Q: Why are you doing this?
A: We have all, for one reason or another made Australia our home for now. However, many of us still long for the simple comforts of home – our whanau, our Reo, our customs, our connections to our papakainga. We know how beautiful our culture is and want to share that with our people living here. We are also mindful that many of our whanau were born in this land and have not had the opportunity to experience tikanga Māori in Aotearoa. We want to emphasis the fact that leaving Aotearoa does not mean having to give up our language and our culture.

Q: Are non-Māori welcome?
A: Ae, anyone who is genuinely interested in learning about our culture and is prepared to respect tikanga Maori in doing so is more than welcome.

Q: Are you a business?
A: No, we are not a business. We are about manaakitanga, not moni. The NSW MSOL is an incorporated association in NSW. As an incorporated association there are a number of restrictions placed on us. One of those restrictions is that we cannot trade or secure monetary gains for our members. Breaching any of these restrictions could result in prosecutions and fines. We do charge fees for the courses we provide, but all money gained in this manner goes back into providing those services. For more information about incorporated associations go to the Office of Fair Trading website.

Q: Are you a political organisation?
A: Our kaupapa is culture. We are political in much the same way that choosing to enrol on the Māori electoral roll over the General roll is political. In saying that we, as a group, do not support one political party or agenda over another. Politics is an area of strong opinions and emotions and so we do our best to steer away from potentially divisive areas. As with everyone, our members may have their own strong political views, however we are very careful to ensure that these views do not effect our values and goals.

Q: If I join are there certain things I have to do?
A: Under our rules, and the laws that govern us Association members do have some obligations. Members are responsible for electing the committee. They must also abide by the rules of the association (called a constitution). Members also pay an annual membership fee which is decided upon each year at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The current membership fee is $5.

Q: Why can't I log in?
A: OK there could be a few different reasons. First, are you using the right userid? All tauira have been set up with userids made up of kura name and last name i.e. kiri.goodall, hohepa.ratana, marcellus.cook. If you are sure that your userid is ok, then if you are using Windows, the problem might be with internet explorer. Try going to
Tools -> Internet options -> delete cookies. once you have deleted the cookies, try logging in again. if you still can't login, flick us an email via the contact funciton and we'll have a look at it :)