Whiria Te Oranga 2025–2035
Kaumātua Workforce Development and Wellbeing Strategy

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Te Rau Ora has developed Whiria Te Oranga 2025–2035, the refreshed national kaumātua workforce development and wellbeing strategy for Aotearoa. Building on the original Whiria Te Oranga (2008) by Louise Ihimaera, Te Rau Ora has extended the framework beyond workforce capability to integrate hauora and wellbeing, responding to the growing needs of an ageing Māori population.

The strategy is built on four pou: Whai Wāhitanga (Access), Ārai (Prevention), Kaimahi (Workforce), and Rangapū (Partnership). These pou provide Te Rau Ora’s national framework for kaumātua workforce development, with regional layers designed so that iwi and hapū lead the response in their own rohe.

Whiria Te Oranga 2025–2035 was developed in partnership with Ngāti Whakaue and soft-launched at the Poipoia Kaumātua Symposium on 19 June 2026 at Te Puia, Rotorua. It supports the vision that kaumātua can age well on their whenua, surrounded by whānau, with a workforce that is trained, supported, and grounded in kaupapa Māori models of care.