On this page
Overview of delivery
As the Government’s chief advisor on Ethnic Communities, we have undertaken a range of activities and work programmes to deliver outcomes within the following key areas in 2025/26.
Economic growth
We engaged with ethnic business leaders, ethnic business councils, private sector organisations and government agencies to identify the critical economic priorities for Ethnic Communities. In particular, the hosting of the second Ethnic Xchange conference (refer to page 242) built on the first conference. The second conference had significantly increased participation, and it produced key reports which generated ideas and interactions that will contribute strongly to economic development within our Ethnic Communities and the New Zealand economy.
Security and resilience
Our work on foreign interference takes a non-securitised approach building on the trusted relationships the Ministry has with communities to strengthen community resilience. After previously engaging with communities to learn from their experiences, the focus has shifted to the provision of resources for communities to build their knowledge and capabilities as the groups which are often the first to encounter foreign interference (refer to page 242).
Social cohesion
Through targeted programmes and events, stakeholder engagement, and support via the Ethnic Communities Development Fund, we have strengthened Ethnic Communities’ sense of participation and belonging in New Zealand society (refer to page 243).
Data and evidence
In 2025/26, the Ministry followed the extensive Ethnic Evidence Report with a joint report with the Waitakere Ethnic Board, and the MBIE Auckland Policy Office, which highlighted the major contribution that Ethnic Communities make to New Zealand’s economy. The Ministry has delivered a range of subsequent work providing in-depth insights into topics such as business, employment and emergency management, informing advice provided across government and other organisations (refer to page 240).
Implementing the Government’s priorities
Ministerial priorities
In 2025/26, Mark Mitchell, the Minister for Ethnic Communities, outlined his key priorities for the Ethnic Communities portfolio:
- Economic growth – improving the quality of life and unlocking opportunities for all New Zealanders, including Ethnic Communities.
- Security and resilience – strengthening the resilience of Ethnic Communities to recognise and manage foreign interference risks.
- Emergency management – ensuring that Ethnic Communities do not have gaps in their abilities to respond to emergencies, and these communities are on an equal footing with other communities.
- Social cohesion – continuing to build an inclusive and unified society as New Zealand becomes increasingly diverse.
The Ministry has progressed the priorities of the Minister in 2025/26. Refer to Section 2 – Progress on Strategic Intentions for more information.
Year-end performance information on Appropriations
We use performance measures to demonstrate the contribution our work makes toward improving outcomes for Ethnic Communities and New Zealand as a whole.
Our performance measures (refer to pages 88 to 90) assess the impact we have made across key functions, including the provision of:
- information, advisory and support services to Ethnic Communities
- policy advice and services to support Ministers in discharging their portfolio responsibilities relating to Ethnic Communities.
In the past year the Ministry has reviewed its performance framework to ensure our measures remain relevant and meaningful. We see an opportunity to strengthen our performance measures to better reflect the value of the Ministry’s contribution in two strategic impact areas: strengthening social cohesion and building better evidence and data to inform government decision-making.
Following this review, the Ministry developed a set of measures that will be monitored over the coming year, alongside the existing performance measures, to provide better insight into progress against these impact areas. This period will allow the Ministry to test these shadow measures, establish baselines and assess their usefulness before incorporating them into a broader performance framework. An integrated set of indicators is expected to be used from the 2027/28 Annual Report onwards.
Shadow measures
- The number of evidence products that are either published by, or enhanced by, the Ministry. Standard At least 6.
- The number of unique users accessing each new evidence product meets or exceeds the number of new users expected.
Standard At least 200 unique users combined across new evidence products. - The % of participants who found the platforms developed by the Ministry effective in enabling participation to progress shared understanding and ownership.
Standard 60% or higher.