Almost 81% of respondents to a recent industry stakeholder survey said they are confident Toi Mai understands their industries’ priorities, up from 76% in 2024, with 73% confident we are effectively communicating the priorities to the right people, up from 62% in 2024. 

We recently surveyed a sample of peak industry associations and stakeholders from the Creative, Cultural, Recreation and Technology (CCRT) sectors Toi Mai represents for our 2025 Impact Measures Survey, which we supply to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) as part of our Annual Plan. The survey highlights to the TEC the level of industry confidence in Toi Mai to deliver positive outcomes as a workforce development council. 

The improvement in this year’s survey findings reflects the time and effort Toi Mai has invested to engage with a diverse range of networks, organisations and voices across the CCRT sectors and connect with both traditional industry leaders and emerging groups. 

A focus over the past couple of years has been building our understanding in communities and industries where they haven’t had organised representation – particularly in industries such as the arts, with high rates of self-employment. 

A big challenge early in our establishment was that most industries we covered were not historically represented by peak bodies and were new to the formal vocational education and training sector. 

Several survey respondents commented that our current strengths in collaboration and sector engagement should be retained and amplified by the new Industry Skills Boards (ISBs) that will replace the Workforce Development Councils in 2026. 

There was also a strong call for the ISBs to build on the insights and workforce planning done by Toi Mai, and respondents overwhelmingly wanted to see work-based learning in their industries. 

While it is very pleasing to have our hard work on behalf of industries acknowledged, a key focus now is advocating strongly to government to make sure the CCRT sectors are covered by the new ISBs and they can build on the gains we have made. 

Keep up to date with our work 

We also had feedback from respondents who found it hard to keep up with the scope of our work – the new, regular Toi Mai Pānui (e-newsletter), for all our stakeholders across industries, providers and others, is designed to do just that, to ensure you don’t miss out on important news, including around the Government’s work-based learning reforms. Read the latest pānui here and sign up to future pānui here. 

The sector landing pages on our website also provide a great overview of what is happening in each sector, including news, insights, qualifications and quality assurance.