The New Zealand Productivity Commission is conducting an inquiry – A fair chance for all: breaking the cycle of persistent disadvantage. The inquiry is looking into economic inclusion and social mobility. The interim report for the inquiry was published in September 2022.

FrankAdvice gathered information through a range of approaches including a partnership with the Productivity Commission to run a key thinkers workshop, case studies, and a scan of relevant literature from New Zealand and overseas.

The report considers what ‘learning system’ means, and what a good learning system might look like. It then sets out the key players and key components in a learning system to understand where the gaps are and the actions that would be needed to address them. 

The report identifies what features a learning system should include to address persistent disadvantage. These include:

• Sharing and synthesising knowledge across the public management system.
• Including diverse views and perspectives to help shape those decisions as well as judge the impacts. In particular, people who are affected by government decisions.
• Helping policy-makers take decisions that work, now and in the future.
• Taking an intergenerational lens, which includes ensuring the impacts of decisions over time are evaluated.

The report outlines six key components of an effective learning system: knowledge generation and use, leadership and accountability, and capacity and capability. The report sets out potential actions under each component to support the learning system to effectively address persistent disadvantage.