Māori Wellbeing

Hauora is essential to wellbeing, enabling tangata whenua and all communities in Aotearoa to thrive and flourish. Genuine Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership with whānau, hapū and iwi creates positive outcomes where tangata whenua prosper. What works for Māori works for everyone; when we apply this same approach with vulnerable communities, community-led solutions emerge that create meaningful change and positive impacts for all.

When communities thrive, wellbeing and hauora strengthen, leading to better outcomes for everyone.

Kawa—Intrinsic Quality of Life

Hauora and wellbeing outcomes for tangata whenua are significantly affected when identity, belonging and dignity are disrupted.

Percentage of children in material hardship by ethnicity—2019–2024

Early disadvantage, such as the rate of tamaraki living in material hardship—24 percent, almost twice that for all children—sets a trajectory that affects hauora and wellbeing throughout life. Inadequate and insecure income limits whānau ability to maintain cultural practices that ground Māori identity, which can inhibit their ability to exercise tino rangatiratanga in everyday decision-making.

Housing instability removes the anchor that enables whānau to maintain cultural ties to whenua, hapū and iwi. Without a secure home or knowing where you are from, whakapapa connections become strained or lost, eroding identity and belonging.

For tamariki and rangatahi, rising psychological distress and material hardship undermine self-worth and hope. Disconnection from whānau, culture and te reo (language) compounds these pressures, weakening their intrinsic sense of who they are and where they belong.

In the justice system, high rates of victimisation and incarceration disrupt identity not only for individuals but for entire whānau, fracturing relationships across generations. Social hazards such as alcohol, drug harm, gambling and debt impose additional strains, diminishing dignity and hope while creating cycles of whakamā and isolation that ripple across whānau and communities.

Overall, identity, dignity and belonging sit at the heart of wellbeing for tangata whenua. When these core foundations become weakened through structural and systemic barriers hauora declines, resulting in disproportionate impacts and overrepresentation in negative statistics. When they are upheld and supported, whānau and communities do better and are able to thrive and flourish.

Tikanga—Structural and Societal Factors

Tikanga examines structural and systemic settings that can either enable or constrain wellbeing. The patterns across the data show that structural settings continue to produce inequitable outcomes for tangata whenua and vulnerable communities.

For tamariki and rangatahi, overrepresentation in state care reflects systemic failures rather than whānau shortcomings. Child protection and welfare systems respond to harm rather than addressing the underlying causes of poverty and material hardship that create disadvantage and risk.

Inequitable access to education and training, reliance on government benefit support and policies that privilege the individual over collective wellbeing limit economic participation for many tangata whenua.

In housing, limited public supply, reliance on private markets and barriers to collective ownership models or papakāinga constrain pathways that align with Māori aspirations. These settings limit stability, disrupt connections to whenua, hapū and iwi and reduce the ability of whānau to plan for the future.

Within the justice system, Māori remain disproportionately represented due to the enduring impacts of colonisation, institutional bias and limited access to culturally grounded prevention and rehabilitation. High remand and re-imprisonment rates sustain cycles that disconnect people from identity, whānau and opportunity.

Social hazards allow harm to cluster in high-deprivation communities through licensing, pricing, enforcement and debt structures that profit from vulnerability. This concentrates alcohol and drug harm, gambling losses and financial stress where communities are least able to absorb them.

Imprisonment rates per 100,000 for adult population (18 years old and over)—2016–2025

Overall, structural settings determine whether whānau can access the conditions needed for wellbeing. When systems operate without authentic Te Tiriti partnership, inequities deepen and hauora declines. However, authentic partnership, tikanga-based approaches and Māori-led solutions help reduce barriers and strengthen the conditions that support hauora, enabling whānau and communities to thrive and flourish.

Ritenga—Behavioural Factors

Ritenga focuses on how people navigate choices within constrained environments and how these choices affect hauora and wellbeing. The behavioural patterns observed across the data reflect responses grounded in the necessity to survive. They signal systems under strain rather than any lack of capability, motivation or willingness on the part of whānau and vulnerable communities.

