Our communities and our workforce are changing

9 November 2023

By 2038, more than 50 percent of New Zealanders will be from non-European backgrounds and our communities will speak more than 200 languages. 

Increasing the diversity and inclusiveness of our workforce and culture at Fire and Emergency New Zealand will help us connect more effectively with our people and hapori (communities). 

Our Kia Toipoto programme of mahi (work) (2022-2024) aims to remove bias and discrimination in all levels of our workplace. We want to encourage diversity and inclusion across all phases of our people’s time with Fire and Emergency – whether that’s as a paid staff member or someone volunteering with us.  

To track our progress and to reflect our commitment to transparency, we have shared our Year One report, pay gaps data for 2023 and Year Two action plan on our website. You can view them here: www.fireandemergency.nz/kia-toipoto

Year One report and Year Two action plan 

Year One was a great foundation for us to work from.  We built our understanding of our data, policies and procedures and created awareness of this mahi with our leaders. 

In Year Two, our focus is on education, implementation and celebration. By December 2024, we’ll make progress on: 

• ensuring bias does not influence starting salaries or pay for employees in the same or similar roles 
• developing plans to improve gender and ethnic representation in our workforce and leadership 
• considering equitable career pathways and opportunities to progress 
• protecting against bias and discrimination in HR and remuneration policies and practices 
• building our cultural competency 
• adopting flexible working opportunities, where possible. 

We have also confirmed an organisational position and funding mechanism for Employee –Led Networks. Earlier in the year, our rainbow network officially launched, and a new neurodiversity has started to form. These proudly sit alongside our women’s, Pasefika and disability networks. Our networks exemplify whanaungatanga - likeminded people coming together to support each other, while building awareness and creating opportunities with others. 

Pay gaps data for 2023 

At an organisational level, Fire and Emergency has low gender and ethnic pay gaps in comparison to other public sector agencies. While this has been the case for several years, we know there is more mahi to do.  

The ethnic pay gap for Māori has been steadily declining (5.4% to 3.4% since 2021), while the Pacific pay gap has remained relatively static (9.2% to 9.6%).  The Asian and MELAA gaps are very good, mostly because of the types of roles these staff members are working in.   

This is the second year we’ve published our data and we are expecting to see a reduction in gaps over several years. As we progress, we’ll focus on: 

• further analysing the drivers of the Pacific and Māori pay gaps 
• monitoring appointment salaries to make sure new pay gaps don’t develop 
• understanding barriers to career progression and leadership for ethnic groups and women, particularly in our operational workforce. 

In summary 

We must ensure our policies and practices, including remuneration, help to create a working environment that is welcoming and inclusive to everyone. 

We will know we are getting this right at Fire and Emergency New Zealand when we see: 

• leadership that reflects the mix of our population across all areas and at all levels 
• pay equity across different groups doing the same kinds of mahi 
• our people saying, they feel safe, included, and valued for their mahi 
• active employee led networks engaging with leaders and working together on areas of common interest or identity.