The Te Puni Kōkiri cadetships initiative has received positive recognition from the Government for helping hundreds of Māori get work experience and jobs.

The initiative, which has been profiled in Kōkiri in previous issues, provides Māori who are new to the workforce or with low qualifications the opportunity to gain work experience, obtain higher-level qualifications and build industry networks. It has employed 547 cadets since the initiative started in 2009/10.

The initiative is a collaborative project where Te Puni Kōkiri is working with some of the biggest private employers in New Zealand including Transfield, Fletcher Building, Fulton Hogan, Downer, Vodafone, Genesis Energy, and the Bank of New Zealand.

The commendation comes from State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie. “This is another fine example of delivering better public services – where you have a Public Service department working with the private sector to achieve results that matter to New Zealanders,” Mr Rennie said.

Patsie Karauria, Social Policy Director at Te Puni Kōkiri attributes the success of this programme to the engagement of employers in growth industries. “We partner with employers to recruit, train, mentor and provide at least six months paid employment to Māori cadets. Ninety five percent (95%) of cadets have remained employed in their industries well past the initial six month programme, which is really noteworthy,” Ms Karauria said.

While the cadetships are targeted at getting Māori entry into these industries, a long-term goal and subsequent value is building industry leadership capability amongst Māori.

“What we are hearing from our private sector programme partners is that it is important to have a good reflection of Māori in management roles. They are dealing daily with local iwi and lead and manage large workforces of Māori staff. The cadetships allow them to invest in good staff who they hope will become future leaders in their industries,” Ms Karauria said.

The State Services Commissioner is keen to promote the cadetships as a model for the private and public sector working closely together to achieve shared outcomes. “This collaborative and innovative approach to help Māori find meaningful and sustainable employment is working very successfully. We need to see this sort of approach adapted more and more in the wider State services,” Ian Rennie said.