Kia Toipoto: People and Pay Equity Plan

We are committed to achieving pay equity. The plan on this page demonstrates how we plan to achieve this.

On this page

Kia Toipoto: Pay equity across the public sector

Kia Toipoto is an initiative led by Te Kawa Mataaho (the Public Service Commission). It is a comprehensive set of actions to help close gender, Māori, Pacific and ethnic pay gaps in the public service.  

Pharmac's Kia Toipoto plan

Although this is our first formal Kia Toipoto action plan, we have already made progress on all five of the Kia Toipoto focus areas. We have determined our priority areas for 2023-24 based on the feedback we received from our kaimahi. The priority areas will be:

  • Te pono – Transparency
  • Ngā hua tōkeke mō te utu – Equitable pay outcomes
  • and Te whai kanohi i ngā taumata katoa - Leadership and representation 

Our pay equity plan is an ongoing commitment. Each year we will review our progress, identify new focus areas for the coming year and publish our updated plan. We also report our progress towards pay equity.

What is Kia Toipoto? 

Te Kawa Mataaho (Public Service Commission) developed Kia Toipoto in 2021. It aims to achieve pay equity and increased representation in leadership for women, Māori, Pacific, and other underrepresented groups across the public sector. It grew out of earlier work by the Ministry of Woman and the then State Services Commission (SSC) to reduce New Zealand’s gender pay gap.

Kia Toipoto | Te Kawa Mataaho website(external link)

The three over-arching goals of Kia Toipoto are:

  • making substantial progress toward closing gender, Māori, Pacific and ethnic pay gaps
  • accelerating progress for wāhine Māori, Pacific women and women from ethnic communities
  • create fairer workplaces for all, including disabled people and members of the rainbow communities. 

Kia Toipoto has six focus areas:

  • Te Pono – Transparency
  • Ngā Hua Tōkeke mō te Utu – Equitable pay outcomes
  • Te whai kanohi i ngā taumata katoa – Leadership and representation
  • Te Whakawhanaketanga i te Aramahi – Effective career and leadership development
  • Te whakakore i te katoa o ngā momo whakatoihara, haukume anō hoki – Eliminating all forms of bias and discrimination
  • Te Taunoa o te Mahi Pīngore – Flexible-work-by-default

Understanding our pay data

We shared our pay data through workshops and korero (discussion) with our kaimahi, including our Māori Caucus, our Pacific staff, and Public Services Associate (PSA) delegates.

These discussions were invaluable as to better understanding some of the drivers of our pay gaps. This work would not have been possible without hearing the lived experiences of our kaimahi.

Workforce representation

Aligning with the goals of Te Kawa Mataaho (the Public Service Commission), by 2027 we aim to improve diverse representation across Pharmac’s workforce to match the New Zealand (projected) 2027 population more closely, placing emphasis on improving Māori and Pacific representation.

Additional comments

Our target ranges are based on the 2018 Census and the projected 2027 New Zealand population. 

Ethnicity Current Pharmac% NZ Total Population (2018 Census) NZ Total Population (2027 Projected - Stats NZ) Target % Range by 2027
Māori 9% 17% 18% 17-18%
Pacific 2% 8% 9% 8-9%
Asian 11% 15% 20% 15-20%
Middle Eastern, Latin American & African (MELAA) 7% 2% 2% 2%