by a majority of New Zealanders. The campaign will include an online platform to engage New Zealanders and generate greater awareness of racism and how it can be prevented. It will go live during the second half of 2016. The Commission is committed to a high level of engagement with civil society and a strong presence in diverse communities facing issues in achieving equal treatment. To this end, the Race Relations Commissioner continues to be pro-active and committed in engaging with representatives from a wide range of ethnic and religious backgrounds. Discrimination and Inequality The 2015 Ministry for Women Gender Stocktake Report shows the number of women ministerial appointments to state sector boards and committees was 43.4 percent as at 31 December 2015. This is a significant increase from 41.7 percent for the year ending December 2014, a figure which had essentially stagnated for more than 10 years. While Government continues to lead by example, with the highest ever percentage of women on State Sector boards and committees, results show further work is needed to achieve the original 45 percent target. Although women’s participation on public sector boards and committees has increased, the private sector still lags behind, with only 17 percent female representation. The Commission’s “Tracking Equality at Work” web-based tool has been updated with the most recent data from 2015. It allows progress towards equality to be tracked and provides increased visibility to data about Mäori and Pacific people in employment. Violence and abuse in communities, as well as family violence, sexual violence and bullying in schools remain major human rights issues. Last year we advocated for businesses to introduce anti-violence policies and programmes. A number of these policies were implemented with major New Zealand companies. The Human Rights Commission welcomed the launch of a new online application to empower more women to deal with, or escape, abusive or controlling relationships. The ‘1 in 3 Be Free’ web-based application is an educational tool designed to help women screen for abuse in their relationship. It educates them on the different types of abuse and connects them with support services in their region of New Zealand – should they require it. Bullying in schools has also been a key focus of the Commission’s work on discrimination and inequality. Work continues with the Bullying Prevention Advisory Group to facilitate national data collection on the nature and extent of bullying in New Zealand schools. Annual Report 2016 7