This paper reports on a series of awareness-raising workshops that aimed to increase the knowledge and skills of New Zealand health sector staff to act on, and advocate for, eliminating inequalities in health. Participants identified a range of institutional mechanisms that promote inequalities and a range of ways to address them including: undertaking further training, using Mäori (the indigenous people) models of health in policy-making, increasing Mäori participation and partnership in decision making, strengthening sector relationships with iwi (tribes), funding and supporting services provided ‘by Mäori for Mäori’, ensuring a strategic approach to intersectoral work, encouraging stronger community involvement in the work of the institution, requiring all evaluations to assess impact on inequalities, and requiring the sector to report on progress in addressing health inequalities. Ninety percent of participants rated the workshop as valuable or better and all but two rated themselves as willing to take action following the workshops.
