Manatū Wāhine Ministry for Women is the Government’s principal advisor on improving the lives of wāhine women and kōtiro girls in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We are here to make a difference to the women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand by ensuring their voices are heard and perspectives are included in the development of government policy and initiatives. We also provide a range of tools and advice to support better results for the communities we are here to serve.
We provide important system leadership, working across government and with stakeholders, including Māori and diverse communities, to improve outcomes for women and girls.
To achieve this vision, our mission is to drive improvements for all women and girls through focusing on four strategic outcomes.
The first outcome is focused on improved outcomes for Wāhine Māori and underpins the other three outcomes.
- Wāhine Māori: Wāhine Māori have improved outcomes.
- Social and economic wellbeing: all women and girls enjoy economic security and thrive throughout their lives.
- Participation: all women and girls fully participate in society.
- Safety: all women and girls are safe from all forms of violence.
These outcomes require us to look at women and girls in all their diversity to understand more about how we can improve the lives of women and girls across Aotearoa New Zealand.
What we do
At Manatū Wāhine, we focus on issues of significance from a gendered perspective that are priorities for the Minister for Women and the Government. We work alongside other government agencies and organisations to ensure their work will improve the outcomes for women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Manatū Wāhine is focused on finding solutions to complex issues, such as pay equity, pay transparency, and family and sexual violence, of which women and girls have been impacted by for a long time.
We are committed Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to working in partnership
Manatū Wāhine is committed to assist to fulfil our obligations as partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We support our people to have the capability and confidence to improve outcomes for wāhine and kōtiro Māori in their work and to build effective partnerships with Māori. We prioritise improved outcomes for wāhine and kōtiro Māori across our work programme.
We represent all women
Manatū Wāhine represents the interests of all women, including transgender women, and we recognise the right of all people to self-identify. We acknowledge the diversity of women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand, and focus on improving outcomes for wāhine Māori, Pacific women, migrant women, women who are former refugees, women with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
In the 2018 census, 78% of women identified as being of New Zealand European descent, 15% identified as Māori, 9% as Asian, and 7% as Pacific.
We aim to ensure that we reflect the views and the varied experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand women and girls and incorporate this into our policy initiatives and advice.
Our current work programme includes:
- Provision of advice to the Minister for Women.
- Implementing the Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan.
- Coordinating the Government response to Wai 2700 – Mana Wāhine Kaupapa Inquiry in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri.
- Leading the provision of gender analysis across Government (including the Bringing Gender In tool).
- Leading the Government’s international reporting commitments in relation to the status of women on Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
- Supporting women to be nominated and appointed to public sector boards and committees.
- Jointly leading the Equal Pay Taskforce alongside Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission.
- Providing support to the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW).
- Jointly leading to address pay transparency alongside the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.
- Analysing data and undertaking research on key issues affecting women and girls.
- Supporting the implementation of Te Aorerekura - the National Strategy for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence and Action Plans and leading Action 4 on wāhine Māori leadership succession.
The Minister for Women is Jan Tinetti. She is also Minister of Education and Minister for Child Poverty Reduction.
Find out more about our leadership team.
Read our Statement of Intent for 2021-2025 that sets out our ambitions as a Ministry for the next four years.
Read our 2022 Annual Report that outlines our organisation’s progress against our key priorities and financial statements to 30 June 2022.