Overview
New Zealand is a superdiverse country. It has the fourth highest proportion of overseas-born residents among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. Auckland has been ranked as the fourth most ethnically diverse city in the world.
Ethnic communities made up 37% of Auckland population in 2018 and contributed to 30% of Auckland’s economy in 2018 (or $33b of $109b total Auckland Gross Domestic Product (GDP)). [Ethnic minorities in Auckland: Direct contributions high, opportunities for more, Report to the NZ Government Auckland Policy Office 29 June 2022, Pg.10] New Zealand is home to people from over 160 different ethnic groups, where more than 150 languages are spoken. [The previous count that indicates 230 ethnic groups in New Zealand has been revised in our review of the data. Our findings (based on a thorough analysis of the ethnic communities’ data dashboard) shows that there are 160 ethnic groups in New Zealand.] Ethnic communities include new and temporary migrants, former refugees, asylum seekers, long-term settlers, and those born in New Zealand to migrant parent(s). In the next 10 years, they will make up a quarter of New Zealand’s population.
Ethnic diversity can be an enabler linked to better long-term economic performance, and improved productivity and innovation. [OECD Report: ‘All Hand In, Making Diversity Work for All (September 2020): The impact of diversity: A review of the evidence | All Hands In? Making Diversity Work for All | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org)] Enabling diverse ethnic populations to realise their full potential requires an understanding of their needs, planning with respect to those needs and navigating them within the system.
Poor planning for ethnic diversity and lack of equity are linked to poorer outcomes for the overall population. Poor outcomes can include higher racial discrimination, higher prevalence of social and economic disadvantage (such as poverty and unemployment), poorer mental and physical health, and higher crime rates. The harmful impacts of these phenomena create considerable costs borne by all people in New Zealand. Equally, we all stand to gain when the cycle of persistent disadvantage and inequity is broken and the full potential of everyone is realised. [Productivity Commission Report (June 2023) A fair chance for all: Breaking the cycle of persistent disadvantage (productivity.govt.nz)]
Fostering an equitable environment for ethnic people to thrive is crucial for the wellbeing and prosperity of all people in New Zealand. Equitable outcomes can make New Zealand a more stimulating place to live, and can facilitate new ideas and innovative entrepreneurial behaviour, foster competition and raise productivity. These characteristics might also help New Zealand attract global talent, as well as expand opportunities and improve conditions for New Zealand in overseas markets.
Promoting equitable outcomes through system leadership, and empowering ethnic people to live the lives they value is integral to the work and role of the Ministry. Our role to encourage fairness and equity embraces Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It reflects the historical context and distinctiveness of Aotearoa New Zealand as a country with a long history of valuing fairness and giving everyone a fair go. [Productivity Commission Report (June 2023) ‘A fair chance for all: Breaking the cycle of persistent disadvantage’ (productivity.govt.nz)].
We focus on key areas that will deliver the biggest difference for ethnic communities
Two years into our existence as a Ministry, we have learned a lot. Our experience to date has shown that the Ministry is drawn into the full breadth of Government work and inter and intra community interactions. While this approach suited the Ministry in its early days, we no longer consider it an effective or efficient use of the resources of a small and young Ministry.
We are pivoting to focus on key portfolio areas that could make the most difference and have the highest impact for ethnic communities. These are areas where ethnic communities have persistently sought systems change and where we see a need or untapped potential. This includes economic contribution and outcomes, health and wellbeing, belonging and cultural identity, emergency response such as extreme weather events and terrorism, and national security.
The following section provides an overview of these key areas and our recent work. More informative briefings will follow. You will notice that there are a wide range of options and opportunities for action within each area. We look forward to discussing any improvements that you may identify, as well as the areas of greatest interest to you. There may be other areas that you would prefer we focus on, and policy priorities of the Government that are likely to have significant implications for ethnic communities.
Promoting economic outcomes for ethnic communities
Ethnic communities are estimated to contribute $64 billion to the total New Zealand economy [Waitakere Ethnic Board Ethnic Economic Contribution Report – Waitakere Ethnic Board], however, the overall economic contribution per capita is lower for ethnic communities compared with the general population.
