Key Trends & Community Insights

Issues / trends

• Indicator data shows that Māori and Pacific Peoples experience the worst outcomes across housing, income, employment, socio-economic deprivation, education and youth justice.
• Persistent inequity remains between Māori and non-Māori. Where gaps are closing, progress is slow.
• Māori and marae-led responses to the Covid-19 pandemic proved effective.
• Māori are concerned about the end of Covid funding and withdrawal of community connectors and wrap-around services.
• Māori are hungry for anything kaupapa Māori to be supported. There is huge interest in re-indigenising and the reclamation of Māori ways of doing.
• Other key issues identified by the Māori community include youth disengagement with education, digital equity, kai sovereignty, housing, retaining and developing whenua, climate justice, mental health and addiction support.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Centre Te Tiriti o Waitangi in funding strategy and practice. Fund Māori aspirations and incorporate te ao Māori into funding frameworks and decisions.
• Shift intergenerational disadvantage through a focus on whole whānau approaches and holistic support.
• Focus on self-determination; prioritise kaupapa Māori solutions, Māori-led and marae-based approaches that are strengths-based.
• Listen to Māori, support tino rangatiratanga, establish relationships and partnerships with Māori, and devolve resources.
• Get to know the landscape of inter-iwi relationships and have good advisors working with mana whenua. Focus on supporting hapū aspirations for 20+ years and wrap around capacity and capability plans.
• Use indigenous wellbeing frameworks.
• Support rangatahi to lead in the digital space.

Issues / trends

• 16% of Auckland’s population is Pacific, with the highest numbers living in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, Ōtara-Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Henderson-Massey.
• Indicator data shows that Māori and Pacific peoples experience the worst outcomes across housing, income, employment, socio-economic deprivation, education and youth justice.
• Income equity is a key issue for Pacific communities. Pacific peoples have the lowest median personal income ($19,800 in Northland and $24,100 in Auckland, compared to $26,800 and $41,400 respectively for NZ Europeans). More Pacific peoples comparatively are stuck in poor working conditions with low pay.
• The cost of living is impacting Pacific communities; and there is a lack of access to resources and opportunities, and low trust of support agencies.
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the strength and resilience of Pacific communities.
• Pacific identifies are diverse and shifting over time.
• Communities are seeing bold, fearless young Pacific leaders emerging.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Support food security, housing and youth transitions.
• Support financial literacy and focus on lifting incomes.
• A strong emphasis on cultural identity and the role of family, communities, and faith is closely related to Pacific peoples’ experiences of well-being. Build cultural connection and identify.
• Housing solutions that work for Pacific communities.
• Non-contestable funding models, multi-year funding and genuine, trust-based funding relationships.
• Intentional networking and fono to support collaboration, and platforms for Māori and Pacific to share learning and work together.
• An intergenerational, long-term focus.

Issues / trends

• The proportion of people in Northland living in NZ Deprivation Index deciles nine and ten has decreased since 2006, but is still over half the population and two thirds of the population in the Far North.
• Māori and Pacific peoples have lower rates of employment and median personal income in Northland.
• Community wellbeing indicators – including life satisfaction, sense of purpose and family wellbeing – are lower in Northland than Auckland.
• School attendance and engagement are key issues, and the number of NEET youth has risen to 16.8% (from 12.2% in 2018).
• Northland has the highest rates of any region in New Zealand for the entry of children into Oranga Tamariki care.
• The number of people on the housing register has increased by 210% in Northland in the past five years
• Communities report a lack of access to services, especially healthcare, with a two-to-six week wait for a GP appointment.
• Other issues identified by communities include unemployment, kai sovereignty, housing, marae development, family and sexual violence and isolated elderly.
• Frontline staff are burned out.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Early intervention with whānau from early years up.
• Provide support for young people in and out of school, and support youth transitions.
• Focus on the Far North and expand across Northland from there.
• Support local economic development.
• Co-funding, collaboration and joined-up approaches across sectors and levels of government.

Issues / trends

• Over half of the population in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu (87%), Ōtara-Papatoetoe (71%), Manurewa (70%) and Papakura (61%) live in NZ Deprivation Index deciles nine and ten.
• Māori, Pacific peoples and MELAA communities have lower rates of employment and median personal income in South Auckland.
• Issues with methamphetamine seem to be more prevalent than ever.
• Businesses in South Auckland are struggling to stay afloat.
• The current education system is not working for many young people in South Auckland. Social anxiety and mental health issues are prevalent.
• Oranga Tamariki is discharging young people in care into homelessness.
• Intergenerational dependency on benefits.
• Crime and community safety.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Rangatahi need safe spaces to connect and access support.
• Focus on Māori and Pacific housing solutions.
• Support Māori and Pacific communities to lead in the digital space.
• Better access to health care including emergency care, sexual health and dental care.
• Cultural competency is needed, especially in youth engagement.
• Long-term, community-led, place-based or kaupapa-based approaches to systems change are advocated.

