This week Whare Tukutuku are releasing Te Wai Taramea: Māori Alcohol and Other Drug Workforce Report 2023. Building off the previous report released in 2022, Te Wai Taramea 2023 aimed to gather insights, experiences, needs and aspirations from kaimahi with the goal of advancing health equity.
Several recommendations emerged from the report, which included:
- Targeted Recruitment: Encourage activities focused on attracting people with passion, interest, and lived experience to increase the workforce. This is crucial for addressing staffing challenges and diversifying the workforce.
- Innovation and Flexibility: Urgently foster innovation, new leadership, and flexibility within the AOD workforce to address ongoing challenges. This includes exploring new approaches to care and leadership dynamics.
- Cultural Fluency Development: Provide further workforce development opportunities to enhance existing kaimahi confidence in te reo me ōna tikanga. This includes addressing the need for cultural development, to better connect with whānau Māori needing care.
- Advocacy for Resources: Continue advocating for better funding, resources, and salaries to recognise and remunerate kaimahi Māori adequately for their significant contributions within the AOD workforce.
- Cultural Loading Awareness: Address the prevalent cultural loading kaimahi experience by creating awareness and exploring ways to distribute and value cultural-related tasks more equitably.
Whare Tukutuku would like to thank all the kaimahi and whānau Māori who shared their whakaaro as part of Te Wai Taramea 2023 – kā mihi nui ki a koutou.
To read the full findings and recommendations from Te Wai Taramea: Māori Alcohol and Other Drug Workforce Report 2023, click here.
