Waihanga Ara Rau

Waihanga Ara Rau is the Workforce Development Council for Construction and Infrastructure. We represent more than 50 industries which are supported through 11 strategic sector reference groups, including civil infrastructure, water services, and construction and infrastructure professional services.  Waihanga Ara Rau was stood up in October 2021 to elevate the voice of industry, Māori business, and iwi development in New Zealand’s vocational education system.  We’ve been doing this through the collaborative development of industry qualifications, micro-credentials, and unit and skill standards, and we actively advocate to ensure there is consistency of training and assessment across all modes of learning, whether on-job, on-campus, or online. 

Currently we’re building on what we’ve already achieved, and right now this includes reviewing and developing over 3,000 unit or skill standards and over 150 qualifications, working with industry to implement recommendations on how to retain and attract skilled people, making investment recommendations to the Tertiary Education Commission for training delivery, and providing free resources, information and reports that help businesses across the sector. Come and find us at Future Roads; we welcome your input.