Introduction

 Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation, where our people feel part of a thriving community centred around our HUD whānau.

This Diversity and Inclusion (D & I) Workplan builds on the actions that we have taken since 2019 to reduce pay gaps and continue to build an inclusive workplace that reflects and embraces diversity – and the new and better ways of doing things that it brings. The workplan is guided by Papa Pounamu which sets the diversity and inclusion work programme for the Public Service, and Kia Toipoto – the Public Service Pay Gaps Action Plan.

- (Brad Ward, Deputy Chief Executive Organisational Performance / Executive Sponsor Diversity and Inclusion)

The below report provides a current view of how Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is tracking, with regards to both our gender pay gap, and our ethnicity pay gap. 

This report and action plan is aligned with the Public Service Pay Gaps and Pay Equity(external link)

Download a copy of the 2023 Diversity and Inclusion Workplan (PDF, 4.1 MB)

Our areas of progress

We are proud of the progress that we have continued to make in ensuring that we have a diverse and inclusive workplace, and that we address any pay gaps that exist.

We are continuing to make positive shifts with our gender pay gap, which has dropped to 7.2 percent, the lowest since we started reporting. Females/wāhine make up 63 percent of our workforce, and 64 percent of our people leader positions. Our analysis shows that within our pay bands, we have mostly eliminated any gender-related pay gaps.

Māori make up 20 percent of our workforce, and 24 percent of our people leader roles. The Māori pay gap has favoured Māori for the last two years with the average pay for Māori 6.2 percent higher than the average pay for non-Māori. This reflects our focus on strengthening our Māori capability, and ensuring we have capability and capacity to boost housing and urban development outcomes for Māori.

Our pay gap for our Asian people is 15.69 percent, at a similar level to last year.

Our pools of Pacific Peoples, Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (MELAA) and other ethnicities are currently too small to report individually and so have been grouped for pay gap reporting. The pay gap for this group is 16.1 percent. As with previous years, the main drivers of our ethnic pay gaps continue to be the lower levels of ethnic diversity in our people leadership roles.

To help us understand how our people feel about their connection to Our Kaupapa and culture and what we can do to improve their experiences, we run Pulse Surveys three times a year. The results from our surveys through 2022/23 showed the majority (69 percent) of our people agree or strongly agree with the question ‘How I feel: I have a sense of belonging here; I am valued and accepted; my contribution is recognised and makes a difference; I have opportunities to grow’. This positive response reflects our work to support an inclusive workplace.

We are committed to building the cultural capability of our people as we strive to be a Tiriti-led organisation. We continue to make progress in building our people’s understanding of te reo and tikanga Māori, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, through on-the-job learning, workshops, online modules, and marae-based experiences. We are focused on building organisational ways of working that reflect and support a Te Ao Māori culture.

Our People’s Networks celebrate diversity, provide safe spaces, and encourage thought leadership. Our networks continue to lead a range of events within HUD, from guest speakers through to all-staff gatherings in support of a positive workplace culture, such as Pink Shirt Day celebrations.

Our areas of focus

We have continued to make progress; however, we know that there is more work to do. Our workplan outlines the actions that will continue our progress through to 2023/24, with key areas of focus being:

  • Continuing our work to grow the cultural capability of our people, including our te reo and tikanga Māori capability, our Māori-Crown relations capability, and our inclusive leadership capability.
  • Continuing to ensure our people practices encourage diversity and inclusion, including how our recruitment and selection processes support us to attract a diverse range of candidates, with a focus on how we attract Pacific Peoples and increase the ethnic diversity of our leadership cohort.
  • Continuing to support our People’s Networks to thrive, supporting us to celebrate our diversity and maintain an inclusive workplace for our people.

Setting the scene: a strategic approach to diversity and inclusion

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He Tāngata, he Tāngata, he Tāngata.
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

Our people are the most important part of our organisation. To respond effectively to the housing challenges for all New Zealanders, we need to be a Ministry:

  • that reflects and embraces diversity
  • where our people feel part of a thriving and vibrant community
  • where the contributions that our people bring to our whānau are valued
  • where our people feel a sense Manaakitanga and Whanaungatanga in their everyday experiences at HUD.

As part of our 2022 Diversity and Inclusion (D&I Strategic Approach) we developed three aspirational goals to guide our practice:

Our workforce reflects Our Kaupapa.

Our people feel a sense of belonging, led through our leadership practices.

Our people are valued for their ideas and contributions; diversity of thought guides our practice.

