SEPTEMBER 2023

• The Social Wellbeing Agency has published an updated version of the Community Insights Explorer tool, which includes the ability to search by territorial authority. This tool addresses the need to have increased social and demographic data available about communities, and was introduced following adverse weather events that have impacted communities across the North Island in early 2023. SWA partnered with Dragonfly Data Science to understand the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle, which provides an interactive impact map.

• Eleanor Cater from Community Foundations NZ has published findings from her recent research outlining how financial and legal advisors can play a pivotal role in educating clients on their charitable options during estate planning.  Her full report with research undertaken as part of the Winston Churchill Fellowship, outlines the roadmap for philanthropic growth during a period of unprecedented intergenerational wealth transfer, with community foundations firmly at the centre of development.

AUGUST 2023

• Department of Internal Affairs has completed a review of the Lottery Grants System to understand barriers and areas of opportunity to make it easier and fairer for communities, hapū and iwi to access Lottery funding. Findings include that it should be accessible to everyone, it should recognise and support existing community capabilities, nurture aspirations and tailor its support to the outcome regardless of the application.

• The 2023 GIINsight series provides a comprehensive overview of the impact investing industry. The reports reflect on data and perspectives from a diverse sample of 308 impact investors globally, who manage USD 371 billion in impact investing assets. The four topics cover insights into demographics of investors, where impact investors allocate their assets, how investors approach managing their impacts and investment market trends such as climate solutions as a relevant market topic.

• PNZ is collaborating with other community peak sector bodies to ask political representatives to support sustainable Government funding of the community and voluntary sector. Ahead of the General Election 2023, political parties are asked to commit to more sustainable approaches such as multiple year funding, inflation adjustments in contracts, and fast tracking of the social sector commissioning mahi. It is important that funding is more accessible and that there is collaboration to diversify funding sources in order to drive up private giving. 

july 2023

• Charities Services has recently created the Charities Act Hub to provide information on changes to the Charities Act.  The Hub provides a timeline for the implementation of changes and outlines implications for charities and their boards. It will provide notice of consultations with charities on significant guidance into the future.

• A Sustainable Business Network Report on the role of businesses in regenerating nature provides a comprehensive study of the current state of play of businesses supporting nature initiatives, and identifies barriers to taking action, as well as opportunities.  It concludes that urgent leadership and investment into nature is required, recommending on-the-ground restoration and regeneration nature projects and transforming business practices to be more regenerative.

june 2023

• Child and youth engagement reports have been published by Child and Youth Wellbeing, DPMC.  The perspectives of young people have been collated to help inform and influence policy development and programmes. Topics include belonging, diversity, equity, government, rainbow community, sexual health, substance abuse, andunconscious bias. 

• A new report from a collaboration between the Social Wellbeing Agency and the Ministry of Social Development uses data to explore the experiences of older New Zealanders. They found the majority of older New Zealanders are healthy, with liveable housing and are secure financially, but there are some groups of older people experiencing hardship with housing, finance, social connection and access.

• Philanthropy New Zealand and Climate Action Aotearoa made a submission on the Second Emissions Reduction Plan in response to draft recommendations from the Climate Change Commission. The submission provided a philanthropic perspective on the support required from central government, with a message that the philanthropic sector is ready to mobilise capital investment and grants to address climate change but seeks leadership and direction to best allocate these funds. It emphasised a tika transition between the government and philanthropic sectors to equitably transition into a low carbon society. 

May 2023

• The New Zealand Companies Office provided a summary of the new features of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. It identifies that there is a transition period before societies are required to comply with the new Act. Some changes to the Act include that societies will have to have a minimum of 10 members, a committee of at least 3 members of which the majority must be society members and that AGMs must be held within 6 months of the society’s financial year end. Registration of societies under the new Act begins in October 2023 and until then, the existing Act is in operation. 

• A new dashboard issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development contains indicators of housing need, rental affordability and home ownership and affordability in New Zealand’s 67 territorial authorities. Statistics will be updated quarterly and the interactive maps show the change over time for particular territories.

• Spark Foundation, the charitable arm of Spark New Zealand, recently commissioned and released a report which showed how providing more homes with internet connectivity would benefit the economy by between $464 million and $737 million per year. Digital exclusion for the 130,320 homes that do not have an internet connection was said to “have material impacts at an individual, household and national level”.

•  The Human Rights Commission released a briefing outlining the human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi approach to the communication revolution in Aotearoa. This refers to inter-related technologies such as the internet, smart phones, social media platforms and algorithmic recommendation systems.

April 2023

The Government has announced a new waste strategy for the next three decades which includes provision for improved household recycling, food scrap collections and waste legislation. The new strategy commits New Zealand to becoming a low-emissions, low-waste circular economy by 2050, which means resources are used for as long as possible and there is a shift away from the "take-make-dispose" system. Secondly, the waste legislation reform will replace the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and the Litter Act 1979, to support the delivery of this strategy. Improved household recycling and food scrap collections will make it easier to recycle and divert food scraps from landfills. Additionally this month, the Climate Change Commission has provided draft advice to the Government on delivering the second emissions budget (2026-2030). Key recommendations include clarifying the outcomes sought on gross emissions reductions, revisiting the design of the incentives created by the NZ ETS, and that the reduction plan accelerates Māori emissions reductions.

