Questions are being raised over Māori data sovereignty, ethics and trust after the government announced the scrapping of the traditional nationwide five-yearly census.
A shift to a system using information from existing government information, smaller annual surveys and targeted data collection will take place from 2030.
Two experts joined Scotty Morrison on TVNZ’s Marae to discuss the impact the change will have on Māori.
Watch the full discussion on TVNZ+
Ernestynne Walsh, Māori data lead at Nicholson Consulting, a Wellington-based consultancy business, said two key data points in the Census that are “highly relevant” to Māori include collecting iwi information and statistics around te reo Māori.
“Currently the Census captures te reo Māori speaking ability for everyone in Aotearoa, and so what it means is that you can forecast the next generation of speakers.
“We know it takes a generation to lose the language, but three generations to get it back, so it’s really important we’re able to forecast now what changes are going to happen in the future so that we can get ourselves on the right path to revitalising te reo Māori.”
When asked how the shift away from the traditional Census capture will change the way Māori data is collected and managed, she said there has not been enough publicly available information about it to know what’s in store and how to mitigate and manage risks.
“There are many unanswered questions, for instance, is the Crown gonna restart capturing iwi information on birth certificates? Is there going to be funding for the iwi or the rūnanga to carry out their own iwi Census? Is there going to be more emphasis put on the Māori cultural survey Te Kūpenga and expanding that to include tamariki Māori or carrying it out more frequently? There are a lot of unanswered questions at this point in time.”
Statistical analyst Caleb Moses said some of the risk to Māori data sovereignty lies in public distrust of government.
“The government is not taking responsibility for their role in maintaining the trust of New Zealanders and that’s the reason why we’re having this problem.”
He said the “way out” for the government is to invest in building trust and restoring the public’s faith around the use of their data.
Moses, a former Stats NZ staff member, claims governments – current and previous – have systematically undermined the public’s trust.
“If they want to do things right over time it’s going to look like building that trust and that’s something that’s going to take time.”
He is concerned that Stats NZ has been given a task “that’s too big for any one government agency to do on their own”.
“We should also think about shoring up our data systems for the future, especially in a world where we’re having rising fascism and so on overseas. We should expect that data systems like this could be abused in the future and we should be aware about those concerns.”
The Māori Data Sovereignty Network Te Mana Raraunga says data is a living taonga that must be governed by Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
A ‘by Māori for Māori’ approach would be best to create a Tiriti-led data system that has Māori at the forefront, said Walsh.
“But it needs to be resourced appropriately, so from a pragmatic lens …the most likely system to be set up that is by Māori for Māori is probably that the larger more resourced iwi might be able to go out and carry out their own data collection.”
Response from Minister and Stats NZ
Statistics Minister Shane Reti was unavailable but Stats NZ said the introduction of a “combined model” that uses admin data – information already collected by government – annual census survey and other “tailored collections” was their preferred approach to modernise the census.
“The Government Statistician made this recommendation because the traditional survey-based approach to census every five years is not sustainable. It cannot continue to deliver the quality data needed for New Zealand like it has in the past.
“The rigid, one-size fits all, full-scale survey approach would have had a disproportionate impact on the quality of census data for and about iwi Māori.”
The use of admin data is not new, according to Stats NZ, and the organisation has been “exploring” and making use of it for more than a decade.
“It played a key role in the 2018 and 2023 census, including ensuring that the Māori population was not undercounted.”
Stats NZ added that partnerships with iwi and Māori are “critical” to building and maintaining trust and that the new approach was designed in collaboration with iwi and Māori.
“We are committed to working closely in partnership with Te Kāhui Raraunga, for example, to develop tailored collection approaches that ensure critical data needs are met.”
Launching the move last week, the Minister said the change will help save time and money while delivering more timely insights.
“Relying solely on a nationwide census day is no longer financially viable. In 2013, the census cost $104 million. In 2023, costs had risen astronomically to $325 million and the next was expected to come in at $400 million over five years.
“Despite the unsustainable and escalating costs, successive censuses have been beset with issues or failed to meet expectations.”
He said the new approach will enable key census statistics to be produced every year to better inform future decisions.
Watch the full discussion on Marae on TVNZ+