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Briefing to the Minister for Ethnic Communities January 2025 redacted

Welcome

Minister, congratulations on your appointment, and welcome to your role as Minister for Ethnic Communities.

Unlocking the full potential of Ethnic Communities creates opportunities and improves the lives of all New Zealanders. In your role, you can advocate for and influence improvements in New Zealand’s social, cultural and economic systems.

The fastest-growing population group in New Zealand, Ethnic Communities are skilled and well-educated. They already contribute significantly to New Zealand and have told us they want to contribute more. By leveraging the diverse talents and perspectives of Ethnic Communities, New Zealand can enhance its global image as a welcoming and vibrant nation, attracting international partnerships, investment and tourism.

During national emergencies such as the Covid 19 pandemic and weatherrelated events, we learnt the value of a coordinated response from Ethnic Community organisations in supporting our country to respond and recover from crisis.

However, challenges remain, with Ethnic Communities still facing racism and discrimination, persistent pay gaps, employment barriers such as lack of recognition of foreign qualifications, issues with retail crime, barriers to accessing healthcare services, concerns about mental health and the impact of foreign interference. Furthermore, a range of issues such as overseas conflicts playing out domestically or religious differences can erode race relations and the unity within communities that New Zealand is known for.

The Ministry for Ethnic Communities is a relatively young, small and agile agency. We are the Government’s Chief Advisor on Ethnic Communities and their inclusion in New Zealand society. We take a strategic approach to creating an inclusive nation that draws on the benefits of ethnic diversity, acting as trusted brokers to government agencies and Ethnic Communities to help address challenges and unlock opportunities. The Ministry works with a broad range of stakeholders across the public sector, not-for-profit, private sector and communities to achieve tangible results.

This briefing provides you with an overview of the Ethnic Communities portfolio, your roles and responsibilities, and the Ministry’s role, functions and work programme.

I look forward to working with you and to briefing you in more detail on the opportunities and challenges in the portfolio.

Mervin Singham
Chief Executive, Ministry for Ethnic Communities | Te Tari Mātāwaka

Ethnic Communities by the numbers

Infographic: Three sections - Ethnic Communities - 23% of NZ's population. More than 1.1 Million risen 78% in 10 years. Regional Distribution - 59% Auckland, 7% Waikato, 3% Coromandel, 2% Horowhenua - Whanganui, 10% Wellington, 10% Canterbury, 2% Otago. 60% Affiliate to a faith. Top ethnicities Indian 292K,Chinese 280K, Filipino 108K. Composition 76% Asian, 10% Continental European, 8% African, 3% Latin American, 3% Middle Eastern. Less than 31% of all NZ'ers aged 35-39 are Asian or MELAA. 29% NZ babies born are Asian or MELAA. ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION. $64B 20% 2018 GDP, High-value exports. Income $31b Earnings 2022 $5B pay gab 2022. Employment Rate Set 24 - 74.9% Ethnic Communities, 67.8% NZ Overall. 20% of all NZ Businesses, 13% of NZ exports business. Up in business ownership and up in domestic business profitability - scope fo growth. Export of higher value goods almost double NZ average. LAW AND ORDER: 88% feel safe with family, 16% have experienced sexual assault. 18% Asian people feel less safe with a bar graph underneath show ing the climb between 2018 and 2022 of Asian's vs total population. Rates of personal crime are lower - bar graph underneath with personal offences vs household offences for Ethnic Communities vs total population.s  

Source: Ethnic Evidence and Provisional Census 2023
MELAA - Middle Eastern, Latin American and African.

Contents

Available in PDF.

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