• Philanthropy New Zealand co-hosted a dedicated event to think about investing in climate solutions with members, investment advisors and others. The event underlined the ever-increasing crisis of climate change and how its impacts are relevant to all community groups and those who fund them, whether it's explicitly in their mandate or not. Another theme of the event was to just get started, especially when investing capital funds for the benefit of future generations. The Climate investment in Aotearoa paper was collated for the Climate Solutions' conference and contains key information on investment options such as investing in listed equities with a low carbon profile or specific emissions reduction goals, investing in unlisted companies to lower emissions and investing directly in carbon instruments.

• The latest State of the Sector report has been published, offering invaluable insights into the community and voluntary sector. This biannual report aims to highlight trends and provide a snapshot of the sector's wellbeing, raising the visibility of the sector to national decision-makers. The latest report shows that non-profit organisations were instrumental through the pandemic, while the Government's financial response was ad hoc and chaotic as the bespoke funds were short term. The respondents were asked the same questions as in previous years to track progress. The report showed that in 2022, there was a decrease in respondents' fear of criticising public policy and that the respondent organisations had overwhelmingly higher proportions of volunteer staff to paid staff. While there has been an increase in Government funding to the organisations, demand for services was reported to be beyond organisational capacity. These results were reflective of supply shortages due to Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis placing greater pressures onto the sector to address community needs, with no equivalent increase in donations and grants.

MARCH 2023

• The Social Wellbeing Agency (supporting the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy) released a report that researched what works to support child and whānau wellbeing in the first 1,000 days from a Te Ao Māori perspective. This report acknowledged the evidence suggesting a kaupapa Māori approach would deliver better results for Māori. Following this, supporting tamariki wellbeing should involve taking a life-course approach which includes all generations of whānau, delivered through Kaupapa Māori programmes that emphasise holistic whānau-led solutions.

• Philanthropy Australia has created a new tool called The Climate Lens, which provides useful inspiration for funders around how to consider climate mitigation and adaptation in many different areas of funding focus and operations. The report identified how philanthropy can turn the climate crisis around through a long-term perspective and investment into innovative solutions. The Climate Lens promotes funders taking a climate-centric perspective to all aspects of philanthropy, including in indigenous justice, children and womens' rights, demonstrating how these vulnerable communities are disproportionately affected by climate change. Having identified key areas where philanthropy could benefit the climate, the tool provides practical steps to start applying a climate lens to grant-making and investments. These include aligning grant-making, committing to investments to climate change,  climate-proofing operations and harnessing influence.

• Philanthropy Australia released a Strategy to Double Giving, identifying enormous potential to increase its current donations. Australia is one of the wealthiest nations and the top end wealth is rising rapidly - wealth among the Top 200 has increased from $209 billion to $555 billion between 2016-2022. The report identifies how increasing giving will positively impact government initiatives, create a better society and better share wealth and opportunity. 

• The Social Sector Commissioning Hub, housed at MSD, provided Philanthropy New Zealand with an update of their work underway across government and the social sector. This work intended to transform the way social supports and services are commissioned to support people, families and whānau. The Hub is implementing a six-year Action Plan to make deep and sustainable changes. The first phase includes "growing and extending" work before it is scaled up in mid-2024. Currently, the Hub is focusing on listening and sharing voices of people being supported, connecting with colleagues already working in a relational way and supporting government agencies.

February 2023

• The Ministry for the Environment highlighted the science linking extreme weather and climate change to the historic storm in the North Island that claimed lives and damaged homes. The research suggests that while Aotearoa's weather patterns are highly variable, making it difficult to attribute individual storms to climate change, growing local evidence has suggested that the increasing frequency and severity of heavy rainfall is derived from climate change. The report summarises recent research into the impacts of severe weather in Aotearoa.  Meanwhile, The Johnson Center in the United States recommended enhancing the capacity of community leadership to best support low-income communities disproportionately affected by disasters. They found that philanthropy-serving organisations and community foundations are evolving into on-the-ground leaders in preparedness, response coordination and rebuilding resilience. The philanthropic infrastructure has grown more sophisticated in its response to the growing threat of natural disasters, but has seen stagnant funds. They suggest that the best way to strengthen and build responsiveness is through advocacy and capacity building.  The Pasifika Funders' Network also provided insight this month, around best practice for supporting Pasifika communities affected by the floods in Tāmaki Makaurau. 

• The Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN) released a framework which highlighted opportunities and gaps for environmental philanthropic efforts in Australia. This report included strategies for donors to contribute to climate philanthropy, during times of record-breaking bushfires and floods. Four areas of opportunities were identified, including securing strong federal policies, phasing out gas and coal, providing a fair and fast transition for communities, and electrifying transport. The framework recommended that six gaps in environmental donations were addressed, identifying First Nations as a critical stakeholder in climate action.

• Aotearoa New Zealand Investor Coalition produced a survey investigating the New Zealand finance sector's commitment to reach the net zero targets pledged in the previous two Climate Summits. The survey revealed that the NZ investment industry has made slow progress in areas of climate governance, has a lack of net zero commitments and setting interim targets to kickstart climate action, and is lagging behind Australia in these same measures. Wealth managers and asset owners were found to be failing to proactively engage with climate issues through not setting interim measures and climate mandates. However, a strong desire from industry for climate action and collaborative engagement between investors and companies was identified. The Coalition's next steps are training investors to progress climate investing strategies.

