Menu

Kāinga Home

The Toi Mai Workforce Development Council will be closing operations from 19 December, and disestablished from 31 December 2025. The Services Industry Skills Board; Electrotechnology and Information Technology Industry Skills Board; Food and Fibre Industry Skills Board; Construction and Specialist Trades Board will pick up its functions.

Help me find my council

Toi Mai submissions on government consultations

Toi Mai submission on the Ministry of Education consultation on proposal to replace NCEA

September 2025

Building foundational skills is essential for enabling a future resilient and adaptable workforce.

Having gained insight from our industries such as journalism, technology and screen through workforce development plans, we support the reform’s intention to strengthen foundational skills, particularly traditional literacy, given the concerns raised about current levels of some learners.

However, for the reforms to be both effective and provide long-term value, there needs to be an expansion and more explicit focus on foundational skills other than numeracy and literacy, but those that span across the whole economy. Research points to three areas of particular importance: digital literacy skills, creative skills, and transferable skills.

Read our full submission to the NCEA change proposal here.

Toi Mai submission on the Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill

June 2025
Toi Mai Workforce Development Council (Toi Mai) is concerned the proposed legislation will not achieve its goals as it is currently drafted, especially for the creative and digital technology industries – the industries likely to underpin the next phases of New Zealand’s
economic growth.

Read our full submission to the Education and Training Amendment Bill here.

Watch our presentation to the Education and Workforce Select Committee here (YouTube).

Toi Mai submission on establishment and makeup of Industry Skills Boards

May 2025


Toi Mai does not support the current proposal to establish seven Industry Skills Boards (ISBs) as it excludes the creative and digital technology industries.

Toi Mai also considers there should be fewer rather than more ISBs as there are many financial efficiencies that can be gained by consolidating the qualifications and quality assurance functions across WDCs, leaving more funding to focus on addressing the strategic workforce analysis and planning functions for individual industries.

Read our full submission to the ISB establishment proposal here.

Toi Mai feedback on Tū Mai Rā, Toi Aotearoa

April 2025
Toi Mai supports the overarching direction of the strategy and its commitment to building a thriving creative sector. We are pleased to see the goal of “Thriving artists, ringatoi and practitioners, with viable creative careers, supported by a healthy arts infrastructure.” Sustainable careers and the supporting infrastructure are top priorities for the creative industries we engage with, aligning with our vision for artists and others working in our sectors: Thrive by ’35.

Read our full submission on Tū Mai Rā, Toi Aotearoa here.

Toi Mai submission on Amplify: A Creative and Cultural Strategy for New Zealand

December 2024
Toi Mai is supportive of the ambition and general direction outlined in Amplify, particularly its emphasis on targeted interventions to help the creative industries thrive. As the independent voice of the industry within the vocational education and training system, our work reinforces many of the key priorities and actions identified in the strategy. These align closely with the insights that we have gathered from our research and engagements with industry.

Read our full submission on Amplify here.

Toi Mai submission on the Government’s proposed reforms of the vocational education and training system

September 2024
Toi Mai has considered the proposed reforms and has identified opportunities that better meet the Minister’s reform objectives. We are suggesting an alternative that provides all industry with a stronger, more strategic and direct voice in ensuring New Zealand’s VET sector delivers better outcomes for learners and employers, so that industry gets a skilled workforce; the economy grows jobs, and workers grow incomes.

Read our full submission to the proposed VET reforms here.

Toi Mai submission on the MoE review of funding determinations

August 2024
We were pleased to see MoE’s proposed 10% increase to all funding rates and support this proposal.

We have identified several programmes that we recommend an increase to funding rates. This is to cover the high tech/equipment costs and high teacher to learner ratios required to support delivery.

Read our full submission to the Ministry of Education here.

Toi Mai submission on the University Advisory Group consultation

August 2024
Much provision across the tertiary education system is not reflecting our indsutries’ skill needs. Industry has told us there is a mismatch between the skills that graduates have and the skills needed by industry. Learners enter study believing it will get them work ready. However, on graduating there is oftena  gap in what skills industry actually requires.

Read our full submission on the UAG consultation here.

Toi Mai submission on the Stats NZ review of the NZ Occupational Classification system

August 2024
Toi Mai  has relied on ANZSIC and ANZSCO to develop detailed insights on workforce size, demographics, income and attrition rates of the industries that we are responsible for. Data quality and occupation classifications directly impact our ability to develop informed advice to improve education and training outcomes for our industries.

A lack of coverage for occupations across the CCRT industries has presented challenges to diagnosing and forecasting workforce needs.

Read our full submission to Stats NZ here.

Toi Mai submission on the Stats NZ review of the NZ Standard Industrial Classification system

April 2024
Toi Mai recommends that Stats NZ develops an alternative industry classification system.

While there is benefit in the wider economic sense of aligning industrial classifications internationally, for the purposes of supporting local workforce development, Toi Mai supports an alternative classification system that ensures domestic cultural and contextual relevance to the data.

Read our full submission to Stats NZ here.