Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission has announced its list of finalists for the 2021 Spirit of Service Awards.
Finalists for the Service Excellence Award include the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Health, the New Zealand Customs Service and Manawatu District Council.
Service Excellence Award Finalists:
MBIE Small Business Collective, including the Digital Boost programme and Business Connect
Lifting the digital capabilities of NZ’s small businesses as they recover from COVID-19 through innovative learning, engagement and support. Plus the introduction of an online platform to make it easier for businesses to manage licences and permits from across government in one place.
Te Tari Taake | Inland Revenue
Transforming New Zealand’s revenue system
Investing in new technology and tools, focusing on simplifying policies and processes and introducing new ways of working to deliver better experiences for customers.
Manatū Taonga | Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Te Urungi: Cultural Sector Innovation Fund
A new approach to arts funding that is supporting the innovative arts, culture and heritage projects in Aotearoa with a strong focus on mātauranga Māori.
Te Tāhū o te Ture | Ministry of Justice
Enhancing Justice
A new approach to justice for young adults in the Porirua District Court. This approach builds community connections to help identify underlying drivers of offending and barriers to understanding, and influences improvements to procedural and substantive fairness across the District Court.
Finalists for the Better Outcomes Award include:
Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health
The health sector response to COVID-19
The overall public health response and advice to minimise the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in Aotearoa.
Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri | Electoral Commission
Te Tāhū o te Ture | Ministry of Justice
2020 General Election and Referendums
Redesigning and delivering services to enable 2.9 million New Zealanders to vote safely and with confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and providing impartial public information including for two high-profile referendums.
Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa | New Zealand Police
Te Pae Oranga
A Māori-led, Police and Justice Sector supported initiative using tikanga Māori and restorative justice practices to reduce re-offending and improve social wellbeing outcomes.
Te Manatū mō ngā Iwi ō te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa | Ministry for Pacific Peoples
‘We got your back Aotearoa’ campaign
Ensuring essential messages and information reached Pacific communities to reduce the impact of COVID-19.
Kaiwhakamaru Rererangi | Aviation Security Services
Te Mana Rererangi Tūmatanui o Aotearoa | Civil Aviation Authority
Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa | New Zealand Customs Service
Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa | New Zealand Defence Force
Nō te Rere Moana Aotearoa | Maritime New ZealandHīkina Whakatutuki | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Manatū Aorere | Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health
Manatū Ahu Matua | Ministry for Primary Industries
Te Manatū Waka | Ministry of Transport
COVID-19 Border Response
The team of 25,000 who have worked together to keep Aotearoa’s borders safe to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finalists for the Leadership in Governance Award:
Te Papa Tongarewa | Museum of New Zealand
Governance that is reinvigorating Te Papa’s bicultural kaupapa, increasing staff engagement, enhancing relationships with key stakeholders, and strengthening Te Papa’s international position as an exemplar of contemporary museum practice.
Te Taurapa Tūhono | New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
Fostering an inclusive workplace and achieving gender equality in leadership across the organisation.
Gisborne District Council Mayor’s Regional Leadership Forum for the Tairāwhiti Economic Support PackageEastland Group Ltd
Te Runanga o Turanganui a Kiwa
Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou
Eastland Wood CouncilTrust TairāwhitiTe Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development
Hīkina Whakatutuki | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Te Puni Kōkiri
Te Uru Rākau
Collaborative regional governance approach to employing people who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finalists for Māori Crown Relationships Award:
Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development
Te Puea Memorial Marae Manaaki Tangata e Rua
Te Whānau o Waipareira
Ngāti Whātua: Whai Māia
Turuki HealthcareNgā Whare Waatea: MUMA
Manurewa Marae
Papakura Marae
Huakina Development Trust
Co-location teams
Approach to supporting the co-location of eight independent Māori organisations across the Auckland region, now achieving end to end real-time service delivery results.
Manatū Mō Te Taiao | Ministry for the Environment
Te Ao Hurihuri
A transformational strategy which provides a kaupapa Māori framework to develop a Māori Crown relations capable workforce.
Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga | Archives New Zealand
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
The Ngāi Tahu Archive and Archives New Zealand Partnership
Building a collaborative partnership to preserve, protect and make accessible taonga of significance to Ngāi Tahu through digital initiatives and the co-location of our teams within the Archives building in Ōtautahi | Christchurch.
Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga | Education Review Office
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori
Ngā Kura ā-IwiTe Kōhanga Reo Trust
Te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education
Te Kura Huanui: The treasures of successful pathways
Poutiria te Reo Maurioria: Māori language as a lifelong educational pathway
Whāia Ngā Painga Kia Angitu: Pathways to Success
A multimedia, kaupapa Māori research project highlighting the Māori-medium education pathway. The co-designed project resulted in Te Kura Huanui: The treasures of successful pathways – a national report – and a series of short documentaries which capture the lived experiences and common conditions for success in Māori-led education.
Finalist for Young Leader of the Year Award:
Isaiah Apiata
Oranga Tamariki | Ministry for Children
Governmental Relationships Manager – Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi
Isaiah is a mentor and role model for taitamariki | young people and is making a huge contribution to social services, Māori Crown relations and the revitalisation of Māori culture. He has built strong partnerships across communities and Government sectors and he helps others to understand and embrace Māori practices for the betterment of taitamariki and whānau of all cultures.
Jacqueline Bell
Kāinga Ora | Homes and Communities
Area Manager
Jacqueline (Jacs) is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Irish descent and leads a team of 15 Tenancy Managers and Senior Tenancy Managers at the Henderson Neighbourhood unit. Jacs is recognised for her commitment to doing her best every day to make a difference in her community.
April Kwak
Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa | New Zealand Customs Service
Policy Analyst
April led a project to develop Best Practice Guidelines to facilitate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, which included getting agreement from all 21 APEC member nations. She is recognised for her commitment, driving new ideas, challenging the status quo and proudly celebrating her ethnic and cultural diversity as a Korean New Zealander.
Jacob McGregor
Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health
Principal Engagement Advisor – Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Whānau a Apanui
In both his personal and working lives, Jacob demonstrates a commitment to strengthening te reo and tikanga Māori, supporting Māori communities to ensure their needs are met, and supporting the crown to deliver its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Jacob’s leadership during COVID-19 resulted in Ministry of Health’s most successful communication campaign targeted towards Māori and youth audiences.
Chetna Pancha
Hīkina Whakatutuki | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Cyber Security Architect
Chetna provided outstanding leadership in a demanding environment to ensure MIQ could respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, providing assurance that the data and information of travellers was secure and reliable. She is recognised for her clarity and calmness under pressure.
Winners will announced at the 2021 Spirit of Service Awards event at Te Papa, Wellington on 16 September.
