Success for us meant employers, including Māori business owners, were confident that vocational education graduates were ready for work and that the future skills needs of their industry would be addressed by the vocational education system.
As well as directly benefiting employers, we strengthened confidence and outcomes across the sector. Providers could be confident their programmes were relevant to employers and endorsed by industry. Learners could be confident their qualifications met employers’ expectations and national industry standards.
Kia tu tangata ai tātou, puta noa I te ao. We will stand with confidence and competence anywhere in the world.
Our Hanga-Aro-Rau tīma at Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa, Tāmaki Makaurau
Hanga-Aro-Rau (Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics) Workforce Development Council represented industries including manufacturing, processing, extractives and drilling, transport (including heavy and commercial), postal, warehousing and related engineering. Read more about our industries here.
Our Industry Stakeholder Group (ISG) enabled industry to influence the direction and performance of the Hanga-Aro-Rau Workforce Development Council.
The group was responsible for future appointments to the Council and for providing advice and feedback on the organisation’s strategic direction and performance.
Members of the ISG represented a broad range and diversity of views across the specified industries.
Read more about the ISG, including who are the founding members from across the industries we served.
We worked with industry and employers to understand the skills that were needed. This information was passed to education and training providers, who were expected to create learning programmes that equipped people with the relevant skills to meet future workforce needs.
We led the development of industry qualifications, set industry standards, and quality assured training provision against these standards. Where appropriate, we set and supported capstone assessments at the end of a qualification. Industry standards were consistently applied across the country and across all modes of learning – on the job, on campus, or online.
We also endorsed vocational education programmes prior to their approval by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
We worked with learners, industry (including employers, employees, self-employed people, volunteers, industry associations and unions), tāngata whenua, stakeholders, the other Workforce Development Councils, and a range of organisations to deliver the outcomes sought by the Council.
We appointed staff to lead this engagement and ensured we had fit-for-purpose mechanisms for industry engagement.
Alongside industry and employers, we worked collaboratively across the vocational education sector. We engaged with Regional Skills Leadership Groups (RSLGs), the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), and providers (Te Pūkenga, wānanga and Private Training Establishments).
We also engaged with a range of parties to inform and prioritise service delivery, including the Ministry of Education (MoE), advocacy groups, learners, Te Taumata Aronui, government agencies and schools.
Our Te Reo Māori name gave a holistic and circular explanation of Hanga-Aro-Rau’s coverage
Hanga-Aro-Rau – Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics.
Hangarau or Engineering – to design and plan a product
Hanga or Manufacturing – to produce the product
Arorau or Logistics – to transport the raw materials and finished products
The name of Hanga-Aro-Rau was catalysed through thinking schematically around the circular process of the product from design, production to distribution, and through to people, learning and on-going journey of development. Hanga-Aro-Rau could perhaps be technically translated as ‘Manufacturing through Creativity and Networking’ or taking it a step further, ‘Manufacturing through Innovation and Collaboration’.
This beautiful reflection of the intermingling of our industries in Te Reo Māori was created by Adjunct Associate Professor Dr Joseph Te Rito.
Our logo was an image of a taura whiri, a plaited rope. The taura whiri has long been used as a metaphor by kaiwhaikōrero to connect whānau groups through shared ancestry and to acknowledge leadership and unity. It symbolised elements coming together as one.
The taura was made by plaiting aho (strands) of rolled muka (scraped flax fibres), creating a stronger rope than the strands alone — representing the strength created when communities, industries and learners worked together.
The logo colour reflected Māori culture and the deep connection between people and the natural world. The darker green linked to te taiao, the environment, as the source of materials for the tools and structures used in everyday life.
Extensive consultation with industry and the vocational education sector took place prior to our WDC being stood up on 4 October 2021.
The establishment of WDCs was led by WDC Interim Establishment Boards (iEBs) made up of industry representatives, many of whom went on to join the permanent WDC Council. The main role of iEBs was to oversee the legal establishment of WDCs through an Order in Council (OiC) process.
The iEB was responsible for consulting with industry and developing an OiC that outlined the name of our WDC, the industries represented, governance arrangements, and other core information. More than 200 people and organisations provided feedback on the draft OiCs, ensuring that our WDC was established in ways that best met industry needs.
Once approved by the Minister of Education, the OiCs were submitted to the Governor-General for signature. On 10 May 2021, Her Excellency the Governor-General, Dame Patsy Reddy, gave Royal Assent, formally establishing the six Workforce Development Councils. The legislation came into effect on 11 June 2021.
See the Hanga-Aro-Rau Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics OiC.
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