Kōrero with Caitlin Mackay

Last month, Fire and Emergency was recognised with a Highly Commended award in the Ngā Āhuatanga o Te Tiriti Tohu category at the 2024 Diversity Awards.

The awards are an annual event run by Diversity Works New Zealand and our award is in acknowledgement of our commitment to working with Māori as tangata whenua through the creation of He Tīmatanga Kōrero – an introductory guide to Kaupapa Māori.

Kerry Gregory recently sat down with Senior Communications Advisor Caitlin Mackay to chat about how our Hiwa-i-te-rangi programme worked to improve our internal cultural capability in order to better deliver services essential to keeping people safe.

Caitlin led the communications approach for Hiwa-i-te-rangi and explained how her proudest moment has been to see so many of our people wearing their Te Tohu, a badge which symbolises a commitment to working with Māori as tangata whenua.

This includes all of our new recruits, who complete the He Tīmatanga Kōrero learning module during their training and receive Te Tohu as part of their graduation ceremonies.

If you haven’t yet completed the learning module to receive your Tohu, have a read of He Tīmatanga Kōrero(external link) – our introductory guide to Kaupapa Māori, and then sit the online knowledge check by searching ‘Kaupapa Māori’ on Learning Station.