Open Government Partnership governance structure and New Zealand Government.
How OGP governs its international body
The Steering Committee is OGP’s executive, decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests, establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and rules, and oversees the functioning of the partnership.
Information about the OGP's Steering Committee and annual reports can be found below.
Steering Committee – opengovpartnership.org
OGP in New Zealand
New Zealand is a country member of OGP. Significant decisions about OGP, including approval of National Action Plans, are made by Cabinet. Our Open Government Partnership team sits within Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission and serves as the OGP Secretariat, reporting directly to the Minister for the Public Service.
New Zealand’s constitution and government
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. The head of state is the sovereign (King Charles III). The King is represented in New Zealand by the Governor-General (Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro).
The Governor-General – govt.nz
New Zealand’s constitution is found in legal documents, decisions of the courts, and practices (sometimes called conventions). It establishes that New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy, has a parliamentary system of government, and is a democracy. Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi is regarded as a founding document of government in New Zealand.
Read the Treaty – nzhistory.govt.nz
Separation of powers
New Zealand’s system of government works by having 3 separate branches of government. This ‘separation of powers’ makes sure no one part of government has too much power.
How the public sector is organised
Mixed Member Proportional
New Zealand uses a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system.
The MMP system makes it unlikely that any one political party will win a majority of the seats in the House. The party with the most votes usually needs to form a coalition or agreement with another party or parties.
New Zealand uses the system of ‘responsible government’. This means government can only be made up of ministers who have been elected members of the House of Representatives. The government can only stay in power while it has a majority of members in the House of Representatives.
MMP voting system – elections.org.nz
Our system of government – parliament.nz
The House and Members of Parliament
The legislature (Parliament) is the House of Representatives (where all the MPs sit). It includes select committees.
Members of Parliament (MPs) – govt.nz
The House’s role is to supply the government (the political parties in power) with MPs, make new laws and update old ones, represent New Zealanders by giving a voice to different ideas from people and organisations, examine and approve the government’s taxes and spending and check the actions of the Executive.
The Executive branch
This is the Government. It runs the country and makes day-to-day decisions on how and what NZ should spend its money on. It brings proposed laws to parliament, and decides which policies get put into practice by government departments.
It is made up of Ministers of the Crown supported by government agencies. Information on current Ministers and their portfolios can be found below.
Ministerial List – dpmc.govt.nz
For information about Cabinet, including Cabinet decision-making and the relationship better Ministers and the Public Service, see the Cabinet Manual.
Cabinet often supplements the Cabinet Manual with additional information about government operations. For example, in 2019, Cabinet issued guidelines for policy-makers to consider the Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi in policy development and implementation.
CO 19 (5) Treaty of Waitangi guidance for agencies (PDF) – dpmc.govt.nz
The Public Service
The Public Service Commissioner heads the Public Service and is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Commissioner’s role is defined in the Public Service Act 2020.
Public Service Act 2020 No 40 – legislation.govt.nz
The Commissioner’s role includes maintaining the political neutrality and integrity of the Public Service, appointing and employing agency chief executives and advising government on the performance, function, and structure of the Public Service system. The Public Service Act 2020 also introduced:
- Statutory recognition of the role of the Public Service to support the Crown in its relationships with Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi;
- System Leads, who lead the work across the system in relation to a particular function;
- Regional Public Service Commissioners, who strengthen regional system leadership by working with local government, Māori organisations, NGOs and regional stakeholders to coordinate and align central government decision makers;
- Long-term Insights briefings (LTIBs), which give effect to the Public Service principle of stewardship. LTIBs provide an independent view on medium- and long-term trends, risks, and opportunities that may affect New Zealand and impartial analysis, including policy options.
More information about Public Service system leaders, work in the regions, and LTIBs can be found on our website.
New Zealand’s MSF
Prior to 2016, OGP was governed by a steering group, comprising appointed members from a range of backgrounds. New Zealand’s Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) has comprised the Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) together with agency officials.
The EAP was conceived as a panel of open government experts, who could bring an independent view and expertise, to developing and implementing National Action Plans. The EAP has provided a critical voice, tested officials’ ambition and processes and acted as a source of independent advice and experience to make action plans better.
From 2016 up until June 2023, the MSF met at least quarterly. In 2023 a review of OGP was undertaken, along with research to look at options for a new MSF.
Government information
Official information (also called 'government information') is any information held by a government agency. Government information includes government business records, including agendas and minutes of meetings. It also includes information which is known to an agency but has not been written down.
New Zealand’s freedom of information legislation is the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The guiding principle of the Act is that information must be made available if requested, unless a reason exists under the Act for withholding it.
The OIA is an important part of New Zealand's constitutional framework. It allows New Zealanders to access information that enables them to participate in government and to hold agencies and governments to account.
Proactive information release
Proactive release of government information is different from release under the OIA, it means that information is published in the interests of transparency, not in response to a request under the OIA.
Guidance and statistics
The release of government information under the OIA, or proactively, is subject to Public Service guidance. Agency information release practice is also monitored and measured, and the results published on our website. In addition to practice guidance, the OIA legislation is governed by Cabinet directives.
Release of Cabinet material
Ministers are the owners of Cabinet information, so only ministers can approve the proactive release of Cabinet papers.
Since 1 January 2019, all Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers and minutes must be proactively released and published online within 30 business days of final decisions being taken by Cabinet, unless there is good reason not to publish all or part of the material, or to delay the release beyond 30 business days.
Information about the proactive release of Cabinet material and where Cabinet would like to see proactive release expanded over time, is set out in the documents linked below.
Cabinet Manual, Chapter 8 Official Information and Public Records – dpmc.govt.nz
Cabinet Paper – Strengthening Proactive Release Requirements (PDF, 2.3 MB)
Cabinet Office Circular CO (23) 4 – Proactive Release of Cabinet Material: Updated Requirements
Cabinet Paper – The next steps in the public release of official information (PDF, 431 KB)
Proactively released documents relating to the OGP
Proactively released information relating to OGP can be found on our website.