• Te Kāhui Tika Tangata (The Human Rights Commission) released a report examining the dynamics and impacts of white supremacy, racism and colonisation upon tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Maranga Mai report recommended that the Government committed to constitutional transformation and to establish a Truth, Reconciliation and Justice Commission for three years to contribute to this constitutional reform. This would involve establishing an independent body to deliver the reform and to establish an Indigenous Rights Commissioner to strengthen the capacity of the Commission to uphold human rights, indigenous rights and honour Te Tiriti. The report examines lived experiences, historical and present and states that addressing racism against Māori is central to combatting all racism in Aotearoa.

November 2022

• Te Tai Ohanga | The Treasury has released their first independent report on the current state of wellbeing in New Zealand: Te Tai Waiora: Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand 2022. Te Tau Waiora draws on the Living Standards Framework and He Ara Waiora (wellbeing framework) to provide a high-level overview of how wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand has changed and how well we are positioned to sustain this in the future. Te Tai Waiora is supported by a number of papers published by both the Treasury and other external agencies which can be found on the Treasury website.

• The Ministry of Ethnic Communities has released its first annual for 2021/2022: Te Pūrongo ā-Tau a Te Tari Mātāwaka. The Ministry for Ethnic Communities is the government’s chief advisor on ethnic diversity and inclusion of ethnic communities which operates as a Departmental Agency with the Department of Internal Affairs. Their annual report outlines the numerous initiatives the Ministry has been working on including the Ethnic Communities Development Fund, which has disbursed around $4.2 million to 310 community projects and initiatives to help celebrate different cultures.

• Development has begun on a Māori Climate Platform to enable Māori-led climate action, planning, and solutions in response to climate change. Climate change is likely to disproportionately affect Māori in many unique and serious ways. Developing the Māori Climate Platform in partnership with tangata whenua will enable us to embed Te Tiriti across the climate response. A Ministerial Advisory Committee has been established to present design proposals for the platform to be considered by Cabinet in 2023.

• A strategic framework for social cohesion and Te Korowai Whetū social cohesion community fund have been developed by MSD as part of addressing the Royal Commission recommendations following the March 15 mosque attacks with the aim to help all New Zealanders feel connected, respected and safe.

October 2022

• The Productivity Commission has released an interim report on the barriers to economic inclusion and social mobility. A fair chance for all: Breaking the cycle of persistent disadvantage recommends a fundamental change to the Government’s overarching management and accountability systems, including reforming the fragmented and individual sector focus of government agencies. The Productivity Commission will incorporate the feedback they received through public consultation on this report and submit their final advice to the Government in March 2023.

• Charities Services has released their 2021/2022 Annual Review on the state of the charitable sector. The Annual Review showcases information about the charitable sector, goes into detail about what has been achieved in the last year and lays out priorities for the upcoming year.

• A new report, Guidelines and principles for Impact Investment, has been released outlining guidelines for investors on the principles of impact investing in Aotearoa New Zealand. These have been developed by Toitū Tahua: Centre for Sustainable Finance, PwC and the Impact Investing Network. It is hoped that providing guidelines about this small but growing area of investing will counter scepticism around impact investing. The voluntary guidance in this report is the first industry-led definition of impact investing in New Zealand and largely follows the accepted international definition.

• On October 27th,  the Government launched the Social Sector Commissioning 2022-2028 Action Plan to overhaul how social services are commissioned. The Action Plan outlines how the Government will attempt to shift commissioning from a transactional to a relationship-based approach. This plan is the culmination of work undertaken over the last two and a half years led by the Ministry of Social Development and Oranga Tamariki, that philanthropic and grantmaker sector representatives have fed into.

September 2022

• Perpetual Guardian released its Engaged Philanthropy 2017-2022 report. Engaged Philanthropy is a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of giving throughout New Zealand from 2017 to 2022. It shows that Perpetual Guardian has aided in the distribution of $288m over the last six years averaging around $41.2 million in grants per year, although this has dipped as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report also highlights the difference between different generations’ mindsets in thinking about giving and what they want philanthropy to achieve.

• The Helen Clark Foundation has released a new report in partnership with the New Zealand Drug Foundation exploring the current methamphetamine epidemic. The report, Minimising The Harms From Methamphetamine, attempts to outline how New Zealand can lead the world in shifting to an evidence and health-based approach to reducing meth use. It provides a breakdown of New Zealand’s current methamphetamine problem and provides several proposals to address it. These proposals focus on tackling both the supply and demand of methamphetamine through treatment, prevention, and harm reduction rather than criminalisation. 

• In September, Immigration New Zealand began accepting applications for its new and revamped Active Investor Plus visa. This new visa replaces the previous migrant investor visa categories and now allows investments in philanthropy to make up 50% of total investments, an increase from the 15% allowed prior. Additionally, new criteria has made making impact investments and investing in social enterprises much easier. Finally, the instructions provided around the visa promote investment in the low-carbon economy and Māori-led initiatives.

• The Education Review Office released a new research report, Thriving at school? Education for disabled learners in schools, into how well New Zealand’s education system is working to support disabled learners. This report was produced in partnership with the Human Rights Commission and the Office for Disability Issues. This research finds that New Zealand’s education system is letting disabled students down, with a third of them saying they do not feel they belong at school. This research provides a breakdown of the current status of disabled learning in New Zealand and provides numerous recommendations to improve outcomes for disabled learners.

August 2022

• New Zealand’s first national adaptation plan “Adapt and thrive: Building a climate-resilient New Zealand” was released by the Ministry for the Environment. This plan contains strategies, policies, and actions to help New Zealand adapt to climate change. The plan outlines that an estimated 70,000 homes are in coastal areas vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels. The momentum generated by the creation of this plan has led to the government moving forward its proposed managed retreat legislation. The Climate Adaptation Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament by the end of 2023.

