By Taelegalolo’u Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting
Auckland Council’s proposed changes to rules affecting traditional Sāmoan tatau are facing pushback from Pacific community leaders, who question whether the evidence supports tighter regulation and how it could affect cultural practice in Auckland.
The amendments sit within the council’s Health and Hygiene Bylaw, which regulates services that pierce the skin, including tattooing, body piercing, and acupuncture. The changes are expected to go before elected members later this year.
Council says the review is driven by public health concerns. Louise Mason, Auckland Council’s General Manager of Policy, says the aim is to respect traditional practices while keeping people safe.
“Auckland Council is reviewing how to improve these rules so they are better at balancing recognition of the mana of the practice of tatau with protecting the health and safety of the people giving and receiving tatau,” she said.
The council points to risks such as infection, sepsis, and blood-borne diseases, citing 41 ACC claims linked to tattooing in Auckland in 2023. Council says past cases of infection and deaths have also informed the review.
But officials note there have been no reported blood-borne disease cases linked to tattooing in Auckland since 2018, a gap that has raised questions among community leaders.
Local Democracy Reporting attended a Māngere Local Board-supported tufuga ta tatau fono earlier this month where practitioners and community members gave feedback on the review.
“But if they’re just assuming and doing a lot of speculations, then that’s not a good law,” Pastor Victor Pouesi, who attended the fono, said.
He said the health sector needed clear data linking infections to tattooing and questioned claims about deaths. He also warned the bylaw could unfairly harm a cultural practice passed down through generations.
Pouesi also questioned how representative the consultation process had been. “I heard that there’s some other tattooist for Samoan people… there’s only five of them there, and I know that there’s more than five.
“So where are the Māori tattoos? Where are the African tattoos? Where are the Fijians? Where are the Tongans? Why are they not here?”
He questioned how the rules would affect small numbers of practitioners and those unaware of the changes.
Saunima’a Josephine Sasa, a public health adviser and nurse, said training must be practical and relevant.
“That’s one of the things that I did talk to the council about when I presented was around the types of training that’s useful for the tūfuga, so that they understand the importance of their work like blood-borne pathogens, infection control, hand-washing… in their work at the moment, it’s more around preventing cross-contamination and the spread of disease,” Saunima’a said.
She said the rules should apply consistently to all practitioners, including visitors from overseas.
Apulu Uta‘ile‘uō Tu‘u‘u Mary Kalala Autagavaia, who facilitated the fono, said cultural practice already provides a strong foundation for safety foundation.
“We come here, we want to keep our culture and our taonga… but we also need to find a place to meet the regulations,” Apulu said.
“I really think it’s our culture that’s going to keep us safe… by reinstating and therefore strengthening our culture, cultural practices, that’s where we’re going to find the answers,” she said.
She said regulation should be community-led, not imposed.
“Rather than forcing a law onto people, because people will just go underground and we’ve seen that so many times,” she said.
Cost is also a concern. Tufuga currently pay around $519 annually for a licence, with more compliance, training, and equipment costs.
“What’s this going to cost? Because at the end of the day, that cost is going to be put on the community,” Apulu said. “For us, it’s not a business, it’s our culture. And yet they’re charged as if they were a full-time business.”
Calls were also made for greater transparency on how licensing fees are used. “I think the council needs to be clear about what they’re using the health protection licence fee for… It should be to be able to help support the tufuga in their work,” Saunima’a said.
“The fono confirmed the understanding… that tufuga and council share a strong desire to keep the people giving and receiving tatau safe and protect them from infections and disease,” Mason said.
The proposed amendments will go before Auckland Council’s Regulatory and Community Safety Committee, with public consultation expected to open in May and final decisions due later in 2026.