Our areas of progress to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, and to address gender and ethnic pay gaps

Our key achievements in 2022/23 included:

  • We developed and implemented our Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Approach. This provided us with clear goals and a workplan that sustained our progress.
  • We have continued to maintain overall gender balance throughout the organisation and have increased the percentage of females/wāhine in people leader roles. We have the lowest gender pay gap since we started reporting in 2019.
  • We have improved the breadth and quality of our workforce demographic information with the introduction of our new HR information management system, ‘Aho’. Aho records information about our people and supports our people processes, giving us insights into our workforce. The demographic profile of our workforce is part of our regular reporting to our Organisational Health Governance Committee.
  • We have increased our cultural competence learning offerings, in particular Māori/Crown relations, te reo Māori and tikanga learning and experiences, as well as further rainbow awareness offerings.
  • The average pay for our Māori staff is higher than the average pay for non-Māori.
  • We have further developed our People’s Networks and the events they run. We have established a Pacific Peoples’ Network.
  • We monitored and updated our recruitment practices, including publishing the salary range in our job adverts to provide transparency to potential candidates.
  • We signed up to the Pride Pledge, and we have had people from all levels of our organisation attend Rainbow Awareness Training run by the Pride Pledge organisation.
  • We continued to participate in sector programmes that support diversity of the public sector workforce, including Tupu Tai internship programme and development programmes such as Mā ngā kaiārahi manawanui, an aspiring leader’s programme for rangatahi.
  • We continued our mahi to ensure we have an inclusive workplace, and we regularly monitor the experiences of our people with our Pulse Surveys. The results from our surveys through 2022/23 showed that 69 percent of our people agree or strongly agree with the question ‘How I feel – Taku āhua i te mahi: I have a sense of belonging here; I am valued and accepted; my contribution is recognised and makes a difference; I have opportunities to grow’.

Kia Toipoto: Our 2023 Gender and Ethnic Pay Gap Story

The gender and ethnic pay gap is the difference between groups of individuals and their earnings. It is a high-level indicator of ongoing workplace inequalities.

Since our establishment in 2018, we have focused on reducing our gender pay gap, and in 2021 we extended our pay gap analysis and action planning to include ethnic pay gaps. Eliminating all pay gaps requires an ongoing effort to improve our people systems and practices, and we are well on our way with this journey.

In November 2021 Te Kawa Mataaho released Kia Toipoto – Public Service Pay Gaps Action Plan 2021-24. This programme of work builds on from the previous Public Service Pay Gap Action Plan 2018-2020.

Te Pono

Transparency

1

Ngā Hua Tōkeke mō te Utu

Equitable pay outcomes

2

Focus area 3: Te whai kanohi i ngā taumata katoa

Leadership and representation

3

Te whai kanohi tāunoa te Aramahi

Effective career and leadership development

4

Te e whakakore tāunoa e katoa o ngā momo whakatoihara, haukume anō hoki

Eliminating all forms of bias and discrimination

5

Te Tāunoa o te Mahi Pīngore

Flexible-workby-default

6

Gender pay gaps

Our gender pay gap (7.2 percent) is the lowest it has been since recording started in 2019. When we were established in 2018, we inherited a pay gap which each year we have taken deliberate action to address. As a small Ministry our pay gaps can fluctuate year on year, but overall, our gender pay gap is reducing.

Drivers of our gender pay gap

Our pay gaps are mostly due to representation, with a higher percentage of females/wāhine in our lower and mid-level roles. We have 379 permanent or fixed-term employees who have provided gender information – 63 percent females/ wāhine, 37 percent males/tāne. Figure 2 shows how the percentage of females/wāhine in our workforce has changed since 2022.

Gender representation of people leader roles

The percentage of females/ wāhine in people leader roles has continued to grow over time. Females now make up 64 percent of people leader roles, and 58 percent of tier 2 and 3 positions.

HUD Workforce FemaleWahine 2023
Over the last 12 months we have seen an increase of males/tāne in roles in our lower pay bands, and an increase in females in roles in our higher pay bands. This is the primary driver behind the drop in our gender pay gap since 2022. The percentage of female/wāhine in our salary band 18 and above is still below our overall workforce percentage of 63 percent. Until we have a more consistent male/female ratio across all pay bands a pay gap will remain. This is an area we need to continue to focus on, and we will look for opportunities to further address this imbalance. When we look within our pay bands, we have mostly closed any pay gaps for same or substantially similar roles. We are confident that we are paying females/wāhine and males/tāne equitably for the same or substantially similar work. We will continue to monitor starting salaries to manage any emerging within-band pay gaps and ensure we continue to pay equitably for same or substantially similar work.

Ethnic pay gaps and representation

We began reporting on ethnic pay gaps in 2021. To enable effective reporting, we have actively been encouraging our people to record their ethnicity information. Ninety-one percent of our people have provided ethnicity information. Ensuring that we have high volumes of demographic information recorded will remain an ongoing focus to enable accurate reporting.