• The Department of Internal Affairs has released the full set of policy decisions made around the proposed amendments to the Charities Act 2005. The proposed changes include making regulatory decision-making processes more transparent, reforming the appeals process to be more accessible, reducing reporting requirements for small charities, and clarifying the role of charity officers. A bill amending the Charities Act is expected to be introduced to Parliament by the end of this year with legislation implemented in 2023.

• Grant Thornton and the Sustainable Business Network have released a report on the development of a circular economy focused on recycling and sustainability in Aotearoa New Zealand. “The Circular Revolution” outlines the case for New Zealand adopting a circular economy, noting that a more sustainable economy is required to meet our climate change requirements. It explores the current barriers to adopting a circular economy and the next steps needed.

• Auckland Council and Auckland Transport released “The Pathway” in response to the Auckland Climate Plan. The Pathway sets out what Auckland will need to do in order for the region to reduce its transport emissions by 64 per cent by 2030 while increasing transport accessibility. As around ⅓ of New Zealand’s population lives in Auckland the region will play an outsized role in New Zealand’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

July 2022

• Grant Thornton released its 2022 Not for Profit sector report on New Zealand’s not-for-profit (NFP) sector. The report covers six key areas: legislative changes; governance and strategy; risk management; technology; people; and funding. Additionally, it provides insight into the major issues NFPs surveyed by Grant Thornton face. The report finds that a lack of financing and resources dominate the concerns of NFP organisations, as does an increase in demand for their services.

• The Social Wellbeing Agency released Te Atatū – Insights, a report on the effectiveness of various economic and health responses undertaken by governments around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By comparing New Zealand’s policy response to that of 49 similar countries, the report finds that a combination of policies which restricted movement and economic support led to the largest reductions in COVID-19 case numbers.

• JB Were released its 2022 NZ Corporate Support Report on the relationship between New Zealand’s corporate and community sectors. The report focuses on 16 corporates across various industries to understand the overall increase in company giving by corporates. The report finds that corporates are transforming from being largely driven by profit to having a variety of purposes. It also finds an increasing need for corporates to understand the “why” in their community engagement and the potential demands such engagement might bring.

 June 2022

• The New Zealand Treasury - Te Tai Ōhanga has added new indicators relating to volunteering, community involvement, and the strength of civil society to its Living Standards Framework Dashboard. The Living Standards Framework is used by the Treasury to assess the impact of policies on New Zealanders’ wellbeing.

• To commemorate National Volunteer Week 2022, the Department of Internal Affairs published a report on strengthening the support for volunteering. The report outlines the volunteering landscape in New Zealand, breaks down key issues, and identifies eight different opportunities of varying scope and ambition to strengthen New Zealand volunteering.

• The Government announced the expansion of the free methamphetamine harm reduction programme Te Ara Oranga into the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Te Ara Oranga was first piloted in Northland in 2017. It utilises an integrated model of police and health activity to deliver a holistic approach to methamphetamine addiction. The program aims to reduce drug harm by aligning the resources of the community and various government agencies to reduce methamphetamine supply and demand.

• As part of its efforts to bring down grocery prices and increase competition in the supermarket sector, the Government passed new legislation banning anti-competitive land covenants. The Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill passed its third and final reading on the 28th of June. This new legislation will sit alongside other previously announced government measures announced in the wake of the Commerce Commission report on the supermarket sector which found New Zealand’s supermarket sector uncompetitive and exacerbating the cost of living crisis.

May 2022

• The Acorn Foundation published their Vital Signs Youth Report on how funding can best support local providers to deliver the resources rangatahi need. It looks at the social, cultural, economic, environmental, and health wellbeing of youth in the Western Bay of Plenty aged between 14 and 24. This report is the latest update in the Vital Signs series designed by the Acorn Foundation to help community foundations make funding decisions.

• Te Puna Tahuna (the Lottery Grants Board) have announced a review of the lottery grants and advisory system in order to make funding more responsive, inclusive, and more in line with the principles of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The program, known as “Kia Tipu, He Tipua - Evolving the lottery grants system” will be the first end-to-end review of the lottery grants system in 35 years. Recommendations are expected in late 2022 with changes taking effect from 2023.

• Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust and the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency have released a new report into the social impact of Māori educational interventions. The report investigated the impact of a $4 million literacy and numeracy intervention for Māori learners, Te Kete Aronui, finding that it has delivered over $7 million in social benefits. Participating students saw their literacy and numeracy skills improve in addition to increased confidence, motivation, and behaviour, endorsing a holistic approach to Māori educational success.

• On May 19th, the Government announced Budget 2022 - A Secure Future, which focused heavily on health and climate change. Two major reports were released alongside the budget. The first is the fourth annual Child Poverty Report, which analyses the Government’s progress in reducing child poverty and illustrates how Budget 2022 will contribute to that goal. The second is the first Emissions Reduction Plan which outlines the actions New Zealand must take to meet its climate change targets.

April 2022

• A recently published report, Impact of inflation on community organisations and communities, outlines how increasing costs have led to New Zealand charities having insufficient resources to fall back on. Persistent inflation and a tight labour market means charities’ costs are likely to continue increasing while demand also increases. Hui E! Community Aotearoa has also released a recent report on costs with a set of recommendations to support community and volunteer organisations to be sustainably funded. This includes providing multi-year funding, ‘untagging’ funding so it can be used for more general purposes, and accounting for increased overhead costs by adding a certain percentage to the value of contracts.

