Skip Content

Holistic wellness programme Tau Ora will ride the crest of its recent national award-winning success to international shores.


Tumutaumatua and Tau Ora founder Leesah Murray says plans are in motion to take the life-saving initiative to the world.

“Tau Ora is about moving and shifting firstly our people and eventually all people towards a future of wellbeing with positive outcomes to ensure we craft a healthy legacy for future generations.”

Rhea Munro is one of many kaimahi who has made a healthy life transformation through Tau Ora.

In August 2013, Rhea was rushed to hospital where the doctors said “change your ways . . . or die”.

The Te Puna Mātauranga assistant accountant has lost 57 kilograms since then and is determined to weigh in at 77kg this year. She has another 20kg to go.
“Tau Ora gave me the courage to dream, dare, inspire,” she says.
“Once you’ve been to a place where your life could end shortly because of the way you’re living . . . it changes you.”

Tau Ora won the supreme award at the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards last week.

It also took top honours for the Best Initiative to Improve Employee Wellness category from fellow finalists Canterbury District Health Board and Sanitarium Health.

Wellness Advisor Tuihana Ohia remembers it being a “surreal moment” when the wānanga was announced as supreme winners.
 
“I was overwhelmed and humbled. All the other finalists were amazing and truly deserving candidates.”

Tuihana encourages kaimahi supporting the Tau Ora initiative to take a bow.

“We are all winners and our prize is a better life for ourselves and whānau.”

Taiurungi Jim Mather says the national award was a great acknowledgement and he commended the excellent calibre of work, which has gone into the development of Tau Ora.

Tau Ora was launched in 2009 and has been hugely successful with 70 percent of wānanga kaimahi taking part in the initiative.

It is based on the idea of team members supporting each other to overcome challenges and achieve their personal wellbeing goals.

Tau Ora has also won the Waipa District Excellence in Workplace Wellness award, the Global Corporate Challenge Most Active Organisation award both in 2009 as well as placing first equal with Sanitarium in the 2013 NZ Workplace Wellness award.


 Back to news & events

Published On: 03 June 2015

Article By: Alice Te Puni



Other Articles

  • 31 July 2025

    Whānau fuelled success at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

    Nadia MacDonald’s journey through Te Wānanga o Aotearoa’s Diploma in Small Business and Project Management highlights the power of whānau support, Māori values, and practical learning. Discover how she balanced work, study, and parenting to achieve success and uplift her community.

  • 24 July 2025

    Tamariki once were cherished

    Te Wānanga o Aotearoa’s Te Manawahoukura Rangahau Centre releases Taku Waipiataata, Taku Hei Tāwhiri, a powerful report calling for a revival of gentle, respectful Māori parenting. Discover how tūpuna child-rearing practices can transform whānau wellbeing and uplift future generations.

  • 24 July 2025

    Te Wānanga o Aotearoa chief executive Evie O’Brien announced as Te Kura Toroa

    Te Wānanga o Aotearoa celebrates its 40th anniversary by bestowing chief executive Evie O’Brien with the enduring title of Te Kura Toroa. Discover the cultural significance of this new role and its reflection of leadership, kaitiakitanga, and Māori values.

  • 23 July 2025

    Māori musician's reo Māori journey leads to wānanga kaiako role

    Jordyn Rapana, known as Jordyn With A Why, shares her inspiring journey of learning te reo Māori to raise her tamariki in a reo-speaking home. From immersion study to becoming a kaiako at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, discover how music, whānau, and culture shaped her path.