Issues / trends

• Declining ECE participation and NCEA achievement are concerning trends for children and young people. At the same time, fewer children are entering into care, or entering the youth justice system.
• Young people were particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Young Aucklanders were disproportionately affected by job losses and secondary school attendance rates declined significantly.
• Covid-19 lockdowns had a significant impact on youth mental health, school engagement/attendance and unemployment. This is likely to have a ‘long tail’ in terms of impact on life outcomes.
• School transience rates are highest in Northland, Great Barrier, Waiheke and South Auckland. NEET rates have risen in Northland between 2018–23.
• Young people identify mental health as their biggest concern.
• Some young people feel isolated and disconnected.
• Youth activism in Aotearoa has focused on issues of house prices, voting age, health and mental health care, employment, climate change, racism and inequity.
• Youth services are stretched and underfunded, with burnout a key sector issue.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Early intervention approaches (from 9/10 years old or earlier).
• Support for youth transitions, work readiness and youth employment.
• Increasing engagement with school and transforming education systems.
• Youth mental health support.
• Cross-sector co-ordination and collaboration, and holistic approaches to supporting youth wellbeing.
• Moves such as lowering the voting age to 16 for local elections may support wellbeing by increasing agency for younger people.

Issues / trends

• 29% of people in Northland and 19% of people in Auckland experience some form of disability (NZ = 23%).
• There is a lack of detailed and up to date data about people with disabilities to drive effective policy and funding.
• Disability support services are underfunded.
• Increase in financial hardship for disabled people.
• Individualised funding is being rolled out with the intent to offer disabled people greater choice and control over the supports they receive. Families will need support to navigate these changes.
• Covid-19 exacerbated issues with mental health and anxiety for people with disabilities and carers. There is a lack of access to respite care.
• Lack of access to suitable and affordable housing, despite Kainga Ora targets of 15% of new public housing for disabled people.
• Number of people with disabilities will grow with rapidly ageing population.
• Lack of places for young people with disabilities to belong.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Navigation support to access services/opportunities and manage individualised funding.
• Accessible public spaces, welcoming schools.
• Access to paid employment.
• Supporting community services providers with capability to meet needs of disabled people.
• Greater inclusion of disabled people in decision-making.

Issues / trends

• Rainbow communities experience higher unemployment rates, and personal disposable income is lower for transgender and non-binary people.
• After age-adjustment, people in the LGBT+ population are over two times more likely to have daily feelings of anxiety and almost three times more likely to experience daily feelings of depression.
• There is a lack of good data about rainbow communities; however, new sexual and gender identity data standards were incorporated in the 2023 census to improve this.
• There have been key advancements in rights for rainbow people (e.g., conversion therapy ban and allocations for gender-affirming health care and healthcare for intersex people).
• Disinformation, online hate and anti-trans sentiment are issues of growing concern.
• Most rainbow young people do not feel they belong and are not supported at school (Identify Survey, 2022).
• Key issues for rainbow communities include a lack of access to appropriate healthcare, mental health and suicide and homelessness/access to housing.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Positive activism centred on connection.
• Educate decision-makers to address under-representation of rainbow issues, provide greater recognition in policy, law and funding and increase accountability to action in government agencies.
• Strengthen rainbow sector collaboration and infrastructure, build capacity and leadership to address larger systemic issues, and support the wellbeing of rainbow leaders.
• Reflect intersectional identities in funding strategy.

Issues / trends

• 41% of the population in the Auckland region was born overseas. Diverse ethnic communities are projected to constitute a much larger proportion of the New Zealand population over coming decades.
• Refugee resettlement into Auckland dropped in 2020/21 due to COVID-19 restrictions but increased significantly in 2022/23 to the highest level since 2013/14 (268 people).
• Immigration NZ has now developed separate strategies for refugees and migrants, acknowledging the different journeys, needs and priorities between these two groups.
• Exploitation of migrant workers has been exposed as a key issue, prompting new laws for worker protections.
• Social isolation and marginalisation are key issues, driven by racism and discrimination.
• There is a lack of culturally appropriate support services for new migrants and former refugees.
• Family violence, sexual violence and elder abuse are key issues.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Solutions that help build social trust, belonging, social participation and intercultural understanding and connection.
• Support for the first five years for former refugees, focusing on integration and supporting the transition from government support to employment or self-employment.
• Support employment and enterprise.

Issues / trends

• Climate change will impact the region’s habitats, species and communities in a range of ways as temperature increases, droughts become more frequent and rainfall events become more severe. Northland is likely to warm significantly into the future to a more subtropical climate.
• The impact of climate change is becoming more intense and long-lasting, affecting mental wellbeing, causing financial hardship, impacting native habitat and species, damaging private and community property and assets.
• Communities that already experience the greatest inequities are likely to find it more difficult to prepare, respond and recover from similar climate events to those experienced in 2023.
• There is significant need to coordinate and connect environmental and climate action efforts.
• Environmental groups find it challenging to manage diverse volunteers.
• Schools have limited capability to incorporate climate action into education.
• Business and philanthropic funding to environment is relatively low.

Aspirations/ enablers

• Supporting mana whenua-led action.
• Large scale environmental regeneration.
• Kai sovereignty and sustainable local food systems.
• Connected, collective, ecosystem approaches; included a joined-up approach to climate action nationally.
• Co-funding between the private sector and philanthropy.
• Climate change adaptation and resilience across priority communities, including strengthening the ability of community hubs to mobilise, share resources and meet community needs.
• Connect environmental regeneration to other outcomes e.g., social connection.