Auckland Law School’s flagship clinical programme began in 2019, supported by a Borrin Foundation grant, focused on Indigenous peoples’ rights. In 2022 it was led by Adjunct Professor Annette Sykes, one of Aoteraoa New Zealand’s most highly respected advocates for the rights of Māori.

Auckland Law School has the largest number of courses available in the speciality of Indigenous peoples and the law, domestically and internationally, of any New Zealand law school, and offers a unique Ngā Toki o Te Ture - Certificate of Indigenous Peoples and the Law for students who take the requisite number of course points in Indigenous-focused law courses. Our postgraduate courses are taught by world-leading experts in their field, including Professor Rob Williams Jr from the University of Arizona. Our scholars also teach internationally, including at the University of Columbia, the University of Toronto and the University of the South Pacific.

We are very fortunate to have pre-eminent professors from overseas, such as Professor Robert Williams Jr, teach into our courses, as well as High Court judge and former Māori Land Court Judge, his Honourable Justice Layne Harvey, who co-teaches Māori Land Law.

Te Wai Ariki also regularly offers research assistance work for tauira to assist on Centre projects, including in relation to Centre wānanga, and works with the Equal Justice Project (EJP), enabling EJP students to provide pro-bono research assistance on Centre projects.