When it comes to work and incomes, this can look like accepting insecure or low paid employment, working multiple jobs or relying on government welfare benefit support to meet basic needs. Within housing, these constrained choices can take the form of overcrowding, frequent moves or leaving their home communities and whānau, hapū and iwi ties, in search of affordability and stability.

In the justice system, decisions such as offending, breaching conditions or disengaging from services are shaped by fear, trauma, institutional mistrust, whānau obligations and limited access to kaupapa Māori support. For whānau navigating social hazards, behaviours such as substance misuse, gambling or reliance on high-cost credit are often coping strategies in environments that offer few viable alternatives. These behaviours are not evidence of poor values or lack of motivation, instead they reflect the limited range of choices available within current systems and structures.

Overall, Ritenga reveals how whānau continually adapt to conditions that restrict their options. Understanding these behaviours as practical, relational and survival-driven responses strengthens our ability to interpret the data in ways that recognise capability rather than deficit-based narratives. As an example, the rate of hazardous drinking for Māori in 2025 has reduced by 9.5 percentage points over the past five years (from 36.5 percent in 2020 to 27 percent in 2025), which signals a sustained shift in patterns of alcohol consumption.

When whānau have access to culturally grounded support, consistent relationships and meaningful opportunities, their choices expand and pathways to hauora wellbeing become far more attainable. However, this does not apply to forms of harm such as family or sexual violence, which emerge from different relational and structural dynamics.

Āhuatanga—Observable Symptoms

Āhuatanga draws together the visible outcomes, revealing how systemic and structural settings are seen in the lived experiences of some whānau. These visual symptoms show where systems are supporting hauora and wellbeing, and where they are falling short.

The data presents a mixed landscape. There are signs of progress, including reduction in youth offending, increase in public housing supply and stabilising alcohol availability. Yet persistent pressures remain, such as ongoing poverty and material hardship, economic strain, housing instability, continued overrepresentation of Māori in the criminal justice system and concentrated social hazard harm. These visible patterns reflect the cumulative impacts of systems that have not consistently upheld hauora and wellbeing.

Percentage of students leaving school with NCEA Level 1 or above, Māori and non-Māori—2014–2024

The positive impacts of kaupapa Māori approaches are also evident. Rangatahi at school who are learning predominantly in te reo Māori have similar achievement levels to non-Māori students. Where identity is strengthened, whānau connections restored and holistic support provided, observable harm reduces. Community-led and culturally grounded responses demonstrate that different outcomes are possible when systems focus on hauora and wellbeing.

These outcomes suggest that when systems and structures strengthen identity, connection and collective hauora, whānau are better positioned to thrive and flourish.

Summing up the Framework’s Findings

The Te Ora o te Whānau framework, applied to the State of the Nation data shows that wellbeing is shaped not only by individual circumstances but also by the systems whānau and vulnerable communities must navigate. There is progress being made, but persistent negative outcomes show that these systems are not consistently upholding hauora and wellbeing, the conditions needed to thrive and flourish.

The evidence invites us to think differently about vulnerability and to recognise the hope and resilience already present in communities. They highlight the importance of care for tamariki and rangatahi that is grounded in Te Tiriti and protects identity and connection; of income supports and employment conditions that uphold dignity and participation; of housing that provides stability and strengthens whakapapa ties; of justice responses that heal and restore rather than disconnect; and of approaches to social hazards that prioritise prevention and community-led solutions over punitive or profit-driven settings. This is not a set of recommendations, but a reminder that outcomes reflect the design of our systems.

These insights remind us that whānau and vulnerable communities already carry strength, capability and hope; the challenge is to re-shape systems so that they create better conditions for vulnerable communities to thrive and flourish.

Data: Interactive Dashboard

Download State of the Nation: Full report | Summary document