The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has published new research addressing significant knowledge gaps within Aotearoa New Zealand’s financial system about experiences of tangata whenua with insurances.
The report, Experiences of tangata whenua with insurances, highlights that insurance is of significant interest to Māori but the current system does not consistently meet the needs of whānau, hapū and iwi.
Executive Director Governance, Policy and Strategy, Liam Mason, says insurance plays an important role in helping people, whānau and communities manage risk.
“This research is part of our Matangirua programme of work, which seeks to understand the experiences of Māori within New Zealand’s financial system and asks the question: what does fair look like for Māori?
“We know from previous FMA research that Māori are consistently less likely to hold insurance products than the wider population. This report helps us better understand the perspectives and experiences that sit behind those observations and provides a foundation for future discussion and action.”
Led by Dr Lara Greaves, the research had almost 1,000 participants, including 952 survey participants from the Te Ao Mārama panel. It found affordability was the strongest and most consistent barrier to insurance, with 82 percent of survey participants agreeing that people do not have enough money for insurance costs. Other key barriers included distrust and mistrust, accessible information, climate change and weather event related risk and product suitability.
Strategic Adviser Māori, Hannah Chapman, said the same themes emerged consistently in the research.
“The issue is not whether insurance is valued, but that a range of barriers make insurance impossible for some to access and hard for some to maintain. 17 per cent of participants experienced problems with insurance in the last two years which is almost double the rate found in a similar survey of the general population.
“Current insurance settings do not accommodate whenua Māori and multiple or collective ownership and ways of living, including papakāinga and marae although there are some attempts at solution finding happening. Participants also raised concerns about valuation, replacement costs and whether insurance products adequately reflect actual risk and cultural and intergenerational value.”
The research identified the need for mutual literacy - for whānau and owners and governors of whenua Māori to strengthen their financial literacy and for the insurance sector to build cultural literacy including understanding of te ao Māori (Māori worldview), collective ownership structures and the relational nature of trust.
Participants also identified practical solutions, expressing strong support for iwi-led and Māori-designed approaches (71 percent of survey participants agreed) and trusted navigators as ways to support whānau with claims processes (71 percent of survey participants agreed). Participants described iwi as well placed to develop solutions that reflect local circumstances, collective ownership arrangements and intergenerational priorities.
They also pointed towards clearer information about policies and processes and more accessible products and services as solutions.
As one survey participant says, “A one-size-fits-all insurance model does not serve Aotearoa well. By embedding Māori perspectives into the design of insurance systems, policymakers can create a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient future for all.”
Mr Mason says the report is intended as a starting point for discussion rather than an endpoint.
“What the research makes clear is that insurance matters to Māori, and Māori communities are already pointing to the answers. We look forward to continuing the conversation with iwi, hapū industry, and other stakeholders to prioritise actions around what a fair and effective insurance system looks like for tangata whenua.”
About the report
The report, Experiences of tangata whenua with insurances, is part of the FMA’s Matangirua programme of Kaupapa Māori research. Based on research led by Demos and Data, Dr Lara Greaves, (Ngāpuhi, Pākehā, Tararā), Hannah Chapman (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Whānau a Apanui, Te Whakatōhea) FMA, and with contributions from other FMA staff, it consists of a literature review, wānanga with Māori working in the insurance sector and Māori landholders and governors in Te Arawa region as well as a survey of 952 Māori participants, with Te Ao Mārama Aotearoa Trust through Te Ao Mārama Panel, which is a Māori-led and Māori-governed survey panel.
The previous research reports in the programme are He Kākahu Whenua: a case study of Toha Network and East Coast Exchange and Matangirua research wānanga: a case study on Māori consumer experiences of investment and savings.
E whakaatu ana te rangahau i ngā āheinga hei whakapai ake i ngā hua inihua mō te Māori
Tuku arapāho
MR No. 2026 - 36
Kua whakaputaina e Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko (The Financial Markets Authority – FMA) he rangahau hou e whakakī ana i ngā āputa mātauranga nui i roto i te pūnaha ahumoni o Aotearoa e hāngai ana ki ngā wheako o ngā tangata whenua ki ngā inihua.
Ko te pūrongo nei Experiences of tangata whenua with insurances e tautuhi nei ki te aronga nui a te Māori ki te inihua, engari, kāore te pūnaha o nāianei i te whakatutuki ai i ngā hiahia o ngā whānau, hapū, me ngā iwi rānei o te motu.
E ai ki te kōrero o te Manutaki Matua mō te Kaupapahere Kāwana me te Rautaki, a Liam Mason, he tūranga whakahirahira tā te inihua kia āwhinatia te tangata, ngā whānau me ngā hapori ki te whakahaere tūraru.
“He wāhanga tēnei rangahau nō tā mātou hōtaka mahi ko Matangirua, e whai nei ki te mārama ake ki ngā wheako o te Māori i roto i te pūnaha ahumoni o Aotearoa, ka mutu, e uia hoki nei te pātai: he aha te āhua o te tōkeke hei tā te kitenga Māori?
“Kei te mōhio kē mātou, i ngā rangahau a mua a te FMA, he iti ake te pāpono kia pupuritia ngā hua inihua e te Māori i tō te taupori whānui.
He mea āwhina te pūrongo nei kia hōhonu ake tō mātou māramatanga ki ngā tikanga me ngā wheako e noho nei ki tua i aua kitenga, waihoki, e whakatakoto anō hoki te pūrongo nei i tētahi tūāpapa mō ngā wānanga me ngā mahi ā muri ake nei.”
