We're changing to the Social Investment Agency

Published
From 1 July 2024 the Social Wellbeing Agency will become the Social Investment Agency, a new stand-alone central agency.

We will lead change across the public service and provide support to Government to achieve better outcomes from our social service expenditure.

The Agency will have the following new functions:

  • Setting the standards for social investment practice to ensure there is consistency across government agencies and contracted providers
  • Advising on and facilitating the creation of the necessary data and evidence infrastructure for social investment
  • Working with other agencies to apply the social investment approach
  • Leading an ongoing review of social sector spending to measure outcomes.

A Social Investment Board will be established as a Ministerial Advisory committee and the social investment work programme will be governed by a group of Social Investment Ministers.

A Social Investment Fund will be established to commission services for vulnerable New Zealanders. The fund will begin investing in 2025.

We will continue to provide cross-social system advice, support the social sector with cross-system work and to create insights, tools, and practices that improve decision-making for improving wellbeing.

We are excited by our new functions and direction which build on our existing work to achieve greater change for people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Social investment involves understanding people’s needs, setting clear goals about what works, improving services and enabling local providers to tailor services to the needs of communities.

All current staff and functions of the existing Social Wellbeing Agency will be transferred to the new agency.

Read more about social investment and read the Minister for Social Investment’s media release(external link) and Getting Back on Track (9 May 2024) speech(external link).

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