Most ethnicities within ethnic communities are more likely to be earning less than the general population; some of the differences in earnings can be partially explained by factors such as age (young workforce), recent migration, or employment industry. [Cochrane, B & Pacheco, G. (2022) Empirical analysis of Pacific, Māori and ethnic pay gaps in New Zealand. NZ Work Research Institute, Auckland, NZ. 7e71e4dbee2432b576ef6fbc348f4d7109cdd073.pdf (aut.ac.nz)] The main industries ethnic communities work in are accommodation and food services, professional scientific and technical services, retail trade, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing. Ethnic communities are less represented in education and training, and construction.
New Zealanders feel migration has a generally positive impact on our economy and culture. Around three quarters agree it’s a good thing for any society to be made up of people from different races, religions and cultures, and migrants make New Zealand more productive and innovative. [Report by MBIE in 2021 on ‘Community perceptions of migrants and immigration’ (mbie.govt.nz)]
This information is consistent with international research and findings from Australia’s Productivity Commission which highlights the benefits of diversity in the labour force such as increased productivity, enhancing trade and investment flows, strengthening business networks; and enabling access to markets that support higher value exports.
The Ministry has been witnessing the current economic environment including the high inflation, high interest rates and increasing household living costs and mega trends such as climate change, rapid technological advancement and population changes including rapid growth and movements. To date, most of the Ministry’s work in this area included leveraging existing work programmes across other Government agencies, such as:
- working to eliminate the ethnic pay gap
- connecting small and medium-sized businesses to each other and government
- improving employment opportunities via the Employment Strategy and Action Plans
- organising a Ministerial Roundtable with ethnic business councils and the EthnicBiz Forum.
Although ethnic businesses can add much to the New Zealand economy, their potential has not been fully unlocked. The Auckland Policy Office commissioned research [Ethnic minorities in Auckland: Direct contributions high, opportunities for more, Report to the NZ Government Auckland Policy Office 29 June 2022, Pg.2] highlighted that ethnic minority communities are less likely to be entrepreneurial than average. This is counter to the common view that migrant and ethnic communities tend to be more entrepreneurial. This could be because of New Zealand’s immigration policies that favour people for existing jobs. However, it discovered some ethnicities are more entrepreneurial, including Dutch, South Slav, Cambodian, Chinese and Korean. They are most likely to be in retail, hospitality and transport sectors.
The report further suggested that the economic output of ethnic communities is less than it could be because of skills mismatches, lower incomes, and lower levels of entrepreneurship.
Understanding ethnic businesses and how they operate is necessary to supporting them to flourish. Ethnic small businesses for example have unique features; they often start out of necessity and thus are not growth oriented, they employ family and co-ethnics [Co-ethnic means someone of the same ethnicity] and borrow from friends and family to support their business. They are also likely to share aspects of other small businesses in general: have no formal governance arrangements, lack resources, are isolated, play a key role in local communities, do not seek formal training or expert advice, and have many parts of the business handled directly by the owner.
Key challenges faced by ethnic small businesses include access to information and business support, access to finance, racism, discrimination, and mismatch in business culture. A lack of digital connectivity and a heavier reliance on overseas staff further compound these challenges. There also other challenges such as language barriers and lack of local business networks (other than ethnic ones) which leads to a lack of ability to cross-pollinate, learn from each other, and grow their business.
Access to mainstream business associations’ support could help mitigate some of these barriers but there is evidence that ethnic businesses do not find mainstream business associations relevant or welcoming [Ministry for Ethnic Communities Internal Report: Supporting Ethnic Small Business Resilience through COVID-19, February 2021, Pg.3]. These further limits access to vital information and to wider business networks that would be helpful to their success.
Given the extent of untapped potential, and investment that could be made for future economic prosperity, we are currently looking at areas where we can do better to foster ethnic peoples’ business potential, leverage off international connections and increase capabilities and opportunities. To this end, the Ministry has engaged with private sector stakeholders such as the Employers and Manufacturers Association, Auckland Business.
