Hosts: Te Aka Wāhine o Tāmaki Auckland Government Women’s Network

Venue: Online via Zoom

Date: 2nd May 2024

Facilitators:

  • Jo Hacking, Director MBIE, Past Chair  Te Aka Wāhine o Tāmaki – Auckland Government Women’s Network (AGWN)
  • Dr Hend Zaki, Co-Founder, Women of Colour Public Servants Network (to be launched mid-2024)

Panellists:

  • Claudia Faletolu, Tūhono Māori Network
  • Karli Te Aotonga, Tūhono Māori Network
  • Helen Karati, Pacific Public Servants Network
  • Mridula Duffadar, Pan Asian Public Sector Network Tāmaki Makaurau 

Jo Hacking, Past Chair of AGWN, facilitated an insights-packed lunchtime seminar for AGWN, which will be an ongoing kōrero across our ELNs as staffing and resourcing changes in public service agencies disproportionately affect women. A diverse panel of women from across the Public Sector, facilitated by Dr Hend Zaki, reflected on insights from the Public Sector Gender Deep Dive report (2023), released after the Te Taunaki the Public Sector Census of 2022

 

Key takeaways

  • Our panellists felt the report confirmed what is known about the lived experiences of Māori, Pacific and Asian wāhine and women of colour of all cultural backgrounds in the Public Sector.
  • The wero laid down was how to change the experiences of these groups of wāhine in the future.
  • Panellists also agreed it would be valuable for the next Te Taunaki Public Service Census to reflect women in the wider Public Sector, starting with Crown Agencies and Independent Crown Entities.

 

Feedback from attendees

  • What stood out to me was the diversity of the panel and the insights from lived experience.
  • The kōrero and aronga of the panel were very insightful and Helen's call to action inspiring.
  • What I would like to see from senior leaders would be a conscious effort to act on the report's recommendations.
  • This isn't specifically about the report, but I would like to see agencies accounting for how job losses will affect women and gender minorities. In my agency, almost all the jobs on the line are women, particularly at the manager level. I am sure our pay gap will grow as a result.

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