Oranga Marae

Oranga Marae supports the physical and cultural revitalisation of marae, as centres of Māori identity and mātauranga.

Last updated: Rāhina, 08 Hōngongoi, 2024 | Monday, 8 July 2024

Oranga Marae stories

Rehua Marae

Rehua Marae is an example of the many marae that open their doors for local communities during emergencies. Te Puni Kōkiri is working with marae around the country to help them continue to provide a sanctuary in times of need.

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Whakatu Marae

The custodians of Whakatū Marae supported their whānau and the wider community during the Nelson Fires that sparked in 2019.

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Waipapa Marae

The people of Ngāti Hikairo proudly opened their new wharekai at Waipapa Marae in Kawhia in early 2019.

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About Oranga Marae

Oranga Marae is a programme of support, advice and investment for marae. It gives whānau and hapū advice and support to help develop their marae and achieve their goals. This support may include building projects and activities to revitalise cultural knowledge.

A key goal of the programme is to strengthen the ability of marae to pass on their ancestral knowledge of whaikōrero, karanga and local mātauranga, tikanga and kawa to descendants.

Oranga Marae supports these outcomes:

  • marae are safe and healthy, contributing to the well-being of iwi, hapū and whānau
  • people are engaged on the marae and an increasing number of events and activities are held to ensure the transmission of mātauranga Māori
  • marae increasingly contribute to the revitalisation of te reo and tikanga Māori
  • whānau work together to develop the marae

Oranga Marae is provided by Te Puni Kōkiri and the Department of Internal Affairs. It replaces the Lottery Marae Heritage and Facilities Fund (LMHF), which has permanently closed.

*For information about the Mātauranga Māori Marae Ora fund visit the Community Matters website. The fund supports marae communities to protect their mātauranga and taonga from the impact and ongoing threat of COVID-19, and supports the cultural revitalisation of marae as centres of Māori identity and mātauranga. The Mātauranga Māori Marae Ora Fund is a partnership between the Department of Internal Affairs, Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Learn more about Oranga Marae investment, evaluation report findings and marae case studies, in the Programme Evaluation. The full Summative Evaluation report  and Formative Evaluation report are available to read online.

How does Oranga Marae work?

After a marae gets in touch, we appoint an advisor to work alongside the marae to achieve the goals of Oranga Marae.

The marae needs to create a Marae Development Plan to set out its development goals and the amount of investment it needs.

This plan outlines the vision of the marae, current state and proposed actions. The marae controls this process and the Oranga Marae Committee mainly wants to see that the whānau or hapū have worked together to plan for the sustainable future of their marae and that they will support the plan to make it happen.

Our advisors can help and advise with this plan. A guide to assist in developing the marae development plan can be found here in te reo Māori and in English. If needed, a marae may request funding through Oranga Marae to help with marae development planning.

When the Marae Development Plan has been approved by whānau, hapū and trustees, the marae can ask for funding to carry out actions set out in the plan.

Privacy note:

The Marae Development Plan will be uploaded to a Government database. Due to this it should have whānau support for any content (e.g. photos) that it includes. Applications and supporting documents may be viewed by advisors and the Oranga Marae Committee.

All information, applications and supporting documents that are uploaded as part of a request are subject to Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) requests. If we receive an OIA request for your information, you will be contacted before any of it is passed to the requestor.

What does Oranga Marae fund?

Oranga Marae can provide funding for:

  • Marae development planning - a maximum contribution limit of up to $15,000 (ex GST) - A marae development plan is needed for all other Oranga Marae investment. If needed, an advisor can help a marae apply for financial support to create the plan. Requests for this support may be made at any time. Please refer to the criteria before applying.  Requests for funding can be made at any time of the year.
  • Technical Feasibility Support - a maximum contribution limit of up to $100,000 (ex GST) - For some capital (building) works, a marae may need to do a technical or feasibility study to show that the planned work is practical. Similarly, a resource or building consent may be required or a marae may need assistance in determining appropriate cultural development activities. If needed, an advisor can help the marae apply for appropriate funding. Requests for this support may be made three times per year. Please refer to the criteria before applying. 
  • Cultural vitalisation activities – A marae may apply for financial or other support for activities in the Marae Development Plan to help restore mātauranga Māori on the marae. Requests for funding can be made four times per year.
  • Capital works – An advisor may help a marae apply for funding or other support for the capital works identified in the Marae Development Plan. Marae are able to seek funding from other sources to assist in this as well as from Oranga Marae. Requests for funding can be made four times per year.

