Equity vs equality? Why educators and health experts say understanding the difference matters

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Photo: 123rf

"Everyone should be treated the same."

It's a phrase that surfaces often in New Zealand's public debate. Whether it's discussions about healthcare, education, local government or Te Tiriti o Waitangi, calls for equality can sound straightforward. It means fairness, giving everyone the same treatment.

But educators and public health experts say that understanding the concept of equity is just as important.

They say that while equality focuses on treating people the same, equity asks whether everyone has the same opportunity to thrive in the first place. And in a country where Māori continue to experience poorer outcomes across health, housing and justice, they say the distinction matters.

Amelia Paxton (Ngāti Pikiao), a Māori public health and policy advisor at Hāpai Te Hauora, said the distinction between the two kupu was important to understand.

"If you boil it down quite simply, equality is about giving everyone the same thing, whereas equity is about recognising that people have different circumstances and barriers, so they may need different kinds of support to achieve the same opportunity," she said.

"Equity focuses on the outcomes and opportunities, rather than assuming that the same approach works for everyone."

Art by Talia Soloa for Hāpai Te Hauora highlighting the concept of equity verses equality.

Photo: Talia Soloa / Hāpai Te Hauora

Hāpaitia, an initiative by Hāpai Te Hauora designed to make public health concepts more accessible, uses an analogy to explain the difference.

Imagine three native birds trying to reach nectar from a kōwhai tree.

The kererū can easily reach the blossoms. The tūī stretches but still cannot quite get there. The small pīwakawaka cannot reach the flowers at all.

Equality would mean giving each bird the same length perch.

The kererū doesn't need it. The tūī still struggles. The pīwakawaka remains too far away.

Equity means recognising that each bird starts from a different place and providing the support each needs to reach the nectar.

"It isn't about special treatment," Hāpaitia explains. "It's about fairness - ensuring everyone has the chance to reach the same outcome."

Paxton says she hopes to see policies that "create cohesion and support and have that equity lens.

Photo: Hāpai Te Hauora

Paxton said equity is central to Māori public health because it shifts the focus away from blaming individuals and towards understanding the conditions shaping people's wellbeing.

"Hauora is influenced by much more than what happens in a doctor's office," she said.

"Things like housing, education, culture and access to services all play a role.

"When we are consistently experiencing poorer outcomes across those areas, equity helps us to look beyond those symptoms and ask what's actually driving the differences in the first place. It's creating the conditions that allow our people and whānau to thrive."

The evidence of those differences can be seen across a range of measures in Aotearoa.

According to Stats NZ, life expectancy for Māori between 2022 and 2024 was 75.8 years, compared with 82.8 years for people identifying as European or Other.

Māori adults experience higher rates of many health conditions, including coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes, while also facing lower access to healthcare than non-Māori.

The Ministry of Health reports Māori adults are more than 1.5 times more likely to die from cancer than non-Māori.

Beyond health, inequities are reflected in housing and the justice system. Community Housing Aotearoa found Māori made up 28.8 percent of people experiencing homelessness despite accounting for 17.1 percent of the population.

Ministry of Justice data shows Māori are overrepresented at every stage in the criminal justice system. Māori are 37 percent of people proceeded against by police, 45 percent of people convicted, and 52 percent of people in prison. This is despite making up 15 percent of the NZ population.

Paxton said these statistics are not isolated problems.

"We're seeing a lot of these patterns emerging, so that indicates to us in Māori public health that we're not looking at isolated issues," she said.

"We're looking at broader systems and environments that influence people's opportunities for wellbeing.

"Those statistics give us a piece of the puzzle to help identify where those gaps exist and whether we're actually making progress in closing them.

Health equity "isn't just about primary healthcare", she said. "It's about the wider conditions that allow people, whānau, hapū and iwi to thrive and flourish."

Bennett is Tangata Tiriti, with whakapapa to Crete. A former principal, she founded Thirdspace Aotearoa during the Covid-19 pandemic after seeing opportunities for stronger partnerships between organisations and iwi.

Photo: Downing Creative Marketing

Jen Bennett, kaitohu - director - and founder of Thirdspace Aotearoa helps people unpack what equity truly means.

Most of her mahi involves facilitating engagement between iwi, local government, developers and/organisations. She also runs Te Tiriti workshops, helping Tangata Tiriti and others move beyond theory and understand what giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi looks like in practice.

"When I first left school and I did my first Tiriti or Waitangi course, I left and I was so furious," Bennett said. "I was like, 'I cannot believe I didn't know this.' And so that was a real moment."

She told RNZ that equality feels "really fair, good and correct".

"It's very palatable and digestible for people to go, 'Yeah, we should all be treated the same and we're all one.' It makes us feel like we're fair, kind and good people."

She said that when people start to unpack the idea of equity, it's a lot more complex.

"It requires a little bit more thought and a little bit more perspective in terms of our own relationships with privilege and power.

"'Do I have a position of privilege? Do I have an advantage somewhere? Does that make me feel a little bit uncomfortable?'I'll just flip back into equality, one rule for all.'

"It's a much more comfortable, palatable concept."

She said understanding inequity requires understanding history.

"Because of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it's actually very clear," she said. "But where people get confused is because we have a lack of history and education around what Te Tiriti actually says and means."

She said promises made in 1840 were not upheld.

"So we have a classic example there of equality that was not applied, which created inequities, which have perpetuated over time. And so now we have these huge disparities."

Bennett says people leave their wānanga with a deeper understanding of how historical decisions continue to shape present-day outcomes.

Photo: Downing Creative Marketing

Thirdspace Aotearoa recently published a series of posts unpacking common phrases heard in debates about equity. One of the most common, Bennett said, is the idea that everyone should simply be treated the same.

"I think there's an inherent misunderstanding that equity is unfair," she said. "And because equality is fairness, equity must be unfair. And that's an example of a very binary way of perceiving things."

But the organisation argues, treating everyone the same only works if everyone begins from the same place.

"Equal treatment without equal conditions just locks inequality in."

Bennett runs a 'Step Forward, Step Back' activity during workshops to help unpack that perspective.

Participants are divided into groups representing Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti and historical events are read aloud. If the particular event advantaged their group, participants step forward. If it disadvantaged them, they step backwards.

"Honestly, I have to get a megaphone because the groups are so far away from each other," Bennett said.

"Then I stop them and say, 'Now do we understand why we need equity?'"

She said people often leave those workshops with a deeper understanding of how historical decisions continue to shape present-day outcomes.

"When people learn just how land was taken, how language was taken, how opportunities were funnelled away from power, how there was a systematic dismantling... there's not usually a dry eye," she said.

"I don't think I've ever been in a wānanga where we've gone through that process and people have gone, 'I still don't get it.'"

She said people have a responsibility to go away and do their own learning and unlearning.

"If we don't know something, we're going to cling to the thing that we do know," she said.

"Equality feels comfortable… But what we're seeking is actually addressing those disparities. That's justice."

Paxton agrees building understanding is crucial.

"It's a big issue to tackle and it's not something that's going to happen overnight. But a lot of it is building understanding and connection between ourselves.

"For the collective wellbeing of Māori, we all need to work together to achieve that goal.

"I'd love to see policies that create cohesion and support overall and have that equity lens."

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