Tā mātou hōkaitanga Our scope

Ko mātou te tari matua e whakahaere ana, e whakarato ana hoki i te pūnahatokoora o Aotearoa We are the lead agency for managing and delivering New Zealand’s welfare system

MSD is a large public service department with offices across New Zealand. We have a broad range of responsibilities and our mahi touches the lives of almost every New Zealander.

We are responsible for administering Vote Social Development and receive all of our funding from the Crown. Over 95 percent of what we spend goes directly to clients, including superannuitants, students and communities. The remainder is spent on departmental operating costs.

We support Ministers holding portfolios relating to social development, employment and public housing, including:

Minister for Social Development and Employment, and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment
Minister for Disability Issues
Minister of Housing and Associate Minister of Housing
Minister for Seniors
Minister for Youth
Minister of Revenue
Minister for Veterans.

We help New Zealanders by fulfilling a broad range of responsibilities and functions [1], including:

providing income support and superannuation services
providing employment services and support
designing and delivering community services in conjunction with others
allocating funding to community service providers
providing student allowances and loans
providing public housing assistance and services
being the primary provider of social policy and advice to Government
monitoring three Crown entities and providing advice to the responsible Minister
hosting Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People, Te Kāhui Kāhu (Social Services Accreditation), the Office for Seniors, the Ministry of Youth Development and the Independent Children’s Monitor
ensuring the legislation we administer is effective and fit-for-purpose
working with other agencies and the wider social sector to support Government priorities and improve the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.

Legislation

We administer a series of statutes that ensure a fair welfare system for all New Zealanders [2]. The most significant of these are the Social Security Act 2018 and New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001. We are also required to operate under a range of public sector legislation such as the Public Finance Act 1989, the Public Service Act 2020, the Official Information Act 1982, the Privacy Act 2020, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Crown Entities Act 2004. We also deliver services and support in accordance with a range of subordinate regulations including the Social Security Regulations 2018.

Departmental agency

Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People (Whaikaha), established on 1 July 2022, is a Departmental Agency hosted by MSD. To support Whaikaha, the Government has agreed it will initially operate within MSD’s strategic framework while it develops its own systems, processes and capabilities. Whaikaha’s Chief Executive will present a strategic framework to the Minister for Disability Issues within 18 months of establishment.

Hosted functions and shared services [3]

We also host Te Kāhui Kāhu (Social Services Accreditation), the Office for Seniors, the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD) and the Independent Children’s Monitor [4]. We provide shared corporate services to four other agencies – the Social Wellbeing Agency, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and the newly established Whaikaha. Our transitional services arrangement with Oranga Tamariki is being discontinued from 2023.

Footnotes:

See appendix for a fuller list of responsibilities and functions.
A full list of the legislation we administer can be found at: www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/about-msd/legislation
We provide a range of corporate support services to these functions and agencies.
The Independent Children’s Monitor is currently hosted by MSD while it is establishing its functions. They report to the Minister for Children on their monitoring findings, and to the Minister for Social Development and Employment on the establishment of the functions.

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