People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity releases scathing report.
March 2, 2026
Hau Taki Haere | Tertiary Update Vol 30, No 3
A powerful report was released last week by the People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity—a group of ten former MPs and Ministers from across the political spectrum who came together in response to the Government’s 2025 changes to pay equity law. The Committee was chaired by retired TEU member Marilyn Waring.
“None of the changes to our pay equity law were supported by coherent evidence or reasoning. The coalition deliberately dismantled an effective system, destroying our pathway to gender equality and damaging our international reputation,” says Amy Ross, TEU Te Pou Ahurei | National Secretary.
The Committee’s findings show that the law changes last year were not only unjustified but intentionally designed to make pay equity claims almost impossible to progress.
When the law changed, thousands of TEU members, working in university libraries and administration roles, were right in the middle of their pay equity claim. This report recognises that harm and includes a vital recommendation: that the 2025 changes be urgently repealed and affected claims, including ours, reinstated.
The Committee has put forward bold, constructive recommendations that would restore a functioning pay equity system and ensure that all work is valued fairly.
“The recommendations are powerful; they provide a clear way forward for Aotearoa to recognise and fairly pay all work,” Ross said. The TEU is calling on all political parties to commit to implementing these recommendations.
Amy Ross has confirmed that TEU will be reaching out directly to the heads of all tertiary institutions: “We will be calling all our tertiary education leaders to support the Committee’s recommendations so that, as a united sector, we can finally ensure librarians and administrators are paid fairly. This is what pay equity means—what it has always meant.”
TEU congratulates Marilyn Waring and the former MPs who served on the Committee. At a time when the Government failed to uphold democratic processes, they stepped in to ensure the voices of New Zealanders were still heard.
You can read the TEU media release here and a summary of the report can be found on the same page.
Also in this update:
Branch Leadership Hui – reflections from the Co-Presidents
International Working Women’s Week – what’s happening near me?