Hui-ā-Tau 2026, the annual conference of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society), runs 12–14 November 2026 at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau, Auckland, under the theme Koiritia Te Ture. The programme, speakers and venue are all confirmed on a dedicated live event site, and the hui has drawn 300–400+ delegates in recent years.
Hui-ā-Tau 2026 is the flagship annual conference of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa — the Māori Law Society of New Zealand. It runs across three days, 12–14 November 2026, at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau, South Auckland, under the theme Koiritia Te Ture — "Honouring our foundations. Shaping our future."
The conference has a dedicated live event site at thrmoahuiatau.co.nz, which confirms the dates, venue, theme, speakers and a full three-day programme. The theme, coined by Co-Tumuaki (Co-President) Wi Pere Mita, draws on the idea of *koiri* — movement — inviting delegates to look back to the Society's foundations while shaping the future relationship between Māori and the law.
Hui-ā-Tau is organised by Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa, with event management provided by TKD Events Limited. The Society was formally established in 1988 — beginning, by its own account, with just a few lawyers in a Rotorua garage — and has since grown to represent a substantial membership of legal practitioners, judges, parliamentarians, legal academics, policy analysts, researchers and Māori law students. Its vision is "Mā te Ture, Mō te Iwi – By the Law, For the People."
The hui is the organisation's year-defining event. According to the Society and New Zealand Law Society reporting, its 30th-anniversary conference in 2018 drew more than 300 participants, and the 2024 hui in Whakatāne attracted over 400 attendees. The 2026 edition is led by Co-Tumuaki Season-Mary Downs and Wi Pere Mita, supported by the Society's executive and general management.
Hui-ā-Tau brings together Māori lawyers, judges, academics, policy specialists and law students, and is described as a safe space for Māori within the legal profession to come together, share experience and build tuakana-teina relationships across generations.
The published programme spans three days. Highlights include:
Key registration dates listed on the site: early-bird registrations 25 August–20 September 2026, standard registrations from 21 September, and dinner-only registrations from 1 October (subject to capacity). Sponsors and partners include the Michael & Suzanne Borrin Foundation, LexisNexis, Waikato-Tainui, the New Zealand Law Society, Kāhui Legal, Meredith Connell, McCaw Lewis, Thomson Reuters and others.
The Due Drop Events Centre sits at 770 Great South Road, Wiri, in Manukau, South Auckland — described by the organisers as South Auckland's premier conference and events venue. For a hui expecting several hundred delegates, the centre offers large plenary and dining capacity on one site, which suits the conference's mix of panel sessions, moot and negotiation finals, an AGM, an evening entertainment night and a formal dinner.
The venue is reached off the Southern Motorway via the Redoubt Road off-ramp (from the CBD) or the Great South Road exit (from the south), and the organisers note more than 500 on-site carparks — a practical advantage for a largely drive-in, regional delegate base. Its South Auckland location places it close to Auckland Airport, which is relevant for the many delegates travelling in from across the motu. The event site maintains a dedicated accommodation page pointing delegates to nearby options, with Manukau and the wider South Auckland corridor offering hotel stock within easy reach of the venue.
Hui-ā-Tau is a well-established, recurring association conference with a confirmed 300–400+ delegate base, a multi-day programme and a formal-dinner centrepiece — the profile of a reliable annual business-events booking. Its 2026 move to the Due Drop Events Centre is a vote of confidence in South Auckland and Manukau as a conference destination, drawing a national professional audience to a precinct close to the airport rather than to the central city. For the New Zealand MICE sector, it is a clear example of a kaupapa Māori association event anchoring a significant multi-day gathering, with associated demand for accommodation, catering, transport and delegate services across the Manukau area.
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