Women

The Department of Labour produced a new annual report detailing labour market outcomes for women. It shows:

• labour market disparities between women and men have decreased in the last five years
• female wages have been increasing faster than male wages, leading to a reduction in the gender pay gap from 15.9 per cent in June 2001 to 13.6 per cent in June 2006
• disparities between women of different ethnic groups have generally declined over the last five years with participation and unemployment rates converging
• the disparity between male and female qualification levels has been reducing over the last 20 years and is likely to continue to decrease further as young women are more highly skilled than their male counterparts
• New Zealand compares favourably with other OECD countries in terms of female unemployment, participation and wages.

However, wages for women remain considerably lower than those for men, and the majority of women work in semi-skilled occupations that lead to a lower overall skill level occupational profile than for men. In addition, there has been higher growth in semi- and low-skilled jobs for women than men.

The Department will use this information and analysis to support the continuing development of policies and programmes to support women in the labour market.

For further information on pay and employment equity see sections under Goal Four and Capability.

Maori

The Department has been evaluating the impact of specific Maori initiatives (e.g. event participation) and taking a more strategic approach to these initiatives. Event participation in 2006/07 was targeted at raising awareness on base workplace rights, and events were targeted that reached the large cohort of Maori youth about to enter the workforce. These included Te Matatini and the ASB Polyfest.

The Department is undertaking work around vulnerable workers, with numbers of Maori fitting into this category. This is described further under the Pacific peoples section on page 42.

The Small Business Information Unit has continued to work with umbrella groups and networks with a high proportion of Maori.

The Department of Labour produces a report on Maori labour market outcomes. This six monthly update focuses on changes in the past six years and gives an indication of near-term prospects.

It shows labour market conditions continue to be favourable for Maori workers with the participation rate for Maori at a historical high for the year to June 2007 at 67.6 per cent. Robust economic growth in New Zealand over the last six years has seen more Maori in work, fewer unemployed and fewer outside the labour force; while average wages have risen in real terms. The unemployment rate for Maori fell for the year to June 2007 reaching 7.6 per cent. This is the lowest annual average rate recorded since the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) began in 1986, and is down from 8.5 per cent a year earlier and 18.6 per cent for the year to June 1999.

Disparities in Maori labour market outcomes have generally declined. However, it is unclear whether this represents a fundamental move towards more equal employment prospects between Maori and non-Maori, or whether it simply reflects a temporary high demand for labour.

Labour market conditions for Maori men remain stronger than for Maori women, but the gap may be narrowing. The participation rate for Maori women has risen more than for Maori men in the past decade.

The Department has been working with Ngati Awa to develop information tools that meet their needs. Further information is under Goal three.

Pacific peoples

The Department has done a lot of work to understand the level of knowledge Pacific people have about workplace rights through surveys and interviews at Pacific oriented events. The information gathered has fed into the development of printed material containing targeted information and plans to further enhance the key information so it is more accessible to Pacific peoples. Like the work with Maori, event participation in 2006/07 was aimed at awareness raising on base workplace rights, and events were targeted that reached the large cohort of youth about to enter the workforce.

The Department's Workplace Pacific Advisory Group actively engage with Pacific communities by participating in regional Pacific events including Pasifika Festival, ASB Polyfest in Auckland, Pacifically Wellington, and Pacific Festival in Christchurch. The Department also collaborated with organisations and networks such as Young Pacific Leaders Network Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and Hutt Intersectorial Pacific Steering Group, in addition to attending a number of Pacific community forums throughout the country.

The Small Business Information Unit has continued to work with umbrella groups with a high proportion of Pacific peoples. Workplace health and safety staff undertook the inspections/assessment for the health and safety award at the Pacific Business Trust, Pacific Business Awards.

The Department's focus, on better understanding who our vulnerable workers are, has indicated there are a significant amount of Maori and Pacific people working in high-risk industries, such as manufacturing, construction and the voluntary sector. Maori and Pacific peoples may therefore experience a disproportionately high number of work-related disease and injury incidents.

