Working for the Tribunal

Working for the Waitangi Tribunal offers the opportunity to contribute to the further development of New Zealand’s cultural identity and the achievement of a just, fair, and equal relationship for all New Zealanders.

The Waitangi Tribunal Unit provides a comprehensive range of administrative and support services to the Tribunal. These are grouped into five main areas of work:

• Corporate and judicial support
• Registrarial
• Inquiry support
• Research and inquiry facilitation
• Report-writing and editorial

Current Vacancies

There are no current vacancies.

Corporate and Judicial Support Services

The support services staff provide administrative, accounts, and other corporate services to staff and members. Specialist positions provide financial, communications, library, te reo Māori, and IT support.

The judicial support team in the chief judge’s chambers provides legal and administrative services to the chief judge and other Māori Land Court judges, covering their dual roles in the court and in the Tribunal.

Registrarial Services

The registrarial section is responsible for assessing applications to register and amend claims. Where claims and amendments satisfy the criteria of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, registrarial staff prepare their judicial registration. They advise the Tribunal, the claimants, the Crown, and members of the public on the Tribunal’s formal procedures, statutory powers, and official records. They assist presiding officers and the chairperson in the drafting of directions. They also case-manage inquiries granted urgency for immediate hearing.

Registrarial staff oversee the record of inquiry for all claims and Tribunal inquiries, which contains all the procedural and evidential documentation placed on the Tribunal’s public record. They also furnish statutory advice to the Legal Services Agency so as to inform its decisions concerning legal aid funding to claimants.

Inquiry Support Services

The claims coordination section provides all the necessary logistical and administrative support to enable the smooth functioning of judicial conferences, hearings, and Tribunal member meetings. Claims coordinators assist claimants and all participants in a Tribunal inquiry to engage effectively with official Tribunal events. They also maintain and distribute all documents filed on the Tribunal’s record of inquiry and provide copies of requested documents to members of the public.

Qualifications and skills needed for Inquiry Support Service roles (pdf)

Research and Inquiry Facilitation Services

The research section undertakes two principal functions: compiling the evidential base for inquiry and inquiry facilitation. In the former, the evidential base in district inquiries is focused mainly on historical research and supporting source material. The section assists Tribunals to plan and implement casebook research programmes that produce the majority of the technical evidence required for a district inquiry to commence.

This involves maintaining a close working relationship with the claimants and the Crown and with the other agencies involved in research on historical claims, particularly the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, so as to ensure a coordinated approach to research within the sector. The Tribunal’s research staff help to identify claim issues requiring research and to design casebook research projects and programmes. They also undertake Tribunal research commissions and project manage commissioned external contractors.

The second main function is inquiry facilitation. Research staff facilitate the effective participation of all parties through all inquiry stages up to the close of hearings. They advise and assist Tribunal presiding officers to conduct fair and efficient inquiry processes, especially for the filing and leading of evidence. They advise claimants and the Tribunal on all evidential matters, and assist Tribunal panels to determine issues for inquiry, in particular through Tribunal statements of issues.

Qualifications and skills needed for Research and Inquiry Facilitation roles (pdf)

Report-Writing and Editorial Services

The report-writing section assists Tribunal panels to prepare their reports. Its staff are supplemented when needed from the research team and by contractors, especially to enable the rapid completion of high priority and urgent inquiries.

Historians (report writers) help Tribunal panels to plan, prepare and finalise their reports in a timely manner. They prepare discussion papers, draft assigned report sections for consideration by members, and advise Tribunal panels on all the evidence filed on the record of inquiry and given by witnesses at hearings.

When the report is ready, the editorial section undertakes its technical production and oversees its publication.

Qualifications and skills needed for Report-writing and editorial roles (pdf)

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