An overview of our engagement When this Inquiry was initiated, our intention was to reach as many Pacific peoples as possible across Aotearoa New Zealand. We called for public submissions for six months with a closing date of 31 March 2022. During this period, we used various channels to communicate and engage with Pacific peoples on their experiences with the Pacific Pay Gap. This included surveys, workshops, webinars, videos, one-on-one talanoa online and face to face and group talanoa online as well as face to face. For a discussion of talanoa, along with our other methods of engagement, please refer to Appendix Four. Submissions represented a range of people’s voices, including those of the rainbow community, youth, students, Tagata Sa’ili Mālō/Pacific disabled people, business owners (large and small), employers, nongovernmental organisations, government officials, community leaders, senior leaders in professional roles, Pacific churches, social activist groups, union members, union delegates and Pacific representative bodies, various Pacific business and community trusts, unemployed Pacific people, Pacific academics and Pacific workers’ families15. In total, we received approximately 470 different forms of oral contributions from Pacific individuals, groups and employers and 738 written survey submissions. Due to the sensitive nature of the Inquiry, all of the survey questions were optional, and respondents were always provided the option to refuse to answer. We wanted to ensure everyone responding to the survey felt safe doing so and that they responded to questions they felt comfortable with given the context. Hence, the total number of responses to the individual questions varies from question to question (including the demographic questions). Through the various forms of engagement, we heard strong and consistent themes emerging again and again to the point of saturation. These themes form the body of this report. 15 The oral evidence shared in the numerous talanoa was rich and deep and would often last several hours – especially compared to workshops or interviews, which were typically around an hour. In these forms of engagement, we did not restrict the talanoa to fit a time schedule but allowed Pacific workers to share as they felt moved to do. Between 7 December 2021 and 31 March 2022, we made and released 12 separate videos about the Pacific Pay Gap and shared these via our website and various social media channels. Most videos received several thousand views, with the more recent ones reaching between 15,000 and 20,000 views each as pay equity campaigns have gathered momentum. Overall, our Facebook views alone for these videos exceeded 100,000 views. We held three successful webinars on the Pacific Pay Gap on 8 September 2021, 24 November 2021 and 19 July 2022. Each webinar attracted 100– 200 attendees via Zoom and several thousand via Facebook Live. We want to acknowledge the many Pacific workers who shared verbally and in written form their appreciation and gratitude that we were addressing the Pacific Pay Gap. Many of these people wanted to know more about the Pacific Pay Gap and were thankful that they were able to share their employment journey with the team in a safe space. They shared with us that they felt they were valued and heard. For further details of the way we approached our engagements, including a demographic breakdown of survey respondents and a discussion of talanoa, please refer to Appendix Four. Some participant comments used in this report have been edited slightly to assist readability. Voices of Pacific peoples 27