• The Ministry of Social Development | Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora has released the Employment Assistance Evidence Catalogue, a dashboard to aid research into the design, delivery, and funding of employment assistance interventions.

• Sue Barker, recipient of the 2019 New Zealand Law Foundation’s International Research Fellowship, has released a report “What Does a World-Leading Framework of Charities Law Look Like?”. This report details issues such as regulation, government contracting, and agency structures and draws on charity law experiences in countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The report finishes by providing 70 recommendations for New Zealand’s charity law frameworks.

• The Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ have released their report Environment Aotearoa 2022 on the state of New Zealand’s environment. The report takes an integrated approach and focuses more heavily on wellbeing and mātauranga Māori than the previous 2019 report. Despite taking a different approach, the report found that New Zealand’s key environmental indicators have not registered much change since the 2019 report.

March 2022

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their Sixth Assessment Report: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. This report details the effects and expected future impacts of climate change both worldwide and regionally. Their findings suggest that the time to prevent irreversible damage to the environment is running out. The report states that New Zealand can expect to see more extreme weather, droughts and ecosystems such as kelp forests come under threat if proper action is not taken.

• The National Māori Housing Strategy has released MAIHI Kia Ora, the implementation plan outlining the future of Māori housing in New Zealand. The plan outlines the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s priorities around Māori housing and gives examples of Māori housing co-design and collaboration in action. Notably, it emphasises that projects should be co-designed from the very beginning and that the Crown and the Māori housing sector should build a deeper, more equal partnership to tackle the housing crisis.

• The Ministry of Education released the final version of the new history curriculum to be rolled out nation-wide in 2023. This is the first time New Zealand history has been included as part of the required curriculum to be taught in every school and kura and will be compulsory up until Year 10. Resources to understand the new curriculum and assist schools in teaching can be found on the Ministry of Education website.

• The Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network released a report on “7 megatrends in environment and climate change philanthropy” they see playing out around the world. These trends reflect acting at a systems level, working in and funding collaborations, recognising the importance of equity and justice, taking a partnership approach towards environmental philanthropy, ensuring that corporate philanthropy is making a genuine difference, supporting the next generation of philanthropists and activists, and maintaining momentum in the face of declining public funding.

• Investing in Pacific Success: Guidance for Funders in Aotearoa New Zealand was released, providing philanthropic organisations with guidance on how to best support Pasifika students. This guidance was facilitated by Foundation North and is informed by the findings of Ngā Tau Tuangahuru, related research, and contributions from a 2021 Philanthropy New Zealand Summit session on better supporting Pacific aspirations

January 2022

• The 'Mind the Gap' campaign is calling on employers and individuals to ‘sign up’ to report their pay gaps on New Zealand's first public pay gap registry. The Registry aims to encourage all organisations to commit to pay gap reporting, and support a more equitable Aotearoa. The campaign is funded by the Clare Foundation and supported by the NZ Human Rights Commission and other allied organisations. The Registry will launch in March 2022.

• MSD are continuing to provide updates around the care in the community welfare response, given most people with COVID-19 will isolate in the community. Where people need support to meet their individual or whānau needs, MSD regional teams will co-ordinate and support this via partnerships with community providers, iwi, councils and government agencies. Further information on how this works can be found here.

October 2021

• JB Were have released their latest Cause Report which offers insight on different charity sub-sectors in Aotearoa, the impact of COVID-19, and case studies of new approaches. Useful insights include that organisations are operating on tight margins which leaves little room to improve overall resilience and explore innovation; and the largest portion of sector income is earned through the sale of goods and services.  

•  Significant changes have been announced to the system that supports disabled people, including through the introduction of a new Ministry for Disabled People.  Paula Tesoriero, the Disability Rights Commissioner, reflects on the establishment of the new Ministry and other recent advances, as well as the areas she’s watching for much needed improvements. One such area is the Human Rights Commission call to action to better support those with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The Commissioner says the human rights of some people with FASD are being denied.  

•  While the initial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic reinforced pre-existing inequalities, the there is also the long-term threat on an unequal economic recovery. Brookings provides some early insights on how we can prevent this scenario in an unequal world. Furthermore, in this quarter’s Matter of Impact, the Rockefeller Foundation answer questions like how do we together recover from the pandemic-triggered financial crisis while tackling the menace of climate change? And how do we simultaneously put equity first to close the gap between wealthy and poor nations and people.  

•  New Zealand has become the first country in the world to pass a law that will ensure that financial organisations disclose and ultimately act on climate-related risks and opportunities.  In other action towards addressing climate change, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and Manaaki Whenua released guidance for Te Ao Māori on climate change adaptation and mitigation. The research takes a Kaupapa Māori risk assessment approach to climate change, and considers the implications of climate change for diverse Māori interests and investments.   

September 2021

• A range of resources are being released to help plan for the COVID-19 response.  The Centre for Social Impact continues to update funding information and their compilation includes reference to the reopening of the Community Capability and Resilience Fund (CCRF) from 2 August 2021 which provides assistance and support for community groups working with priority populations. In terms of post-pandemic futures, the Helen Clark Foundation has released its fifth and final report discussing the policy challenges facing Aotearoa New Zealand as a result of COVID-19. Internationally, data and programme evaluations from the US Center for Effective Philanthropy can be found here and helps assist our understanding around what works and what doesn’t in the recovery from COVID-19.  

