Tribunal releases report on changes to Treaty obligations of school boards

On 30 October 2026, the Waitangi Tribunal released a pre-publication copy of Hūtia te Rito o te Harakeke, kei Hea te Kōmako e Kō? The Stage Two, Part II Report of the Education and Training Amendment Act and Te Mātaiaho Urgent Inquiry. The report was the latest from the Wai 3553 urgent inquiry: the stage one interim report addressed the Crown’s proposed changes to broader Tiriti provisions in the Education and Training Act 2020 following the Treaty clause review, while the stage two, part I report concerned the Crown’s changes to the national curriculum.

The Tribunal panel, comprised of Judge Rachel Mullins, Gerrard Albert, Derek Fox, Dr Paul Hamer, and Kevin Prime, first received an application for urgency from the claimants, Te Kapotai and Ngāti Hine, on 19 November 2025. On 3 December 2025, the panel received a further application for urgency from the kaimahi Māori of Te Riu Roa/New Zealand Educational Institute. The Crown, however, opposed the granting of urgency.

On 2 March 2026, the Tribunal granted the claims urgency and, on 15 and 17 April 2026, the claims were heard. On the last day of hearing, following a judicial conference, the parties submitted a revised statement of issues that expanded the inquiry’s scope to include the proposed Education and Training Act 2020 reforms addressed in the stage one interim report. The revised statement of issues also replaced the heading ‘New Zealand Curriculum – Te Mātaiaho’ with the heading ‘National Curriculum’, thereby expanding the inquiry’s scope to incorporate Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the curriculum designed for use in Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori settings. On 28 April 2026, the Tribunal heard oral closing submissions.

On 21 April 2026, Judge Mullins confirmed that the Tribunal would report in two stages, with stage one addressing broader proposed changes to the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Treaty clause review and stage two addressing the national curriculum and the removal of section 127(1)(d). After receiving written closing submissions, the Tribunal issued its stage one interim report on 24 May 2026 and its stage two, part I report on 17 September 2026.

In this, the stage two, part II report, the Tribunal considered statutory changes to school boards’ obligations in the Education and Training Act 2020. Specifically, it addressed the November 2025 removal of school boards’ obligation under section 127(1)(d) to ensure schools give effect to te Tiriti and its replacement with altered requirements in section 127(2)(e).

The Tribunal found that the Crown’s process for pursuing the reforms and the substance of the statutory changes breached Treaty principles. Specifically, it found that the Crown:

• breached the principle of partnership by acting unilaterally and abruptly in removing the explicit Tiriti obligation on school boards;
• failed to act transparently and in good faith towards its Treaty partner through the series of steps it took to effect the removal of section 127(1)(d);
• breached its obligation of good government and active protection by confirming the Minister of Education’s proposed reform in the absence of the information or internal policy analysis required for the Crown to understand the specific implications of its reforms for ākonga Māori and Māori interests;
• breached its duty of active protection by removing a clear and unambiguous direction to school boards to ensure schools give effect to te Tiriti;
• breached the principle of good government by creating confusion and uncertainty about the ongoing Treaty obligations carried by school boards;
• by diminishing or removing other Māori-specific provisions in section 127, breached its duty of active protection and the principle of equity; and
• through its clear failure to honour te Tiriti as required by purpose provisions in the Education and Training Act 2020, further breached the principle of good government.

The Tribunal found that the Crown’s Treaty breaches have caused prejudice to Māori, including harm to the Māori–Crown relationship and the likelihood that the removal of section 127(1)(d) would leave school boards’ commitment to the Treaty to chance. The Crown’s lack of clarity about the continued relevance of the Treaty to school boards’ operations has also created confusion, which ‘may be the largest and most lasting form of prejudice’.

To acknowledge the harm it has caused and to mitigate prejudice, the Tribunal recommended that the Crown apologise to Māori for its breaches of the Treaty arising from the removal of section 127(1)(d). The Tribunal also recommended that the Crown restore section 127(1)(d) of the Education and Training Act 2020 in its entirety and work with Māori in the education sector to determine how to reinstate section 127(1)(d) in the current statutory framework, ‘while preserving its full substance and effect’.