Oranga Marae is a contestable fund with finite limits so there can be no guarantee that all applications will be fully funded. Marae are expected to use their own and other resources to assist in implementing their plan.

When are the funding deadlines?

Cut-off dates for Marae Development Plan requests

Marae can make applications at any time during the year. The maximum contribution limit is $15,000 (ex GST).

Cut-off dates for Technical Feasibility Support requests

Applications for technical feasibility support are three times a year. The maximum contribution limit is $100,000 .

Requests for the Fund received by:

Will be considered at the meeting on:

5 July 2023

17 August 2023

6 December 2023

25 February 2024

3 April 2024

16 May 2024

Marae will be advised of the decision within two weeks of the committee meeting.


Cut-off dates for Marae Development Implementation requests

Requests for the Fund received by:

Will be considered at the meeting on:

19 July 2023

21 September 2023

11 October 2023

7 December 2023

7 February 2024

11 April 2024

24 April 2024

13 June 2024

Marae will be advised of the decision within two weeks of the committee meeting.

Oranga Marae programme priorities 2020/2021

Oranga Marae supports communities throughout New Zealand to sustain their marae, and their pae. The Oranga Marae Committee has set clear priorities to guide all funding decisions across the programme.

The priorities are useful for applicants too because they show right from the start, what the Committee is most interested in supporting and therefore what an application should address.

Four Oranga Marae Programme priorities

From November 1 2020 the priorities are to support marae that:

  1. are active, and the wider whānau are engaged with the cultural and physical revitalisation of marae
  2. are affected by natural disaster or climate change
  3. have health and safety concerns or compliance issues
  4. build relationships and partnering opportunities to support their development.

Strengthening your application

Ka ora ā –muri, ka ora ā-mua    -   Sustaining the marae, sustaining the pae

The Oranga Marae Committee is interested in understanding how your marae is planning to achieve its aspirations. In your request you are encouraged to include information about:

  • cultural revitalisation/retention of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga
  • well used facilities, events and activities e.g. booking schedules, photographs
  • maintenance plans, insurance and mitigation/resilience plans especially if the marae is in an area at risk of natural disaster or climate change impacts
  • succession planning, strategic goals and plans for the short and long term.

New builds (where a marae does not currently exist)

For the Oranga Marae Committee to consider a new build, applicants will need to provide information relating to:

  • recognition of ahi kaa
  • whakapapa
  • history detailing the hapū relationships and connections
  • validation and endorsement by the iwi.

The Oranga Marae Committee is made up of five Ministerial appointments and two representatives from Te Puni Kōkiri. The Committee considers requests for capital works and cultural revitalisation implementation.

Oranga Marae eligibility criteria

Eligibility Criteria

In order to qualify for Oranga Marae Funding, applications must meet the following criteria:

  1. be for a traditional or urban marae and
  2. be on land gazetted for the purpose of a marae and
  3. be submitted by trustees of the Māori Reservation or another legal entity*

*legal entity that has been approved by the trustees of the Māori Reservation to apply for Oranga Marae Funding on their behalf.

Exclusions

Kura or Wānanga Marae - Oranga Marae investment is not available to Marae-ā-kura and Marae-ā-wānanga or any other institutionally supported marae such as universities, polytechnics, etc.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the eligibility criteria may be collectively considered on a case by case basis by the Fund Managers.

Applying for support

You will need to log into the Department of Internal Affairs’ online grants and client management system (GCMS) to create a profile and make requests for funding. The link is below.

Log in to the grants management system

If you have not signed into the grants and client management system before, you will need to set up a RealMe account. You will be prompted to do this when you log in to the grants and client management system for the first time.

You can also set up a RealMe account on the RealMe website. Click here for further information about RealMe.

Getting started

If you are looking for ways to develop your marae or your whānau and hapū, get in touch with us first to find out how Oranga Marae may be able to help.

Call your local Te Puni Kōkiri or Department of Internal Affairs office or:

Free phone: 0800 824 824

Email: oranga.marae@dia.govt.nz

Extra support for marae

Te Puni Kōkiri provides facilitation and brokerage support for marae to access resources available from other private and public sector agencies and groups.

Online information and resources that marae may find useful have been grouped together under three key areas. Read more.

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