• The Human Rights Commission is gathering Aotearoa’s thoughts on how to best address racism with hopes of informing a Government national action plan. It has launched the website https://againstracism.hrc.co.nz as part of an engagement effort led by Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon. Contributions can be made until 23 November 2021.  

• This year’s Responsible Investment Benchmark Report shows that the responsible investment market in Aotearoa New Zealand continues to grow. The report details the size, growth, depth and performance of the New Zealand responsible investment market compared with the broader New Zealand financial market. To better understand social impact, Australia’s Centre for Social Impact has released this roadmap which is a step-by-step guide to support planning, measuring and communicating social impact through the process of outcomes, measurement and evaluation.  

• The Government has released a Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development alongside MAIHI Ka Ora (the National Māori Housing strategy). The six major components listed in the report are: Māori Crown Partnerships, Māori-led Local Solutions, Māori Housing Supply, Māori Housing Support, Māori Housing System, and Māori Housing Sustainability. Currently, a detailed implementation plan for MAIHI Ka Ora is being developed in partnership with Māori and is due to be released by the end of the year. 

August 2021

• The Ministry of Social Development sought views this month on the Government’s draft report to the United Nations on its implementation of the Children’s Convention. The report covers issues including violence against children, the family environment, health and welfare, children with disabilities and those needing special protection measures. All relevant information on the report can be found here.

• The Human Rights Commission, in partnership with National Iwi Chairs Forum and with the support of Community Housing Aotearoa, has released new guidelines to clarify what the right to a decent home means in Aotearoa New Zealand. A key theme underpinning the guidelines is the need to recognise housing in Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique context. Also in housing updates, Community Housing Providers (CHP) will now be able to access up-front funding in the early stages of new build developments to help bring on more public housing at pace. This approach continues to build on the ‘progressive partnership’ approach. Read more.

• Recent data shows that Disabled people are under-represented in the workforce as only 42.5 percent of disabled people aged 15-64 years were employed in June 2021 quarter compared with 78.9 percent of non-disabled people in the same age group. Disabled people also tended to have lower earnings and be more likely to rate their job security poorly. The Disability Action Plan of 2019-2023 recommended actions around improving the transition into employment for disabled people, identifying better alternatives to enable the removal of the wage exemption processes, increasing employer confidence in employing disabled people and working with private sector partners to progress employment of disabled people.

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published part one of its sixth assessment report on the science behind climate change and its impacts. Positively, the report shows that it is not too late to change the trajectory we are on. Some recent resources to support action include advice for the role of philanthropy when acting on the climate crisis, a climate action toolbox developed by the Sustainable Business Network and an article explaining the role of the climate justice movement.

• The Ministry for Pacific Peoples has released research on the contributions of Pacific peoples in unpaid work and as volunteers. The research reported that during the 2020 lockdown over half of the survey participants provided increased social support. Nearly 40 percent of participants reporting increased caregiving for the elderly, providing administrative support, and serving as cultural leaders.

July 2021

• The Ministry of Social Development are seeking views on strengthening social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand and building a safer, more inclusive society. Proposals are available for comment until 6th August here.

• Charities Services have released a range of new and updated resources, including a Charity Handbook to support governance within charities. A recent blog also assists in understanding how the Health & Safety At Work Act 2015 applies to charities and when it covers volunteer workers, as well as where to go for more information.

• A Government Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development is currently being consulted on and developed by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development(MHUD) alongside a specific Māori housing strategy. These strategies are intended to set medium to long term priorities for delivery. Also in housing, a registration support service has been established for Pacific organisations looking to provide housing and MHUD are seeking registrations of interest from organisations who have the aim of becoming a Social Housing Landlord and providing community housing services to their community.

• DIA have updated that information on key themes from both rounds of consultation will be released in late August 2021 alongside further resources around the background to the work to modernise the Act. PNZ have reviewed and received member feedback on the three issues being consulted on by DIA relating to the Charities Act. Our letter with some broad points and more specific feedback on the role of officers in charities can be found here. See other updates in June 2021 section below.

• A joint project between the Data Iwi Leaders Group and Stats NZ have developed iwi affiliation estimated counts and characteristics based on the 2018 Census. You can see the data here on Te Whata: https://tewhata.io/. Te Whata is a data platform tailored by iwi for iwi and will be developed further. Also to note is that Figure.NZ, supported by Stats NZ, is currently building a free website which brings together data for and about Pacific people in New Zealand.

• The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen the provisions that protect groups from speech that incites hatred, and by improving protections against discrimination. Proposals include changes to the Human Rights Act 1993 and Crimes Act 1961 and clarifying that trans, gender diverse and intersex people are protected from discrimination. Consultation is open until 6th August.

June 2021

• The Climate Change Commission has tabled advice to Government on its first three emissions budgets and direction for its emissions reduction plan 2022-2025. The advice is evidence based and has been refined via public consultation. Government will decide whether to accept the advice and how it will shape the emissions budgets which are due by the end of the year.

• What are the implications of the new Trusts Act for your organisation? A range of resources have been recently released to respond to this question. Here is guidance from the Māori Land Court with particular relevance for Māori land trusts. Charities Services have released:

  • A blog

  • Webinar

  • And a wider resource page on charities’ obligations under the law.

• Have your say on Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development. Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is leading the development of the Government Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development, which will communicate the long-term vision for our housing and urban development system, and how Government will work with others to make it happen. Responses are called for by 30th July. Have your say here.