Our organisation does not currently fully reflect the ethnic diversity of the communities that we serve. We are broadly representative of the New Zealand population for Māori, New Zealand European, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and African and other ethnicities, but we are under-represented in Pacific Peoples.

We are a small Ministry. When we look at the ethnic make-up of our workforce, we have enough people in our workforce to report Māori and Asian pay gaps. For other groups our numbers are too small to enable accurate reporting of pay gaps individually. The average salaries for our different ethnic groups are detailed here along with our ethnic pay gaps.

  • Ethnic make-up of our workforce - 30 June 2023

     

    Ethnicity % Staff % Leader % Total
    New Zealand European 74% 79% 75%
    Māori 19% 24% 20%
    Pacific Peoples 4% 2% 4%
    Asian 13% 5% 11%
    Middle Eastern, Latin American and African 3% 0% 2%
    Other 3% 3% 3%
  • Average salary by ethnic group

    Ethnicity Average salary
    All ethnicities $130,287
    New Zealand European $132, 465
    Māori $136, 066
    Asian $111, 399
    Pacific Peoples, Middle Eastern, Latin American and African, other ethnicities 109,864

Our Ethnic Pay Gaps

Māori pay gap

The average salary for our Māori staff is 6.2 percent higher than our average salary for non-Māori. Māori make up 20 percent of our total workforce, higher than the wider public sector, and 24 percent of our people leadership roles. This reflects our continued focus on strengthening our Māori capability, particularly at our senior levels.

Asian pay gap

Our pay gap for our Asian staff has remained consistent since 2021 and is currently 15.7 percent. Eleven percent of our staff identify as Asian. This pay gap is a result of a higher percentage of our Asian workforce in certain business groups and occupations, and lower numbers of Asian staff in senior positions.

Other ethnic pay gaps

The number of Pacific Peoples, MELAA and other ethnicities in our workforce are too small to report individually this year. When these groups are combined, there is a 16.1 percent pay gap. As with previous years, the main drivers of our ethnic pay gaps continue to be low the number of Pacific Peoples, MELAA and other ethnicities in people leader roles. This remains an area of focus for us.

Our workplan for 2023/24

Our workplan for 2023/24 includes input from representatives from the PSA, and from our Peoples’ Networks; Wāhine Toa, Wāhine āhuru (Women’s Network), and Pacific Peoples. This input has shaped the mahi we will continue and support us to achieve our D&I goals.

  • Communication

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 

    Articulated our goal of a diverse and inclusive workplace. Shared stories that showcase the diversity of our people. 

    Celebrated Pacific language weeks. 

    Published our Kia Toipoto and Diversity and Inclusion plans. 

    Continue to celebrate events, for example Matariki, Pacific language weeks and Pride Week. 

    Continue to celebrate our workforce with stories about our people that reflect our diversity.  

    Share our D&I goals and actions with our People’s Networks and the PSA. 

    Publish and discuss our D&I goals and planned actions. 

    • Te pono – Transparency 
    • Te whakawhanaungatanga | Building relationships 
    • Te Urupare i te Mariu | Addressing bias 
    • Te āheinga ā-ahurea | Cultural competence 
  • Policies and Practices

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 

    Reviewed policies to ensure language is gender neutral. 

    Put in place our Protected disclosure and Speak up policies. 

    Introduced our approach and tools to support flexible working. 

    Introduced our new remuneration framework which focusses on providing consistency and fairness in our remuneration decisions.

    Apply a D&I lens in all future policy reviews (for example ‘Using the Lead Toolkit’ which provides guidance on employing disabled people, as we review our recruitment and accommodation policies and guidance). 

    Ensure supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace is part of any future role design work (for example, neutral language, inclusive leadership). 

    Maintain our focus on offering a flexible work environment. Active promotion of flexible hours/roles (being mindful not to use wording such as “ideally full-time but could accommodate part-time”). 

    • Te pono – Transparency 
    • Ngā Hua Tōkeke te Utu – Equitable pay outcomes 
    • Te whai Kanohi I ngā taumata katoa – leadership and representation 
    • Te Tāunoa o te Mahi Pīngore – Flexible-work-by-default 
    • Te whakawhanaungatanga | Building relationships
  • Learning and Development

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 

    Built cultural capability throughout HUD through the ongoing implementation of our Whāinga Amorangi Organisational Plan, and Tuakea, our Māori Language Plan. 

    Revamped our induction approach and embedded cultural capability learning and bias awareness learning into the online induction journey. 

