Chief Executive’s introduction | Te kupu whakataki a te Tumuaki

At the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), we help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent – manaaki tangata, manaaki whānau. That’s our purpose and the reason our people come to work each day.

We take our responsibility to improve outcomes for individuals, families and communities seriously, whether that’s helping young people gain skills and education, or ensuring more than 900,000 seniors receive New Zealand Superannuation.

MSD’s Strategic Intentions 2025-2029 details what we will do to meet the Government’s priorities and create a sustainable welfare system.

We have been set clear targets by the Government through to 2030:

• to reduce the number of people on Jobseeker Support by 50,000
• to reduce the number of households in emergency housing by 75 percent (joint target with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development).

In employment, we will work with the Government and our partners and communities around the country to break the cycle of inter-generational welfare dependence and intensify our efforts to get people off benefits and into jobs.

In housing, we will work with people who need financial and other support to get into and stay in housing, as well as ensuring families with children living in emergency housing are prioritised into available social housing.

We face challenges such as an increasing demand for our services in a constrained fiscal environment. We must future-proof our services and make our systems more responsive to the complex needs of our clients. Our multi-year transformation programme aims to help us do just that.

We do not face these challenges alone. Our close relationships with employers and industry, community groups, non-governmental organisations, hapū and iwi, Pacific peoples, disability groups and other government agencies are essential.

Since the transfer of Disability Support Services (DSS) from Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People to MSD last year, DSS has made good progress on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review of Disability Support Services, consulting with the disability community on key changes that will ensure we can deliver fair, transparent and sustainable services for disabled people.

MSD’s Strategic Intentions 2025-2029 shows how our people and the partners we work with will contribute to creating an effective social sector that will help build resilient communities and safe, strong and independent individuals.

Chief Executive’s Statement of Responsibility

In signing this statement, I acknowledge that I am responsible for the information on the strategic intentions of the Ministry of Social Development. This information has been prepared in accordance with sections 38 and 40 of the Public Finance Act 1989.

Debbie Power
Secretary for Social Development
Chief Executive, Ministry of Social Development

28 May 2025 

I Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora (MSD), ka āwhina mātou i te hunga o Aotearoa kia haumaru, kia pakari, ā, kia tū motuhake – manaaki tangata, manaaki whānau. Koinei tō mātou kaupapa, me te take i taetae mai a mātou kaimahi ki te mahi i ia rā.

Ka ū mātou ki te haepapa o te whakapai ake i ngā putanga mā te tangata, ngā whānau me ngā hapori, tērā pea ko te āwhina i te taiohi ki te whai pūkenga, mātauranga hoki, ko te whakarite rānei kia whiwhi ngā kaumātua neke atu i te 900,000 i te Penihana Kāwanatanga.

Kei roto i te Takunetanga ā-Rautaki a MSD 2025-2029 ngā whakamārama o ā mātou mahi hei whakatutuki i ngā whakaarotau a te Kāwanatanga me te waihanga i tētahi pūnaha tokoora toitū.

Kua tau ētahi whāinga pūahoaho e te Kāwanatanga tae noa ki te 2030:

• te whakaiti i te maha o te hunga kei te whiwhi Jobseeker Support mā te 50,000
• te whakaiti i te nui o ngā whānau kei ngā whare ohotata mā te 75 ōrau (whāinga ngātahi me Te Manatū Whare me te Whanaketanga Tāone).

I roto i te mahi, ka mahi tahi mātou me te Kāwanatanga me ō mātou hoa me te hapori puta noa i te motu ki te pākati i te hurihanga o te whirinaki ā-whakareanga ki te tokooro, me te whakakaha i ā mātou mahi ki te neke i te tangata mai i ngā penihana ki ngā tūranga mahi.

I te mahi rapu whare, ka mahi tahi mātou me te iwi e hiahia ana i te tautoko ā-pūtea, ētahi atu tautoko rānei ki te kuhu me te noho ki tētahi whare, me te whakarite hoki kia whakaarotautia ngā whānau whai tamariki e noho ana i ngā whare ohotata, kia uru ki ngā whare kāwanatanga e wātea ana.

He wero kei mua i a mātou pēnei i te pikinga o te popono ki ā mātou ratonga i roto i te taiao e kōpiri ana te pūtea. Me whakapakari mātou i ā mātou ratonga kia urupare ake ā mātou ratonga ki ngā matea tuatini o ā mātou kiritaki. Ko te whāinga o tā mātou hōtaka whakaumu tautini he āwhina i a mātou ki te whakatutuki i tērā mahi.

Ehara i te mea ko mātou anake kei te rutu i ēnei wero. He tūranga waiwai hoki tō ā mātou hononga tata ki ngā kaituku mahi me te ahumahi, ngā rōpū hapori, ngā whakahaere i waho o te kāwanatanga, ngā hapū me ngā iwi, ngā iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ngā rōpū hauā me ētahi atu tari kāwanatanga.

Mai anō i te whakawhitinga o te nga Ratonga Tautoko Whaikaha (DSS) i Te Manatū Whaikaha ki a MSD i tērā tau, he pakari ngā kokenga o DSS ki te whakatinana i ngā tūtohu a te Arotake Motuhake i ngā Ratonga Tautoko Whaikaha, me te kōrero whiriwhiri ki te hapori whaikaha mō ngā panoni matua ka whakarite i te kawenga o ngā ratonga tōkeke, pūahoaho, toitū hoki mā ngā tāngata whaikaha.

E whakaatu ana ngā Takunetanga ā-Rautaki 2025-2029 a MSD i te āhua o ngā mahi ā ō mātou tāngata me ō mātou hoa kia whai wāhi ki te hanga i tētahi rāngai pāpori whaitake, ka āwhina ki te hanga i ngā hapori manawaroa me ngā tāngata haumaru, pakari, motuhake hoki.

Te Tauākī Kawenga a te Tumuaki

Nā taku waitohu i tēnei tauākī, e tūtohu ana ahau i taku noho haepapa ki ngā mōhiohio o ngā takunetanga ā-rautaki o Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora. Kua whakaritea ēnei kōrero i runga anō i ngā wāhanga 38 me te 40 o te Public Finance Act 1989.

Debbie Power
Hēkeretari mō Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora
Tumuaki, Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora

28 o Haratua 2025