Paid Placements Aotearoa NZ

09/03/2026

New Zealand women earning the median wage are losing $25.36 per week because the Government has not acted on pay gap reporting.

For wahine Māori, it is $58.40 a week; for Pacific women it is $76.40.

If the Government made gender pay gap reporting compulsory for large businesses, the gender pay gap would shrink by 20–40 percent.

Every week the Government stalls, women and their families pick up the tab: at the supermarket, in their power bill, to their landlords.

Alongside STILL Minding the Gap, we are going to let the Prime Minister know that closing the gender pay gap is a priority for us. We sent him an invoice for the money women miss out on each week.

You can too. Join us. Show you care about gender pay gaps. Send your invoice to him here: https://www.stillmindingthegap.nz

17/06/2025

📣 Parliament’s decision is in.

The Education and Workforce Select Committee will not be progressing our petition for paid training in healthcare, education, and social work.

😔 Paid Placements Aotearoa is gutted. Deeply disappointed - though not surprised in the current political climate.

🪴 All is not lost. The evidence and solution still stand when a progressive government is ready to do the right thing.

🎓 To the students: it’s time for your unions to take this up.

We’ve done everything we can. This campaign has grown beyond what PPA has the capacity or resources to carry alone. it's over to the unions from here!

However, Bex Howells continues to DISRUPT the gender pay gap in a whole new way. I'd love to stay connected with you so please follow me here for the next evolution of this mahi. We will not be defeated 💥

💙 Thank you for your support. We’re proud of what we’ve built and the light we’ve shone on this issue. It’s time now to pass the baton.

12/05/2025

What the actual f**kery is happening.

Please sign and share the petition to save gender pay equity claims from the claws of this draconian government.

Sign the petition: Protect Pay Equity

24/02/2025

MOE have provided a second submission on our petition 🧐

Check out how many programs have unpaid training in Aotearoa NZ! 🫨

TLDR:
🎒Over 21,000 students do unpaid placements each year (this is a significant underestimation).*

🇳🇿Nationwide, there are under 1,000 scholarships available.

📉The Tertiary Education Commission doesn't collect data on unpaid placements or attrition rates.

❌The Nursing Council doesn't allow students to be paid. This is true and highly problematic.

💅Students get pastoral care (you can't pay rent with pastoral care).

💸Clinical Psychology is the only known program with paid internships (after many unpaid hours).

📈*There are 21,000 Students in healthcare alone to 11.6 million hours of unpaid training each year. That doesn't include teaching, social work, or mental health trainees. The true number will be much higher, meaning the ratio of scholarships is even more scarce 🫠

24/02/2025

MSD's response to our petition in the link below 👇

TLDR:

We offer what we offer 🙄

The letter refers to "the question of whether our existing infrastructure could be expanded to include payment of the proposed stipend if it is introduced."

It does not answer this Q. And so the merry-go-round continues!

(Photo of Bex & Sandy in the Hub at Te Herenga Waka)

20/02/2025

Bex spoke to RNZ's The Panel last night about the new research findings. Check it out here!

Tonight on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Ed McKnight & Penny Ashton. The trio discuss the impact of unpaid placements in healthcare and education. Pilot Vaughn Davis also joins The Panel for another instalment of "Ask the pilot". Penny Ashton is a performer, celebrant, produ...

17/02/2025

Dr Leighton Watson speaks about the long-term implications of unpaid placements. Check it out!

A new study shows it can take decades for teachers, nurses, social workers, and midwives to recover the costs of university fees and unpaid placements. Lead author of the study, University of Canterbury senior lecturer Dr Leighton Watson, spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

17/02/2025

💥BREAKING NEWS!💥

New academic research from the University of Canterbury confirms that unpaid placements have long-term financial implications.

💲For the first 8-12 years of your career (depending on your profession), you would have been better off financially as a MINIMUM WAGE worker.

💲For the first 14-28 years of your career, your effective cumulative salary is less than a Police officer - who is paid to train, has no debt and no degree.

💲After 20yrs on average, your superannuation will be about a quarter of a Police officers'.

👮‍♀️Police, prison officers, Customs, and the military are all public services with paid training. They are also male dominated 👮

Paid training can be done because it is being done and it works! 🙌

Please share this post and let us know what you think in the comments 👇

14/01/2025

Bex was on the National Council of Women of New Zealand recently. This was a whistlestop tour through all the crazy dimensions of unpaid training in female-dominated professions and why this system is serving no one.

Thanks to Conversations with Wāhine for having us. Check it out!

Sophie and Harita talk to Bex Howells, campaign Lead for Paid Placements Aotearoa. 

15/11/2024

💲If you had a $1.9 billion dollar budget, which of these do you think would provide greater return on investment for our communities? 💲

The government has these choices available to them. When Bex presented to the Education & Workforce Select Committee, this was the comparator she put to them 🌟

A holding pen for people who need help or train a wealth of professionals to help them and the community at large. Which would you prefer? 🤨

14/11/2024

We are close to 20,000 signatures on the petition team! THANK YOU to each and every one of you who has signed it, shared it, and talked about it. Each of these actions helps us build momentum and keep making noise 📣

Thank you for being the change you wish to see in this world. We appreciate you 🥰

We are short 700 social workers, 940 psychologists, 1000 teachers, 1,050 midwives, 1,700 doctors, & 4,800 nurses to name a few. Our hospitals, GP practices, schools, mental health & social services are more stretched than ever. Dangerously low staffing levels & overworked professionals m...