The Wellbeing Budget will continue the Government’s drive to make New Zealand into the best place in the world to be a child, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

Musician and internationally experienced board director Laurence Kubiak has been appointed as the new chair of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Board, Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni announced today.

The Government has today announced it is taking action on the long-term challenge of Māori reoffending rates and delivering on its target to reduce the prison population by 30 per cent, with the creation of a new Māori Pathway at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison and Northland Region Corrections Facility.

Five children and families research projects will each receive funding in round 3 of the Children and Families Research Fund.

The Government is taking immediate action to support people into work and improve income security for New Zealanders on benefits, in response to the release of the Government’s Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) report today.

A construction programme giving young people on benefit training and work experience building community houses was formally launched by Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni, today. 

Award winning writer Briar Grace-Smith, Kapiti, is appointed to the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative NZ), Associate Minister for Arts,

The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will invest almost $7 million in the Top of the South’s ocean economy and also support the first economic growth strategy for all communities in the wider region, the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today.

More than four and a half thousand people from around the country have contacted the national sexual harm helpline: Safe to talk Kōrero mai ka ora, by phone, webchat, text, or email, since the service became available a year ago.

The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni today announced changes to the Government oversight of the children’s system, designed in particular to support the experience of children in the care of Oranga Tamariki.

The service that allows people using New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) to phone others by using an interpreter will soon be available at weekends, Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi and Disability Issues Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced today.

Thank you Kim and the team at Deaf Action for this opportunity to celebrate the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006 with the Deaf community.

Aucklanders Sandra Kailahi and Anthony (Ant) Timpson have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni announced today.

Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi and Disability Issues Minister Carmel Sepuloni have started a public consultation on proposals to modernise telecommunications services for people who are deaf, deafblind or have hearing or speech impairments.

Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni will speak today about the shared challenges and opportunities faced by disabled people across New Zealand and the Pacific, at the Pacific Regional Conference on Disability in Fiji.

The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, has formally received the Report of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group into the future of New Zealand’s social security system.  

A new online trial to help people who come off a benefit, to stay in work, was launched today by Minister of Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni.

The Social Workers Registration Legislation Bill was passed in Parliament today giving greater protection for some of our most vulnerable people and increasing standards in the social work sector, says Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni.