TIPU MAHI – South Island Māori Workforce Development Project

TIPU MAHI is a collaborative project designed to grow and support the Te Waipounamu | South Island Māori Health Workforce to flourish and thrive.

There are marked inequalities and inequities in the health of Māori when compared with non-Māori New Zealanders. New Zealand’s health workforce has a crucial role in meeting the needs of Māori. Furthermore, to contribute to Māori health and achieve equity, there is a need to foster the growth and development of the Māori health workforce specifically.

Analysis of New Zealand’s registered health workforce shows Māori are currently greatly under-represented in all areas.

TIPU MAHI was created to try to address Māori health inequities by specifically focusing on the Te Waipounamu | South Island Māori health workforce.

TIPU MAHI developed a co-designed survey with Te Waipounamu | South Island kaimahi Māori, to gather data and measure Māori staff experiences from across the region. This survey was the first of its kind. The kaupapa Māori methodology for the survey was to communicate our findings to Te Waipounamu kaimahi first.

The full report is published here: Report on Findings and Recommendations – South Island Māori DHB Staff Experiences Survey

TIPU MAHI name

In the Māori language, the word tipu means to ‘grow, increase, develop and prosper’ and mahi means ‘work, job, employment’.
Together TIPU MAHI is about actively supporting our South Island Māori health workforce to prosper and thrive.

Project Documents

Te Tumu Whakarae National Māori Workforce Statement (PDF 150KB)

He Maumaharatanga

The TIPU MAHI Team wishes to remember, acknowledge and pay tribute to the incredible work, passion, dedication, advocacy, aroha, support and commitment of Gary Coghlan as a founding Pou of this project.

E te Pou Rangatira, mokemoke ana te ngākau i tō wehenga atu.
He nui te aroha mōu.
Okioki ai ki te taha o ōu tīpuna kei tua atu i te ārai o te miru pō.

The TIPU MAHI Project is a collaboration.

Our stakeholders are many and include everyone involved in the Te Waipounamu Māori health workforce including Health New Zealand Te Waipounamu region, the tertiary and education sectors and Māori health workforce organisations such as Kia Ora Hauora.

Kōhatu, Centre for Hauora Māori at the University of Otago provides the focus for hauora Māori (Māori health) within Te Kura Whaiora o Ōtepoti / Otago Medical School, and involves teaching, research, Māori strategic development (including workforce and professional development), community networking, and student relationships and support.

TIPU MAHI Project and Research Lead

Professor Joanne Baxter
Phone: 021 279 6548
Email: jo.baxter@otago.ac.nz

Professor Joanne Baxter (Poutini Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō) is a Public Health Medicine Physician and Director of the Division of Health Science Kōhatu Centre for Hauora Māori and Co-Director of the Māori Health Workforce Development Unit in the University of Otago. She is also a member of the Ministry of Health’s Health Workforce Advisory Board. Joanne is recognised for her research on Māori mental health, ethnic health inequalities, indigenous medical education and Māori health workforce development. Joanne is committed to Māori Health Workforce Development including growing the number of Māori training in health professional programmes, and increasing the number of Māori working in health across diverse roles.