These groups will receive more focused intervention to improve their safety. The Department of Labour is building partnerships with other agencies, such as Injury Free Counties Manukau, ACC, Council of Trade Unions Komiti Pasifika, Pacific Business Trust and Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, to develop resources and increase awareness about workplace health and safety for Maori and Pacific workers. The Department is also looking at engaging with Pacific churches to help with communicating key health and safety messages using appropriate and effective means.

As part of the Departments work on Choices for Living, Caring and Working, described further under Goal Four, we will work to understand the needs and priorities of Pacific peoples with caring responsibilities to ensure that services and policies meet their needs, and people are able to improve the balance between their work and family lives.

The Department of Labour produces a report on Pacific peoples' labour market Outcomes. This is the second annual report. It focuses on changes for Pacific peoples in the past five years. The report shows:

• Pacific peoples have benefited from robust economic conditions and have enjoyed above average employment growth over the last five years with an average at 3.6 per cent per annum since June 1999
• the unemployment rate for Pacific peoples has fallen from 14.0 per cent for the year to June 1999 to 6.9 per cent recorded in June 2007
• the disparity in unemployment rates between Pacific and non-Pacific peoples has reduced considerably - the gap fell to 2.8 percentage points in December 2006 (6.4 per cent for Pacific Peoples compared to 3.6 per cent for non-Pacific Peoples) from 4.5 percentage points in December 2001 (9.6 per cent for Pacific Peoples compared to 5.1 per cent for non-Pacific Peoples)
• wage growth for Pacific peoples has been above average over the last five years
• Pacific peoples participation in industry training and tertiary education is above average.

Other ethnic groups

The Department of Labour has worked on achieving outcomes related to the Ethnic Responsiveness Strategy for 2006/07. Achievements include the following:

• The Settlement Support Strategy was approved by Cabinet in November 2006 for launch in July 2007. The strategy includes a new vision and high- level goals, amendments to the intermediate-level goals and approval for the Settlement National Action Plan as the basis for further interagency activity to enhance settlement outcomes in New Zealand.
• The National Settlement Refugee Forum has been changed from a six- monthly to an annual meeting to allow regional forums to be organised in the main refugee resettlement areas, reflecting the importance of regional responsiveness as well as providing an opportunity for local governments to participate on an ongoing basis.
• The development of a new Welcome to New Zealand booklet that directs all newcomers to the appropriate sources of local information and services that will assist their settlement post-arrival. This will be launched in the first quarter of 2007/08.

One section of the Department's annual in-depth regional labour market report looks specifically at the workforce and asks the question: to what extent do different types of people participate in the labour force? It is useful to understand how participation varies across people of different skills, sex, age, ethnicity and migrant status because it increases understanding of the labour offered by the labour force, and the types of people who are under-represented in the labour market.

People with a disability

The Department has played a key role in ensuring full participation of disabled people in the labour market. We do this through:

• Providing strategic advice and information about the role the labour market, and intervention in the labour market, can play in the economic transformation of New Zealand and improving outcomes for families, including those of groups under-represented in the workforce, such as people with disabilities
• providing policy, purchase and monitoring advice that contributes to reducing injury in New Zealand workplaces, assisting those who are injured to return to work, and vocational rehabilitation to assist people who are unable to return to their pre-injury occupation
• supporting increased labour market participation by leading the Government's work programme on enhancing employment for groups under-represented in the workforce
• improving its own capability, policies and practices in relation to disability awareness, both for people with disabilities employed by the Department and people with disabilities who are clients of the Department.

The Department led the development of the Our Youth, Our Future toolkit on behalf of central government and the Mayors' Taskforce for Jobs. The intention was to empower mayors and council CEOs with the information they needed in order to challenge negative assumptions and stereotypes in their communities. It focused on key actions and initiatives to encourage youth employment, including young people with disabilities as employees. This group, one of three chosen, is over-represented in statistics that indicate higher transition needs.

The Department also contributed to reducing inequalities for people with a disability by supporting the passage of the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (Repeal and Related Matters) Bill through Parliament, which is described further under Goal Four.