14 Aug 2025

Maori nurses numbers need to increase fivefold

From Nine To Noon, 10:30 am on 14 August 2025
Kerri Nuku, kaiwhakahaere for the Nurses Organisation

A new report  shows  New Zealand needs five times more Māori nurses if the workforce is to reflect the Māori population and be able to provide culturally safe health care. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

The report was written by economic consultancy company Infometrics and has just been released at the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference in Rotorua. Māori make up 18% of the New Zealand population but only 7.4 per cent of the nursing workforce and Māori are dying seven years lower than non-Māori.

Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa,  New Zealand Nurses Organisation's  Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the report shows Aotearoa New Zealand needs about 1,350 more Māori nurses a year for the next decade to achieve population parity. She joins Susie to discuss what needs to change