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Industry voices

Hanga-Aro-Rau worked directly with industry at the frontline, ensuring that their voices shaped the future skills needs of vocational education. 

Because what mattered to our industries mattered to us.

Throughout our time as a Workforce Development Council, we shared stories that highlighted how industry, communities, and Hanga-Aro-Rau worked together to support meaningful, transformative workforce development.

This collection captures those experiences — showcasing the initiatives, partnerships, and sector achievements that emerged through our collaboration with Aotearoa New Zealand’s manufacturing, engineering, and logistics industries. 

Explore how industry partners contributed to shaping qualifications, building capability, and strengthening vocational pathways across our sectors. 

Fluid Power Leading the Industry

From working closely with and listening to the needs of industry, Hanga-Aro-Rau have developed the brand new NZQA-approved qualification - the New Zealand Certificate in Fluid Power Engineering Level 3. “We held an industry meeting with the single purpose of establishing a recognised qualification. We discussed what this could look like, with the shared goal of making it viable and attractive for more hydraulic technicians to enter the industry.” Tasj Paulson, Gisborne Hydraulics Services (GHS) Director,
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Transformation through collaboration: Building a Strong New Zealand Economy by Working with Māori Industry

“Transforming Māori economic fortunes now and into the future is one of the greatest challenges facing our families; it’s also one of our greatest opportunities…", Ngahiwi Tomoana, Chair of the Hanga-Aro Rau Industry Stakeholder Group, says. "We must harness the potential within our young and fast-growing population and take them with us on this exciting journey.”
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Transformation in the regions: Hanga-Aro-Rau leading regional transformation to address workforce needs

Hanga-Aro-Rau has been working alongside Workforce Central Dunedin to develop a roadmap for what has become the wider Trades Essentials programme. “We know that the workforce needs of the new hospital cannot be met locally, so Workforce Central Dunedin is acting as a hub designed to bring those people and skills here from the regions,” says Raymond Clark, Workforce Central Dunedin Operations Manager. “The Trades Essentials programme was imagined to establish our future workforce needs, find a cohort to fill that need, and proactively train them now.”
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Transformation through collaboration: Enhanced educational pathways a win for waste transport industry

“Our sector has a huge gap around specialised industry training,” says WasteMINZ Health and Safety Sector Group Steering Committee member and industry veteran, Greg Dearsly. “Targeted external training just hasn’t been widely available.” Committee Chair, Danny McClure, agrees. “Historically, industry qualifications were entirely dependent on being either ‘able-bodied and fit’ or having a class 2, 4 or 5 licence endorsement.” With the development of new micro-credentials in collaboration with Hanga-Aro-Rau, this landscape is starting to change.
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The manufacturing sector in New Zealand

Transformation through connection: First Chairs of National Industry Advisory Group announced

“Through the Manufacturing NIAG, it really does feel that industry has a voice in a way that it didn’t before, and that there’s a two-way conversation happening now that is being facilitated by Hanga-Aro-Rau. As Chairs, our goal is to ensure that industry is heard and that they are being given opportunities to feed back into the systems where the funding sits."
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Groundspreading

Transformation through collaboration: Spreading success with new micro-credentials for the fertiliser application industry

Without support from Hanga-Aro-Rau and Muka Tangata, Rose Hyslop, Executive Officer of Groundspread NZ says these new qualifications would not have been possible. “There is no way we could’ve done this without them. We don’t have the skills, time or expertise to be able to build something this amazing. We’re just so appreciative that they took the time to get to know us and guide us on this incredible journey.”
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Transformation through collaboration: Partnership sparking transformational change for engineering provider

“What’s fundamentally different now is that industry voices are being captured at all sizes and scales. Niche sectors like fluid power - which has been a significant industry for decades - were getting lost before. Hanga-Aro-Rau heard that really early on and responded to it. That’s been a massive improvement.”
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Peter Jones - Manurewa High School Principal and newest member of the ISG

Transformation through leadership: Education ground breaker appointed to Industry Stakeholder Group

"Peter Jones is a pioneer in the secondary school system, who has co-designed with his local community and employers highly successful programmes to build strong pathways for learners into trades careers, including engineering and logistics. He will bring invaluable insight in how our industries can partner with their own communities to replicate these robust connections and success, and how Hanga-Aro-Rau can ensure the vocational education allows learners, as well as industry, to thrive."
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WECA General Manager Mary Jensen and Hanga-Aro-Rau CE Phil Alexander-Crawford

Transformation through research: Engineering sector embracing diversity to address its skills shortage

“The industry research conducted by Hanga-Aro-Rau has been really helpful in showing our members the need to diversify and increase engagement. Engineering businesses need to be prepared to do things differently than they’ve done in the past; the statistics provided by Hanga-Aro-Rau have helped us to communicate that.”
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Milo Coldren -Founder of Skipper Training New Zealand

Transformation in action: Sailing towards success with practical skipper training

"Alongside Hanga-Aro Rau, we were able to develop the micro-credential and have it approved by NQZA in under a month, then deliver it the month after. They’ve really put their feet to the pavement." Partnering with Skipper Training New Zealand to address an urgent qualification gap, we created a micro-credential to ensure their industry gets the skills they need when they need them.
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Transformation in action: Fluid power industry powering up with new qualification and association

"Hanga-Aro-Rau has given us a voice, a conduit to Government, and a recognition that we’ve never had before. With their support, we now have a Level 3 qualification.” We worked with the fluid power sector to create their first-ever, industry specific vocational education qualifications, and through bringing their sectors’ employers together for this mahi, a new industry association to represent them as a whole has been formed.
Pacific Business Trust MoC Signing

Transformation through collaboration: Empowering Pacific learners, businesses and employers

Strengthening career pathways and building a pipeline of Pacific talent through skills that industry need, now and in the future is at the heart of a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) between the Pacific Business Trust (PBT) and five Workforce Development Councils (WDCs).
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