Cultural leadership allowance (CULA)

The Cultural leadership allowance (CULA) recognises the mahi done in schools and kura by kaiako with extensive cultural knowledge and capabilities, who serve as cultural leaders within their schools and community. The allowance is $5,000 each year and is paid fortnightly. 

There are two types of CULA with different eligibility criteria - one for teachers and one for principals.

Principals

To be eligible for this allowance, principals must:

• be employed under the:

• lead a school or kura which offers a Level 1 or Level 2 te reo Māori or Pacific language immersion programme (as defined by the Ministry School Roll Return Guidelines).

 Eligible principals receive this allowance automatically. 

Teachers

Eligible schools receive up to two full allowances which they can assign to one or more eligible teachers. An allowance can be split between two teachers if the employer agrees.  

To be eligible for this allowance, teachers must:

• be employed by an eligible school in a permanent or fixed-term position of six months or more under the:

• have met the professional standards relevant to their current position, and
• be able to demonstrate to their employer they are providing cultural expertise and leadership (see the CULA matrix on the Ministry's website). 

The allowance is part of the Ministry’s commitment to improving pay and working conditions for frontline education staff and recognising the important role they play. 

For more information about the purpose of this allowance, eligibility criteria and agreed process to allocate the allowance to teachers, see the Cultural leadership allowance page on the Ministry's website.

Adding the allowance for a teacher using EdPay

1. Go to EdPay > Employee dashboard.
2. Select the teacher.
3. On the teacher's Job page, scroll down to Allowance entitlements and select the plus icon on the right to open the list of allowances.
4. Next to the Cultural Leadership allowance, select Add/Update.
5. Enter the start and end date for the allowance.
   • The Start date is when the teacher became eligible to receive the allowance. If that was the beginning of the year, then please enter 28 January.
   • The End date is when the teacher should stop receiving the allowance. For permanent staff please enter 31/12/2049 (they will receive the allowance until their employment ends). For fixed term staff, use their employment end date.
6. Select the tickbox to attest that the teacher meets the eligibility criteria, and select CONTINUE.
7. Check the details are correct, then select SUBMIT.