25 October 2018
LGOIMA No. 8140003606
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
Alanah T
By Email: [FYI request #8712 email]
Dear Alanah
Local Government Official Information And Meetings Act 1987
Te Reo Maori
I refer to your request which we received on 18 September 2018, regarding Te Reo Maori. I also
refer to my email of 16 October 2018, extending the timeframe for us to respond to your request.
Thank you for your patience while we have worked on this response.
Our response to your questions is as follows:
Does your organisation have legal responsibilities under the Treaty of Waitangi?
We are commit ed to meeting our responsibilities under te Tiriti o Waitangi, and our broader legal
obligations to Māori.
Please refer to the
attached Statutory obligations relating to Māori or Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty
of Waitangi about our broader legal obligations to Māori.
Does your organisation have legal responsibilities to engage with te reo Maori in some
way or another? Does your organisation have a duty (such as in its charter, or its
empowering legislation) to reflect New Zealand's cultural identity?
Auckland Council staff are trained to understand the various legal and ethical responsibilities to
enact Treaty principles through our Nga Kete Akoranga programme or through a variety of
professional membership bodies. E.g. New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) for Urban Planners
requires knowledge and practice of the Treaty.
As one of the foundation principles of Our Charter – We honour te Tiriti o Waitangi. Which means
we recognise and respect the council group’s commitments to te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of
Waitangi, which includes achieving better outcomes for Māori to lift Māori economic, social and
cultural wellbeing.
1. We understand the importance of and help the council group to meet its commitments to
Māori in Auckland
• We learn about te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and the council group’s specific
commitments to Māori responsiveness in Auckland.
• We’re able to explain and contribute to our department’s Māori responsiveness plan.
• We contribute to Māori outcomes through our work.
• We educate ourselves and our people on Whiria Te Muka Tangata/Māori
Responsiveness Framework and how we can contribute to the goals of the framework
through our work.
2. We provide opportunities for Māori to contribute to decision-making processes
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
• We establish and maintain processes for Māori to contribute to decision-making.
• We support the development of Māori capacity to contribute to decision-making.
• We engage early and provide the right information to Māori to support informed decision-
making.
3. We’re comfortable pronouncing and using basic te reo Māori, and learn more about tikanga
Māori
• We are empowered to use Māori words and phrases in emails, meetings and
conversation.
• We understand and practice tikanga Maōri and values in our daily work.
A copy of the complete Auckland Council Our Charter is
attached for your reference.
Does your organisation have a formal policy, strategy, or commitment, relating to te reo
Maori ability and proficiency for staff? (If so, can you please provide a copy of it)?
On 1 September 2016, The Regional Strategy and Policy Commit ee adopted the Māori
Language Policy and Māori Language Implementation Plan 2016-2019.
A copy of these documents are publicly available as part of t
he Regional Strategy and Policy
Commit ee Open Agenda attachment. (Page 49 – 70)
Please note part of the implementation plan is to develop a policy around Te Reo Māori ability
and proficiency for staff.
Does your organisation have a policy on diversity and inclusion?
Please refer to the
attached Inclusive Auckland Framework document which outlines council’s
diversity and inclusion approach.
How many staff in your organisation are recorded as being fluent in te reo Maori?
We do not have a formal record of how many people identify as being fluent in Te Reo Maori.
The Maori staff network Whanau Manawa has circulated a survey for self-assessment of all
Maori staf that includes a question around te reo competency in August 2018. However, the
results are not ful y collated and were col ected for the purpose of determining what learning and
development aspirations our Maori staff have whilst employed at Council.
Therefore, the survey result wil not be an effective measure in response to this question as it
misses out any potential non-Maori fluent speakers of Te Reo, and it is likely that Maori staf wil
under-report their level of te reo competency if it is not related directly to their role for cultural
reasons (whakaiti humbleness).
Has your organisation provided any te reo Maori lessons or education to staff in the past
12 months? (If so, how many staff has it provided those to, and what was the format of the
lessons?)
Council of ers Te Reo courses across the council family.
We have provided Te Reo courses to approximately 734 staff in the past 12 months (10
September 2017 - 10 September 2018).
