Nicholson, AmberHurd, FionaRavenswood, Katherine2025-09-292025-09-292025-01-21Economic and Labour Relations Review, ISSN: 1035-3046 (Print); 1838-2673 (Online), Cambridge University Press, 36(1), 28-45. doi: 10.1017/elr.2024.611035-30461838-2673http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19890There has been growing global interest in wellbeing over recent decades, yet what constitutes wellbeing depends on cultural and philosophical traditions, as well as worldview and knowledge systems. Our article offers an Indigenous Māori view on hauora – relational wellbeing – which emanates from the spiritual essence and ethic of hau, and traverses ecological, social, and economic spheres. We use the case study of Māori community support workers (CSWs), who, in our study, found that their hauora was affected by discrimination, racism, and a lack of cultural awareness and support from employers. Our participants, centred mostly within corporate community support providers, found that Western models of care and support did not allow for the expression of tikanga Māori, which limited their options for providing culturally appropriate care. Also prevalent was the lack of recognition by employers and funders of the importance of culture and culturally appropriate care. The implications of acknowledging hauora within Aotearoa New Zealand’s wellbeing frameworks are then examined, showing that Māori notions of wellbeing have the potential to deliver better outcomes not only for Māori but for all New Zealanders. In this article, we provide some recommendations and reflections on how organisations can prioritise and embed the cultural wellbeing of Māori CSWs, their whānau and their clients in the workplace.This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/4409 Social Work44 Human SocietyGeneric health relevance1402 Applied Economics1503 Business and Management1605 Policy and Administration3505 Human resources and industrial relations3801 Applied economics4410 SociologyJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1017/elr.2024.61