Chamber, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Bank of New Zealand and KPMG New Zealand to shape up the potential direction of its economic work programme that will enable ethnic small businesses, entrepreneurs, and large organisations to tap into both domestic and international business and trade opportunities.
Enabling better health and wellbeing outcomes
Our Health snapshot is limited because we do not have disaggregated health data available on ethnic communities. What we know from the Ministry of Health is that the Asian population have substantially lower levels of enrolment with primary health organisations (90.1%) compared with European/other ethnic populations (99.0%) and Pacific peoples (93.8%); while enrolments are higher than Māori (82.9%) as reported in the Health and Independence Report 2022 [The 2022 Health and Independence Report, Ministry of Health, Published in July 2023: Health and Independence Report 2022 | Ministry of Health NZ]. This information is also consistent with the Health NZ Survey 2020/21 [New Zealand Health Survey 2020/21, Ministry of Health: Annual Update of Key Results 2020/21: New Zealand Health Survey | Ministry of Health NZ], with fewer Asian adults reported engaging with their General Practitioners (GPs) in the previous 12 months (66.5%) when compared to the overall population (73.9%). One in five Asian youth are forgoing healthcare, and do not access healthcare even when it is needed as reported by the Youth2000 Series.
Mental distress and discrimination among ethnic community youth are of concerning levels, as reported by Education Review Office (ERO) long term insights briefing [Long-Term Insights Briefing - Summary of Submissions June 2022 (2).pdf]. ERO drew on two national surveys: What About Me and the Youth2000 series. From the What About Me survey, nearly one in five students report they frequently feel they do not belong and have experienced racist bullying in the last month. Thirty-nine percent of MELAA (Middle Eastern, Latin American, African) students have seriously contemplated suicide (compared to 26% of all students) and MELAA youth have the lowest wellbeing scores, at 40%, much lower than the New Zealand average (58%) and Asian students (63%). Furthermore, the Youth2000 Series reports that nearly 34% of East Asian students scored ‘not good’ mental and emotional health.
The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 does not provide for a standalone ethnic health strategy, unlike other population groups. Many ethnic communities have reiterated that they are unable to locate themselves within the current health reforms, which introduced fundamental structural changes to the way the health system is organised, and services are delivered.
To ensure focus on critical and persistent health needs, the Ministry has partnered with Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health, Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) and Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) to progress six priorities. These six priorities include:
- Priority one: ensure ethnic communities are included in the New Zealand Health Strategy, the Government Policy Statement and New Zealand Health Plan.
- Priority two: understand the geographic spread of ethnic communities across New Zealand.
- Priority three: disaggregate health data to enable better insights into different ethnic communities.
- Priority four: enable the consistent provision of interpretation services across the country.
- Priority five: undertake a stocktake of Asian and other ethnic service providers to identify and plug service gaps.
- Priority six: continue support for the survivors of the March 15 terror attack in Christchurch.
A public sector Governance Group of senior officials oversees this work. Additionally, in August 2023, the House of Representatives recommended that health agencies develop an action plan to address Asian communities’ access to mental health services. This was in response to a petition that sought more funding and resources for social and health services targeted to Asian communities. The then Minister of Health accepted this recommendation and informed the House that the ‘group made up of senior leaders across Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health, Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora [would] continue to progress action on the issues raised by the petitioner’. As a result, this work has been added as Priority seven to the work of the Governance Group [The Petition of Eva Chen: Allocate sufficient funding and resources to support Asian migrant communities.].
Navigating disruptive events: ensuring better preparedness, response and recovery
Approximately 0.6 million people from ethnic communities (64%) were based in affected areas by the North Island weather events (the Auckland floods and cyclone Gabrielle) in early 2023, of which we estimate 84,000 had limited English.
According to the Stats NZ 2021 General Social Survey, only 26% of Asian households have an emergency plan and only 44.3% of Asian households have enough water for three days. Furthermore, 89.9% of Asian households do not have enough food for three days.