• Te Reo and Local Government (2 hour sessions for pronunciation of terms)
• Pepeha and Mihimihi (6 week and 12 week options of 1 hour per week)
• Te Whaihanga training on engaging with Maori for Built Environment Professionals
• Individual executive coaching by staff in charge of Kaitiaki Forums for staff presenting to
mana whenua
• Tikanga in the Boardroom training for Executive Leaders and Directors of Council-control ed
organisations (CCOs)
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
These courses are of ered free of charge (except Tikanga in the Boardroom) for staff through
approximately $100k annually sourced from Te Waka Anga Mua and Te Toa Takitini Maori
Ef ectiveness Budget.
There is also the Kete Korero App for staff of council which is to guide staff in the preparation of
mihi, correct pronunciation of Iwi, hapu, local board names and other Te Reo Maori based
names.
This app is widely used in parts of council, it’s undergoing a refresh with the developer Kiwa
Digital and Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) working in partnership with Te Waka Anga
Mua (TWA) department and People and Performance department.
The refresh wil be complete in early 2019, allowing more functionality of the app to increase
peoples use of Te Reo Maori in council.
Wananga o Aotearoa courses
Approximately 250 Council staff completed The He Papa Tikanga Matauranga Maori course from
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWOA).
Al of them had to complete a basic Te Reo Maori pronunciation and translation component and
now have permanent access to resources they can use for revision to continue to improve their
competency in these areas.
I have also been advised that the CCOs are also running their own training sessions related to
cultural competency, Maori responsiveness and engagement (Maori Responsiveness) for their
own staff and executive. Please note the above information in relation to stuff numbers does not
include CCO staff.
Does your organisation have any te reo Maori lessons or education scheduled to be
provided to staff in upcoming 12 months? (If so, how many staff does it intend to provide
those to?)
The People and Performance department are currently confirming the delivery of Te Reo courses
for next year, we are also in the process of setting up a focus group for council staff who are Te
Reo speakers to determine what further professional development they need by 30 November
2018.
How many personnel does your organisation currently engage? (Please include full-time
staff, part-time, employees, and volunteers)
Auckland Council publishes our Annual Report which covers the performance of Auckland
Council Group for each financial year. The report provides comprehensive information about the
group's financial and service performance results which contains information about our staf
numbers.
Please refer to Section F – Other disclosures (page 81) of t
he Auckland Council 2017/2018
Annual Report for our staf number information as at 30 June 2018.
Does your organisation have any personnel who manage the relationships between your
organisation and Maori communities? (If so, how many personnel are engaged for that
purpose?)
We have a range of roles that have engagement with Maori as part of their position description.
We currently have 26 individuals managing the relationships between Council and Maori
communities and their position titles are as fol ows:
• Kaihautu Whakatuturu Puni - Senior Advisor
• Maori Engagement Manager
• Maori Housing Lead
• Kaiwhakahaere Tupuna Maunga
• Social Intrapreneur-Maori Responsiveness
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
• Principal Advisor Maori Engagement
• Paeurungi Te Waka Tai-ranga-whenua
• Kaihautu Tai-ranga-whenua x 2
• Field Officer Tupuna Maunga
• Cultural Initiatives Fund Advisor
• Senior Advisor Maori Responsiveness
• Principal Advisor Maori Responsiveness
• Senior Maori Engagement Implementation Advisor
• Manager Treaty Settlements
• Head of Co-Governance
• Head of Maori Relationships & Governance
• Senior Advisor Maori Relationships Governance x 3
• General Manager Maori Responsiveness & Relationships
• Maori Advisor
• Maori Engagement Manager
• Industry Dev Coordinator - Maori Growth
• Maori Economic Development Delivery Manager
• Senior Specialist Engagement-Maori Outcomes & Communication
However, the main department responsible for Maori relationships is Te Waka Anga Mua in our
Governance Division. They are led by our General Manager Maori Responsiveness &
Relationships.
Furthermore, under the Auckland Plan 2050, one of the six Auckland Plan outcomes i
s Maori
identity and Wel being. Council has a significant role in contributing to this.
I hope you find this information useful. I also wish to apologise for the delay in getting this
response to you and draw your attention to your right to seek a review from the Office of the
Ombudsmen about this extension.
If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting LGOIMA No.
8140003606.
Yours sincerely
Jenny Hua
Privacy & LGOIMA Business Partner
Democracy Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
