The State Services Commission is commending Te Puni Kokiri for helping hundreds of Maori get work experience and jobs.
The Maori Development Ministry works with large private employers such as Fletcher Building, Fulton Hogan and Vodafone on a cadetship initiative for Maori.
The scheme gets people new to the workforce, or with low qualifications, into training and six-months paid work, and most stay on longer.
Since 2009, 547 cadets have been employed.
Deputy commissioner Liz Sinclair says it's a great example of better public services in action.
She says Te Puni Kokiri has worked smartly to develop relationships with some of the biggest employers in the country, and thought out of the box about what would work best for cadets and those employers.
Ms Sinclair says it has found an innovative way to address the crucial issue of high Maori unemployment.