Major disruptive events, including the North Island severe weather events, a major terrorist attack in Christchurch, and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted that not every part of the system is prepared to effectively respond to the needs of all populations, including ethnic communities. The risks of having ethnic communities left behind in preparedness activities can create more cost to communities and governments.
In the aftermath of disruptive events, we learned that ethnic communities have the most need for:
- an interconnected and culturally appropriate service delivery system where the needs of ethnic communities are known and factored into the response.
- a readily accessible network of providers who can connect communities to the right service, or actually provide the service required that can be leveraged so that communities can do it for themselves.
- accessible sources of information and translation services that can be used in a timely and appropriate manner, and that ethnic communities are aware of.
For example, when there was a delayed announcement of the declaration of the state of emergency in Auckland, it made it hard for the community leaders and faith-based leaders to communicate emergency messages with their communities promptly. Some ethnic and faith-based communities were not connected to mainstream media, opting instead for their own respective ethnic media. These communities tended to rely on their leaders/faith-based places who may also communicate through their respective social media channels and may not know they were missing vital messages. Some communities did not access authoritative government information and were therefore exposed and susceptible to misinformation.
Emergency centres and temporary accommodation such as motels were also not culturally equipped and were not able to respond to the cultural/faith-based needs such as:
- gender-specific needs of certain communities g., women-only spaces for Muslim women.
- social distancing, while engaging with the service providers.
- type of food due to religious practices g., Halal, Kosher, Vegetarian.
- prayer space.
At the time of the North Island weather events, the Ministry worked alongside a range of agencies (National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), local councils and Ministry of Social Development (MSD)) to support a comprehensive and fit-for-purpose response in times of emergencies for ethnic communities. This included:
- translated information about accessing interpreting services when calling government agencies were developed.
- targeted eLearning training on accessing and using interpreting services to lift the intercultural capability of customer-facing government staff were produced.
- a Disaster and Emergency Support Hub being set up [Provides general information about mental health and wellbeing, financial, and language support, as well as information about ethnic service providers and preparing for disasters and emergencies.].
We have also started work on producing animated videos on emergency preparedness [Collaboration with MSD and NEMA on delivering eight animated videos on emergency preparedness, such as earthquakes and floods. These videos will be translated into 20 languages to ensure they are accessible.]. The Ministry has released translation guidance to help build the language capability of the public service [‘Unlocking Language Barriers- Te Whakamahea Tauārai Reo’ guide for agencies to support them in better communicating and reaching culturally and linguistically diverse communities.].
Work is underway on exploring options to create a single portal where all translated information from across the public service (including non-emergency related information) can be accessed. This portal will be particularly useful in times of disruptive events, enabling communities to go to a single source for all emergency related information across the public service in their language. We are also exploring how translation processes can be sped up for key messages that need to be spread urgently. We are doing this in collaboration with DIA.
The Ministry has identified the need for infrastructure to increase the capability of the public service and the resilience of communities to navigate disruptive events.
NEMA is responsible for coordinating the national infrastructure for emergency management. NEMA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry for Pacific Peoples and is looking to do the same with the Ministry to better support ethnic communities through such adverse events.
Maximising the benefits of diversity: belonging and cultural identity
Ethnic communities provide economic and social connections throughout the world, which can connect us to markets, skills and other opportunities. There is no doubt that economic participation is a key channel through which individuals achieve wellbeing. Higher incomes expand opportunities and choice and provide the basis for participation in society. Having a job also contributes directly to well-being through the sense of self-esteem and sociability that it provides. The social cohesion and connectedness that arise from participation in turn impact favourably on economic performance [Towards an Inclusive Economy, The Treasury Working Paper 1/15, July 2001, Pg 13].
Social cohesion may in turn contribute to higher economic output, and economic growth may in turn contribute to social cohesion by changing individuals’ subjective feelings about the degree of well-being they derive from belonging to their society.
