‘Significant’ ethnic pay gap in sectors

Ma¯ori and Pacific staff in government departments and district health boards are far less likely to earn six-figure salaries than their Pa¯keha¯ counterparts.

That is according to a study based on Official Information Act data led by researchers at Auckland University of Technology, published in the International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies.

Ethnic pay data was collected from 28 core public sector departments (CPSDs) and 20 DHBs, focusing on the total number of fulltime equivalent staff by ethnicity (Ma¯ori, Pacific, or Other) and those who earned more than $100,000.

The data – measured across 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 – showed that in 2016 only 106 Pacific staff and 209 Ma¯ori staff employed at DHBs were earning more than $100,000, versus 7340 staff in the ‘‘Other’’ ethnic group.

While the proportion of Ma¯ori and Pacific staff at DHBs earning more than $100,000 increased over the 15-year period (from 0.5 to 2.7 per cent, and 0.5 to 1.4 per cent, respectively), the ethnic pay gap remained. Researchers found there was also disproportionately lower representation of Ma¯ori and Pacific staff at DHBs, compared with the national population.

While the proportion of Ma¯ori and Pacific staff at core public sector departments mirrored the general population, there was still a marked ethnic pay disparity.

Only 26 of the 28 CPSDs were able to provide data for 2001.

Of those, 14 of 26 had Ma¯ori staff earning more than $100,000 in 2001. By 2016, this had increased to 26.

In 2001, only four of 26 CPSDs had Pacific staff earning more than $100,000. This increased to 9 in 2006, 18 in 2011, and 16 in 2016.

Dr Heather Came, senior lecturer and head of AUT’s public health department, said the failure to promote Ma¯ori and Pacific staff to the ‘‘top tiers’’ of the public sector was an illustration of institutional racism.

‘‘We now know that entire government departments have, at different times, had no senior Ma¯ori or Pacific staff.’’

Given New Zealand has had decades of EEO (equal employment opportunity) policy in the public sector, it was ‘‘remarkable’’ this had been allowed to occur, the paper stated.

The findings suggested the public and health sectors did not have the benefit of Ma¯ori and Pacific expertise, which could contribute to the issues seen in the health, education and justice systems for indigenous and minority groups, Came said. She said we needed to acknowledge and address racism within Crown institutions.

While the study provided ‘‘important’’ qualitative data, more work was needed in this ‘‘underresearched’’ area, she said.