    Rolled out rainbow e-learning module, attended by one-third of our workforce in 2022, and Pride Pledge Rainbow Awareness Training. 

    Further promote learning opportunities (for example, Inclusive leadership, Groundwork, Rainbow Awareness, Racism and me, mitigating bias). 

    Continue the delivery of Taukaea, our Māori Language Plan – building understanding of te reo and tikanga Māori and our Whāinga Amorangi Organisational Plan. 

    Ensure leadership development offerings have a D & I focus (for example, Leadership Development Centre programmes with Māori – Crown Relations component). 

    Roll out further cultural capability resources produced for the public sector. 

    Support the embedding of our L&D approach, including guidance for leaders to support their everyday learning and career development for their people. 

    Participate in targeted development programmes (for example, Rangatahi Māori and the Tū Mau Mana Moana, Pacific leaders’ programmes). 

    • Te whai Kanohi I ngā taumata katoa – leadership and representation 
    • Te Urupare i te Mariu | Addressing bias 
    • Te āheinga ā-ahurea | Cultural competence
    • Fostering Diverse Leadership
  • Recruitment and selection

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 
    Introduced practices to mitigate bias during recruitment and selection (for example, diverse recruitment panels, relativity assessments for salary offers, publishing salary ranges, valuing community-based experience). 

    Continue to improve our practices that we have adopted during recruitment to mitigate bias and attract a diverse range of candidates (for example, gender neutral language, diverse panels, publishing salary bands, assessing relativities at offer time, valuing experience beyond the workplace, and cultural knowledge during recruitment). 

    Update guidance for leaders to include bias awareness. 

    Continue to participate in internship programmes that target ethnic minority groups. 

    Frequent reviews of appointments (demographics of appointees) and associated salaries. 

    • Te whai Kanohi I ngā taumata katoa – leadership and representation 
    • Te Urupare i te Mariu | Addressing bias
    • Fostering Diverse Leadership
  • People's networks

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 

    Initially established six People’s Networks: Wāhine Toa, Wāhine āhuru (Woman’s network), Rainbow Network, Whakatipu Mauriora (Mental Health Network), Waiata Group, Green Group (environmental), with SLT sponsorship for each.  

    A new People’s Network for Pacific Peoples, has recently been established. 

    Increased visibility of our People’s Networks through our updated induction programme. 

    Ongoing support for our People’s Networks to lead initiatives and identify areas where they can provide input into our policies and practices. 

    Continue to ensure there is time available for network contribution and that we recognise the work of our network leads. 

    • Ngā tūhononga e kōkiritia ana e ngā kaimahi | Employee-led networks 
    • Te āheinga ā-ahurea | Cultural competence
  • Leadership

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 

    Through our recruitment and selection practices we have maintained gender balance, and increased the ethnic diversity, of our leadership cohort. 

    Continued to incorporate inclusive leadership practices into our everyday ways of working.

     

    Ongoing support for our leaders to embed good people leadership practices, including regular one-on-one conversations and performance and career development. 

    Promotion of inclusive leadership learning and Leadership Development Centre programmes. 

    Further build capability of our leaders, with a focus on extending cultural capability, and building rainbow and disability awareness and understanding e.g. Inclusive leadership learning, engagement with cultural capability learning as part of the Tupu Tai internship programme, the promotion of Pride Pledge Rainbow Awareness training amongst leaders, supporting understanding of neurodiversity, encouraging all leaders to complete mitigating bias learning. 

    The development of toolkits for leaders to support them build their capability and apply good management practices e.g. Effective Coaching. A D&I lens will be applied to all guides and resources.

    • Te Whakawhangatketanga I te Aramahi – Effective career and leadership development 
    • Te e whakakore tāunoa e katoa o ngā momo whakatoihara, haukume anō hoki – Eliminating all forms of bias and discrimination
    • Hautūtanga Ngākau Tuwhera | Inclusive leadership
  • Workforce data

    Actions to date

    What's next: June 2023 - June 2024

    Alignment to Papa Pounamu and Kia Toipoto 

    Introduced Aho, our HR Information Management System, to streamline the reporting of workforce demographic information. 

    Increased the percentage of our people recording demographic information – ethnic information recorded is now over 90 percent. 

    Included pay gap reporting in our quarterly Organisational Health Reports. 

     

    Continue to monitor and promote the recording of demographic information in Aho, and report on our demographic profile to the Organisational Health Committee. 

    • Ngā Hua Tōkeke te Utu – Equitable pay outcomes 
    • Te whai Kanohi I ngā taumata katoa – leadership and representation
    • Te Tāunoa o te Mahi Pīngore – Flexible-work-by-default 
    • Fostering Diverse Leadership