• In mid-May 2021, DIA began re-engaging on selected topics of interest from the Charities Act review with the purpose of developing policy options for the Minister of CVS and considering legislative amendments to the Charities Act. Philanthropy New Zealand | Tо̄pūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa has provided initial feedback on three issues, taking a particular focus on accumulation of funds and the option of minimum distribution. You can read our submission Response to Charities Act Proposals 2021 Final Submission. Updates from DIA can be found here, as well as here – Questions and Answers about the work to modernise the Charities Act.

May 2021

• A survey of 1400 tangata whenua, community and voluntary organisations in May-June 2020 found that many faced slashed funding at the same time as demand for their services increased. A deep dive of the survey data has found that the hardest hit have been organisations serving Māori, Pasifika, and other ethnic communities, and organisations with low to medium incomes and operating budgets. Check out Hui E! Community Aotearoa‘s report on key trends from the survey here. A new survey of community organisations which checks in about how they are coping now, is due to be conducted later this year.

• The Government’s Wellbeing Budget 2021 report includes analysis of New Zealander’s wellbeing upfront using Treasury’s Living Standards Framework and He Ara Waiora that draws on principles from mātauranga Māori. The latest child poverty report is also included from p.24.

• PNZ have been involved in discussions with some other organisations about how to promote philanthropic investment or donations via the migrant investor visa immigration categories. Since that article there are some responses in Stuff and NZ Herald. This discussion is timely because the Government have recently announced changes to the immigration settings via a productivity inquiry and have made border exemptions for wealthy migrants from other business immigration programmes.

• Good practice guidelines for investing in Ngā Toi. Creativity, culture and the arts – can help funders contribute to the social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing of New Zealanders. These good practice guidelines have been developed by Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi with the support of Creative New Zealand to help the decision-making of both specialist arts and culture sector funders, and the broader range of funders looking to make a difference in our communities.

  The Ministry of Education has signed a Kawenata agreement with a number of iwi to establish a perpetual Tiriti based partnership. This relationship agreement has been signed by the Ministry, Tūwharetoa, Raukawa and Waikato-Tainui (Ngā Iwi) to establish a perpetual Tiriti | Treaty-based partnership based on equity and rangatiratanga. The Kawenata includes employing a ‘one-Ministry’ approach with Ngā Iwi, providing a seat at the table to influence key policies and programmes that impact ākonga Māori and their whanau, and the ability for Ngā Iwi to implement initiatives to support Māori educational success as Māori.

April 2021

• The Department of Internal Affairs (NZ) has announced it is resuming targeted engagement with the charitable sector to inform legislative amendments to the Charities Act (https://lnkd.in/g4ZxBPD).
  Initial topics include reporting requirements for small charities; charities’ business and accumulation activities; and the duties of the officers of charities.

  Click here for the latest Q & A’s.

January 2021

• Charities Services have provided a brief summary of the new Trusts Act 2019 (which came into effect from 30 January 2021). It includes rules that can and cannot be changed, as well as that all Trustees must know their trust rules and keep a copy of key documents.  Following recent court decisions, Charities Services have also updated their website guidance on advocacy to reflect this new approach, which outlines when advocacy is and isn’t charitable, as well as how to assess if your organisation’s advocacy is charitable.

• The Climate Change Commission has laid out a roadmap and draft advice for meeting Aotearoa New Zealand’s emission reduction targets in a way that aims to create new economic opportunities and reduce most household bills. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden noted the two things which stood out in the Commission’s draft paper is ‘action will be required across all sectors of the economy, and second that meeting our targets is affordable and possible with existing technology’.

• A recent publication, A Brief History of Disability in Aotearoa New Zealand is a valuable resource exploring the painful history of eugenics, institutionalisation and policies which have disempowered disabled people in New Zealand over time.  Also reflecting on our current environment, the Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic report examines New Zealand’s adherence to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the Covid-19 emergency from late March to mid-June last year and makes important recommendations for future pandemic planning.

• Following feedback on Kia Kaha, Kia Māia, Kia Ora Aotearoa: COVID-19 Psychosocial and Mental Wellbeing Plan that was published in May 2020, the revised version has a stronger alignment with Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2025, as well as updated information on actual and anticipated impacts of COVID-19 on mental wellbeing.
  It provides a framework for actions to support the mental wellbeing of New Zealanders over the next 12 to 18 months.
  The summary of feedback also provides examples of diverse initiatives and collaborations led by iwi/hapū, community organisations and volunteers during the Covid-19 lockdown to respond to grass-roots needs.

December 2020

• The state of New Zealand’s housing continues to dominate headlines this month.  Two recently released data products provide further insight.  Housing in Aotearoa: 2020 brings together a range of housing information and focuses on how well the New Zealand housing stock provides suitable, affordable, warm, safe, and secure shelter for its citizens.  The Government's housing programme dashboard published by Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, tracks how many families have bought their first home, how many households are in public housing, and how many new homes are being built.

• The dataset behind the Time to shine,  time to take stock,  time to shape our future report which shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector in Aotearoa is now available to explore here. Particular enquiries can be made depending on your area of interest - for example filtering results by region, size of organisation, or service type.

• Steven Moe and The Centre for Social Impact have published an update on impact investment in Aotearoa, and current activity.   This short report provides a useful update on the definition of impact investing and its place in Aotearoa and overseas markets.  It also highlights insights from some investments made so far, and signposts to resources.

November 2020

• The Labour and Greens Cooperation Agreement provides information on the working relationship between the two parties and also highlights some areas of policy priority.

