The Māori Language Strategy (the Strategy) is a 25-year strategy to co-ordinate and prioritise government action in the area of Māori language revitalisation. It was produced jointly by Te Puni Kōkiri – the Ministry of Māori Development (TPK), and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – the Māori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri), approved by Cabinet in July 2003, and published in October 2003. The Strategy also outlines some important areas where Māori take the lead role in working to revitalise the Māori language.
The Strategy creates a framework of six lead agencies: TPK, Te Taura Whiri, Te Māngai Pāho – the Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the Ministry of Education, and the National Library of New Zealand (the National Library). Each agency is responsible for leading an area or areas, such as Māori language education or Māori language broadcasting.
TPK’s responsibilities include co-ordinating, monitoring, and evaluating the Strategy. As part of this responsibility, TPK is to monitor progress towards the 25-year goals at five-year intervals. Also, Cabinet has directed a review of the Strategy in 2008/09 that will focus on various aspects of the Strategy, including outcomes, roles of the Government, and the relationships between Māori and the Government.
We did a performance audit to see whether the lead agencies responsible for implementing the Strategy were carrying out their roles effectively. Our aim was to provide assurance to Parliament on whether the Government’s Māori language revitalisation efforts were well co-ordinated and targeted through lead agencies’ implementation of the Strategy.
Purpose
Our audit focused on three questions:
- Has TPK co-ordinated Strategy work effectively?
- Have the lead agencies carried out Strategy planning effectively?
- Is TPK monitoring the outcomes of the Strategy and evaluating the effectiveness of the Government’s Māori language activities?