Kua ārahi a Takuta Lara Greaves, tata ki te 1000 ngā kaiuru i uru mai, tae rā anō ki te 952 ngā kaiuru nō te paewhiri o Te Ao Mārama. Kua kitea ko te tareka ā-utu te taupā nui ake e pūmau ai ki te inihua, ā, e toko ana te 82 paiheneti o ngā kaiuru rūritanga e whakaae ana kei kore te tangata e rawaka atu te pūtea mō te hoko inihua. Ko ētahi atu o ngā tauārai, ko te pāihitanga, te kore whakapono, te tomonga pārongo, te āhuatanga hurihuri me ngā tūraru e hangai ana ki ngā aituā huarere me te pai o ngā hua inihua.
E ai ki te Kaitohutohu Rautaki Māori, a Hannah Chapman, rite tonu te putanga mai o ngā kaupapa ōrite ki te rangahau.
“Ehara i te mea he take te kore uara ki te inihua, engari, nā te whanui kē o ngā momo tauārai ka uaua te uru atu me te pupuri tonu ki ngā inihua. I pāngia e ētahi mate e 17 paihēneti o ngā kaiuru ki te inihua i ngā tau e rua kua hipa ake nei, ā, āhua huarua te pāpātanga kua puta mai i tētahi atu rūritanga ōrite o te taupori whānui.
“Kāore ngā whakaritenga inihua o nāianei i te hāngai rawa ki ngā āhuatanga o te whenua Māori, ki te rangatiratanga kiritōpū me ngā āhuatanga noho rānei a te Māori, kei te pērā hoki ki ngā papakāinga, me ngā marae, kāpā ia, e whakamātauria kētia ētahi hua. I whakapuakina hoki e ngā kaiuru ngā māharahara mō te aromatawai uara, ngā utu rīwhi, ā, mēnā rānei e whakaata tika ai ngā hua inihua i te mōrea tinana me te uara ahurea, te uara tuku iho hoki.
I tohu te rangahau i te hiahia kia whakawhanake te mātau pātahi, arā, ko te whakapakaritanga o te mātau pūtea ki ngā whānau, ki ngā kaipupuri me ngā kaiwhakahaere whenua Māori, manohi anō, ko te whakapikinga hoki o te rāngai inihua i tōna mātau ahurea, tae atu rā ki te mārama ki te ao Māori, ngā āhutanga o te rangatiratanga kiritōpū, me ngā āhuatanga o ngā hononga whakawhirinaki.
I tautohu hoki ngā kaiuru i ētahi whakataunga whaitake e kaha tautoko ana i ngā momo whakatata e ārahina ana, e waihangatia hoki ana e te Māori (e 71 paihēneti o ngā kaiuru i whakaae) me te whakamahia o ētahi kaitautoko whakawhirinaki hei āwhina i ngā whānau ki ngā kerēme inihua (e 71 paihēneti o ngā kaiuru i whakaae). Kua whakaahua ngā kaiuru he pai te tūnga a ngā iwi ki te waihanga i ngā whakataunga e whakaata ana i ngā horopaki ā-rohe, ngā whakaritenga rangatiratanga kiritōpū, me ngā whāinga tuku iho mō ngā whakatupuranga e heke mai ana.
I tohu hoki rātou ki ētahi atu whakataunga, arā, ko te tukuna atu o ngā pārongo māmā ake te mārama ki ngā kaupapa here me ngā tukanga, me te whakapiki ake o ngā āheitanga ki ngā hua me ngā ratonga.
Hei tā tētahi kaiuru pūrongo, “Ehara i te mea mā te tauira kotahi noa e whai hua ai te katoa o Aotearoa. Mā te whakatō i ngā tirohanga Māori ki roto i te whakaahua o ngā pūnaha inihua, ka taea e ngā kaihanga kaupapa te waihanga he anamata kauawhi, tautika, manawaroa hoki mō te katoa.”
E ai ki a Mason, ko te whāinga o te pūrongo nei hei tīmatanga kē mō te whitiwhiti kōrero, ehara i te mea he wāhi whakamutunga.
“Ko tā te rangahau e whakamārama mārika nei, he mea nui te inihua ki te Māori, ā, kei ngā hapori Māori kē ētahi o ngā whakautu.
E ngākau nui ana mātou ki te kōrero tonu ki ngā iwi Māori, ngā hapū, te rāngai inihua me ētahi atu kiripānga kia āta whakaraupapatia tētahi pūnaha inihua e tōkeke ana, e whai hua ana ki tā te tangata whenua titiro.”
WHAKAMUTUNGA
Mō te pūrongo
Ko te pūrongo, Experiences of tangata whenua with insurances, he wāhanga nō te hōtaka rangahau a Matangirua nā Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko. E hāngai ana te pūrongo ki te rangahau nā Demos and Data, rātou ko Takuta Lara Greaves (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pākehā, Ngai Tararā) ko Hannah Chapman (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Whānau a Apanui, Te Whakatōhea) i ārahi me te whāngai atu i ētahi o ngā kaimahi nō te FMA. Kei roto i te pūrongo he arotake mātākōrero, ngā kitenga ā ētahi wānanga ki ngā kaimahi Māori e mahi ana i te rāngai inihua me ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori, āpiti atu, ko tētahi tirohanga tauanga i uru ai ngā Māori e 952. Nā Te Ao Mārama Aotearoa Trust taua tirohanga tauanga i whakahaere mā Te Ao Mārama Panel, he rōpū rangahau e ārahi, e whakahaere hoki ana te Māori. Ko ngā pūrongo rangahau o mua nā Matangirua ko ēnei: He Kākahu Whenua: a case study of Toha Network and East Coast Exchange me te Matangirua research wānanga: a case study on Māori consumer experiences of investment and savings.