• The Minister of Education has published a Statement of National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) and the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) which have 8 specific priorities between them.  Many of these priorities are aligned with philanthropic and grant making organisations’ collaboration with Government around how to improve education outcomes and equity gains for Māori and Pacific students, and students with learning support needs.

• The  Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has  released a recent report in two parts – one on an approach to assess the effects of gambling on wellbeing in New Zealand and the second applying this approach to Class 4 gambling. This second part indicates that the system currently transfers wealth from more deprived communities to less deprived communities and the benefit in the form of community grants is large and could be increased significantly through reviewing the regulatory environment and the operation of the Corporate Society sector.

October 2020

• A new report ‘Human Rights Responses to Poverty in Working Households’ has been produced by the Human Rights Commission. This offers a framework for a human rights approach to alleviating poverty in working households across Aotearoa New Zealand. It also examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and offers practical responses and recommendations for how to take a human rights based approach to this issue.

• Philanthropy New Zealand | Tо̄pūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa had released a research paper that provides more information about the Class 4 gambling system and community distributions. Our membership has high interest in this topic and we wish to facilitate further discussion on the issues arising as part of our ‘better philanthropy and grantmaking’ mission.

September 2020

• As electioneering ramps up, Philanthropy NZ has created its own Election 2020 webpage which hosts recorded conversations with some political party representatives. It shares their views on issues of interest to the philanthropic sector, as well as contains links to other major party policies

• Charities Services has launched Te Puna Atawhaitanga as a new section on their website to provide guidance on charity matters relevant to new and existing charities with a kaupapa Māori focus

• Two reports of note published this month are Salvation Army’s The State of Our Communities 2020 and Inspiring Communities’ Funding for Change in Ōtepoti. This research examines community need and funding considerations in specific communities but contains findings that are more widely relevant and which deepen our understanding of what is happening in New Zealand communities.

• The Government has released its latest action plan to support digital inclusion and assigns government agencies for key initiatives. Concerns have been raised since the publication of the plan around the need for continued affordable connectivity and the distribution of devices when current arrangements instituted during the Covid-19 lockdown end shortly.

August 2020

• The Centre for Social Impact launched their ‘National Action Plan for Community Governance’ on 19th August 2020 which focusses on six outcome areas. Improving governance was one of the key areas identified in the recent Time to Shine survey, as a way to support the community sector navigate its future

• Government led discussions on how to best support an effective and sustainable social sector have led to the publication of: Social Sector Commissioning: Progress, Principle and Next Steps. This document outlines the response to conversations with the social sector so far and the next steps that will be taken

• The Time to shine, time to take stock, time to shape our future report that examines the impact of COVID-19 on the tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector is now out. The findings are based on 1,424 responses includes discussion on the challenges and opportunities that have arisen for the sector, what could be done to take action and how organisations and the sector could be strengthened for the future

• Community groups can now apply for the first round of a $36 million fund established to encourage locally-led solutions in the Covid-19 recovery period. The Community Capability and Resilience Fund can go towards activities such as operational and administrative costs, technology to provide remote services, building economic capability and developing fundraising campaigns. Funding will be targeted towards community-led initiatives that support Māori and Pacific communities, as well as culturally and language diverse (CALD) populations.
  More information on the fund and how to apply is here.

July 2020

• The results of a survey of more than 3000 people have been published in the State of Volunteering Report 2020. This pre-Covid 19 research highlights the importance of supporting the current volunteer workforce, while reconceptualising what the future of volunteering will look like. Key areas of focus include increasing the diversity of volunteers whilst also tackling an aging workforce and lack of volunteers

• The latest Waikato Vital Signs report was released this month.  This includes the analysis of data  by the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis (NIDEA) relating to 34 indicators across eight impact areas.  It follows a Vital Update Report for the city of Tauranga also delivered this year with additional priority group reports. The Vital Signs research programme is co-ordinated by community foundations around the world and collects community driven data and knowledge at regular intervals to measure the vitality of a community.  The programme drives further conversations and supports action towards improving the quality of life for local populations

• In June 2020, the Gambling (Class 4 Net Proceeds) Amendment Regulations 2020 came into effect. It temporarily suspends 10(1) and 11 of the Gambling (Class 4 Net Proceeds) Regulations 2004, so that if Gaming Machine Trusts cannot meet the minimum requirement of 40% of proceeds to be redistributed back to the community, they will not be penalised for 2020 and 2021 financial years. It is done to support Trusts after Covid-19 related losses

• This month a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education, philanthropic and grantmaker organisations and Philanthropy New Zealand | Tо̄pūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa was signed. This is to support collaboration between all parties for the purpose of improving education outcomes and equity gains for Māori and Pacific students, and students with learning support needs. The first national meeting for 2020 was also held to identify connection points and workstreams of mutual interest. Digital equity was also discussed given the prominence of this issue during the Covid-19 lockdown

• There have been a range of government funding packages announced over July which include $80.2 million towards ensuring Pacific learners and their families are better equipped to achieve their educational aspirations; $15 million to support wildlife institutions; $124 million Government investment in recycling infrastructure; a $200 million clean-powered public service fund; $761 million to invest in in under-pressure water services to ensure safe drinking water; an estimated $259 million of funding to ensure kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand screen industry; $3 billion national infrastructure fund to kick-start the post-Covid rebuild (which likely includes an also announced $30 million infrastructure plan for renewable energy); $80 million for sport recovery at all levels; and a $44,000 Discretionary Fund to help fund children with disabilities into sport.