Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand have long called for action to address pay inequities, structural discrimination and poor working conditions. In the 1970s, for example, the Polynesian Panthers called for better working conditions and equal pay for Pacific workers.5 More recently, the Advance Pasifika march in 2012 called for “decent jobs and a living wage for Pacific people in New Zealand”.6 Pacific peoples have also participated in union or other collective actions and more recently in the Commission’s End Pay Secrecy campaign calling for pay transparency.7 In the course of putting together our report Talanoa: Human Rights Issues for Pacific Peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand,8 the Commission heard directly from Pacific peoples about their experiences in the workplace. Published in December 2020, our Talanoa report identified the economic disadvantage Pacific peoples experienced. This was often linked to employment conditions and pay disparities as significant barriers to the realisation of their human rights. As Aotearoa New Zealand’s national human rights institution, the Commission has a mandate to inquire into these inequities. The Human Rights Commission’s mandate for this Inquiry Under the Human Rights Act 1993, which establishes the Human Rights Commission, discrimination in employment is unlawful in Aotearoa New Zealand. In addition to the Commission’s function to mediate discrimination complaints, we also have a mandated leadership role regarding equal employment opportunities. This includes pay equity. The Act establishes at section 8(1A)(b) that one of the four Human Rights Commissioners must be focused on the priority area of equal employment opportunities. In addition, the Commission has general inquiry powers under section 5(2)(h) of the Act. 18 This provides that the Commission can: inquire generally into any matter, including any enactment or law, or any practice, or any procedure, whether governmental or nongovernmental, if it appears to the Commission that the matter involves, or may involve, the infringement of human rights. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner has therefore chosen to exercise the Commission’s inquiry powers to give effect to her functions concerning pay equity – specifically the pay gap experienced by Pacific workers. The Terms of Reference for the Inquiry are set out in Appendix One. 5 Anae, The Platform – The Radical Legacy of Polynesian Panthers. 6 “Pacific people stage protest march in Auckland for ‘better future’,” Pacific Scoop. 7 “Call for pay scale transparency law to ensure fair wages,” Radio New Zealand. 8 New Zealand Human Rights Commission. Talanoa: Human Rights Issues for Pacific Peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Human Rights Commission, 2020. https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-12/ apo-nid310600.pdf.