Data is a taonga, a treasure. Data about what matters to us, that concerns us, and that reflects our relationships with each other and with our environments has its own inherent value, but it can also be used to understand how government action (or inaction) is impacting us. It allows us to monitor government agencies, and hold the state to account.
In this episode we talk about the quantitative analysis from the TIAKI rangahau and what we found when we looked at government data sets held on the Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure.
Listen to episode 2
This episode includes a discussion on Māori data sovereignty – the idea that Māori data should be governed and protected by Māori and ensuring that data practices are grounded in Māori conceptualisations of data and tikanga Māori.
Some of the key findings discussed in this episode include our assessment that the Department of Corrections is undercounting Māori in prison by about 6% (which means there are around 405 more Māori in prison than government statistics say), lower rates of enrolment in primary health care organisations for Māori leaving prisons than the general population, and high rates of visits to emergency departments during the first week following their release from prison.
We have created a graphic novella to support episode 2 and to summarise our data findings, with words by Paula Toko King and Gabrielle Baker, and beautiful illustrations by Jordan Tane.
No generative AI was used in the creation of the zine or any part of the TIAKI podcast.
This episode was hosted by Associate Professor Dr Paula Toko King and Gabrielle Baker and features segments from an interview with Associate Professor Dr Ruth Cunningham.
The podcast was recorded at Tīhei Rangatahi, Wainuiomata. Snow Chase was our sound tech.
The podcast music – ‘He kōrero nui tō ngākau’/Your heart has an important story’ was composed by Paula Toko King and Nona King. Taonga puoro, piano soundboard, and piano performed by Paula Toko King and Nona King. Additional bird calls by korimako and pīwakawaka. The music was also recorded by Snow Chase.
Cunningham, R., King, P. T., Telfer, K., Crengle, S., Carr, J., Stanley, J., Gibb, S., & Robson, B. (2022). Mortality after release from incarceration in New Zealand by gender: A national record linkage study. SSM – Population Health, 20, 101274. Link here
King, P. T., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., McLeod, M., Harris, R., Davies, C., Cormack, D., Ingham, T.,Jones, B., Robson, B., Paki Paki, N., Baker, G., Tuari-Toma, B., Stairmand, J.,Cole, M., Pehi, T., Carr, J., Kemp, C., Chin, M. H., & Cunningham, R.( 2025). The undercounting of Indigenous Māori imprisoned by the New Zealandcarceral state: A national record study. Health & Justice, 13, 48. Link here
King, P. T., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Davies, C., Robson, B., Crengle, S., Baker, G., Carr, J., Paki Paki, N., Pehi, T., Cole, M., Jones, B., Ingham, T., Stairmand, J., Tuari-Toma,B., Kemp, C., Chin, M. H., & Cunningham, R. (2025). Health in justice or health injustice? Indigenous Māori experiences of primary care following release from New Zealand prisons: A national record study. Social Science & Medicine, 384, 118543. Link here
King, P. T., Paki Paki, N.,Cormack, D., Davies, C., Timutimu, R., Baker, G., Ingham, T., Jones, B., Cole, M., & Kemp, C. (2026). Poipoia Te Kākano Kia Puāwai: The operationalisation of Māori Data Sovereignty in Aotearoa—A scoping literature review. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 56, e70029. Link here
Malinowski, N. E. (2024). Emergency department use in the 12 months post-release for Māori and non-Māori incarcerated in Aotearoa New Zealand [Master’s thesis, University of Otago]. Link here
Te Mana Raraunga. (2018). Principles of Māori Data Sovereignty: Brief #1. Te Mana Raraunga. Link here
