Te Awatea

Inland Revenue | Te Tari Taake identified the need to strengthen organisational capability to support its Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi strategic direction. This included building staff confidence to engage appropriately, understand key foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history and responsibilities, and apply learning in day-to-day work.

The programme needed to be practical, scalable, and aligned to public service expectations, while supporting staff across different stages of learning and experience.

Haemata contributed to Te Awatea across two key levels:

1. Programme design and scoping
2. Delivery of learning assets and tools over a 2.5-year development cycle.

Te Awatea was designed as a cultural capability development programme with four levels of capability, aligned to the Whāinga Amorangi framework, enabling clear progression for learners.

Foundation and Comfortable
Haemata supported the programme narrative and design by shaping the learning approach, the design and review process, and confirming delivery standards and brand alignment. Learning assets were scoped and developed across five topic areas, supported by short-form video briefs and aligned static graphic design.

Confident
At higher capability levels, delivery moved into co-design with Inland Revenue | Te Tari Taake. Together, we developed a series of staff-led videos and supporting resources, embedded in a PowerApp to translate learning into practical workplace application.

Capable
A proposed structure for this level was co-designed, accepted, and positioned for future implementation, and comprised two parts:

1. Individual learning and development opportunities for staff
2. Collective cohort learning focused on leading teams, projects, and work programmes through a cultural lens.

Te Awatea delivered a structured learning pathway that strengthened cultural capability across the organisation. It supported staff to build knowledge, confidence, and practical application aligned to the organisation's priorities and ways of working.

The programme created a pathway for learners to grow across capability levels, building understanding of responsibilities, Māori Crown relationships, and the practical application of learning to workplace contexts.

Through the combination of online learning assets, video-based storytelling, and applied learning tools, Te Awatea strengthened the organisation's ability to build cultural confidence and support a more accessible and responsive public service for Māori.