’.
Information being released.
Please find enclosed and listed in the table below a letter that was emailed to Public Service chief
executives on behalf of the Public Service Commissioner as part of the Public Service Act
implementation, which included advice on the use of the te reo job title in signatures.
Item
Date
Document Description
Decision
1
10 September 2020
Letter from the Public Service Commissioner Released in Part
to Chief Executive (includes attachment)
We have decided to release the relevant parts of the document listed above, subject to information
being withheld under section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons, including deceased
people.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that we intend to publish this letter (with your personal details removed) on the Te Kawa
Mataaho Public Service Commission’s website.
Yours sincerely
Nicky Dirks
Manager – Ministerial and Executive Services
Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
Document Outline