Cultural identity is also an important contributor to people’s sense of belonging. Identifying with a particular culture helps people feel they belong and gives them a sense of security. An established cultural identity has also been linked with positive outcomes in areas such as health and education. It provides access to social networks, which provide support and shared values and aspirations. Social networks can help to break down barriers and build a sense of trust between people – a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “social capital”[The Social Report 2016 – Te pūrongo oranga tangata. Pg 175. Retrieved from https://www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/].
A society of people that enjoys high levels of participation, interconnection and cohesion is defined as possessing a high level of “social capability”. Social capability can be thought of as the ability of a society to co-operate towards the attainment of socially beneficial outcomes.
However, strong cultural identity expressed in the wrong way can contribute to barriers between groups. Members of smaller cultural groups can feel excluded from society if others obstruct, or are intolerant of, their cultural practices. For example, experienced discrimination by ethnic communities is reported to be widespread among all ages of ethnic communities with children and young people reporting exclusion from activities due to their ethnic identity. Connection to family, faith, support for cultural identity and languages are areas of strong wellbeing for children and young people.
Ethnic diversity has the potential to enrich our nation’s culture. This potential is most likely to be realised if we take a deliberate approach to celebrating the diversity of ethnicity, thought and ability; ensuring equity and inclusion, and planning for ethnic populations to lead a full life. Poorly managed ethnic diversity leads to social harms such as discrimination, racism (including religious racism such as antisemitism and islamophobia), erosion of a sense of belonging and reduced participation in civic life. Such harms can lead to the development of community divisions that disconnect people from each other. These elements can reduce the development of social capital and can have negative impacts on the robust and cohesive development of our society.
The Ethnic Communities Development Fund provides a small avenue to grow cultural identity, preserve culture and a sense of belonging in New Zealand. The Ministry also organises a range of opportunities to foster dialogue between different groups such as inter- faith leaders, business forums, ethnic research hui, and Ethnic Advantage Conferences.
Achieving a cohesive society requires government agencies to work together across the different characteristics of ethnic communities (such as age and gender) to enable them to express their cultural identity, be cherished by their community and feel they belong in New Zealand.
Current cross-agency work in this area includes:
- participating in addressing the divisive and inequitable impacts of racism through developing the National Action Plan Against Racism led by the Ministry of Justice.
- celebrating culture and heritage by working with Manatū Taonga – Ministry for Culture and Heritage on increasing diversity in the arts sector and promoting opportunities for:
- joint research, monitoring and evaluation to improve insights
- working to increase ethnic diversity in the media
- increasing ethnic diversity on public service boards within the cultural sector
- supporting ethnic artists to understand their rights under the Artist Resale Royalty Scheme established in August 2022.
- exploring with the Office for Māori Crown Relations – Te Arawhiti, what role ethnic communities can play in honouring tangata whenua by facilitating positive relationships through key events such as Waitangi Day and Matariki.
A key example of this work includes our work with ethnic communities in New Zealand who are impacted by Israel-Palestine conflict, complementing the work underway in DPMC and New Zealand Police. We are working to ensure communities can tap into available funds through ECDF and develop practical social cohesion activities that can bring groups together.
Having a focus on national security
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Services report ‘New Zealand’s Security Threat Environment 2023’ provided visibility into foreign interference activity in New Zealand. Foreign interference is a growing international phenomenon carried out by several authoritarian states. Unchecked, foreign interference presents a direct challenge to western liberal principles and traditions, as well as the safety and security of some ethnic communities. Foreign interference can increase existing tensions and divisions within communities as well as undermine social cohesion within wider society.
As part of Budget 2023, $9 million over four years was provided to support engagement with ethnic communities to assess the impact of foreign interference activities in New Zealand.
The Ministry was appointed the lead agency of this work programme to ensure the engagement is culturally grounded and appropriate. The project aims to enable the Government to better understand how foreign interference affects ethnic communities, while building awareness, community resilience and government-community relationships to mitigate against the risk of foreign interference.
The Ministry is in the final stages of establishing the Security and Resilience Team and is looking forward to discussing the work programme with you.
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