Who the allowance is for#

The allowance recognises kaiako | teachers and tumuaki | principals who hold cultural knowledge and expertise. It is $5,000 each year and paid fortnightly.

There are 2 distinct cultural leadership allowances with different eligibility criteria – 1 for principals and 1 for teachers.

Information and the purpose of the allowance are set out in the relevant collective agreements or equivalent individual employment agreements (IEAs).

• Primary teachers' collective and individual employment agreements
• Primary principals' collective and individual employment agreements
• Area school teachers' collective and individual employment agreements
• Area school principals' collective and individual employment agreements

Who is eligible#

Principals#

Principals must lead a school or kura which offers a Level 1 or Level 2 te reo Māori or Pacific language immersion programme, according to the roll return guidelines.

School roll return guidelines – Education Counts

Teachers#

There are a limited number of allowances for primary and area school teachers. Teachers at eligible schools need to show their employer how they provide cultural expertise and leadership in line with the matrix below.

Schools can receive up to 2 full allowances to assign to 1 or more eligible teachers. An allowance can be split between 2 teachers if the employer agrees. 

Teachers who are eligible include:

• primary or area school teachers covered by the relevant collective agreement or IEA
• teachers who already receive the Māori Immersion Teaching Allowance and/or Pacific Bilingual Immersion Teaching Allowance
• learning support coordinators or resource teachers
• Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) staff must be employed on a fixed-term basis of 6 months or more
• teachers already receiving a permanent unit for cultural leadership skills.

How the allowance is allocated#

All eligible schools have been contacted about the process to allocate their available allowance to a suitable teacher, or teachers. 

The allocation process and criteria are explained in the documents below.

Education Payroll has more information about eligibility and how to assign the allowance to staff.

Cultural leadership allowance - EdPay