Institute of Public Administration New Zealand

Institute of Public Administration New Zealand

MEDIA RELEASE

11 December 2017
Nominations open for Deloitte IPANZ Public Sector Excellence Awards 2018

Nominations for New Zealand’s longest-running and most prestigious public sector awards are now open, including an award to recognise growing diversity within the public sector.

The Institute of Public Administration New Zealand (IPANZ) is calling all public sector organisations to enter their most successful projects in the Deloitte IPANZ Public Sector Excellence Awards 2018.

“New Zealand’s public sector delivers important and vital services that make a real difference in the lives of all kiwis. The awards recognise outstanding achievement and innovation by public sector organisations and teams in a range of categories,” says IPANZ President Jo Cribb.

“In 2017 we introduced a new category to recognise efforts towards Improving Diversity and Inclusiveness within the Public Sector. The inaugural winner was The Treasury for the way it reformed its graduate recruitment process through the use of blind applications. Treasury's graduate intake now has diverse ethnicities, equal numbers of men and women, and a broad range of qualifications and experience.

We look forward to more nominations from public sector organisations leading the drive for a diverse public sector workforce,” says Ms Cribb.

The ten award categories are:

• Building Trust and Confidence in Government

• Crown – Māori Relationships

• Improving Public Value through Business Transformation

• Digital Government

• Achieving Collective Impact

• Improving Performance through Leadership Excellence

• Public Sector Engagement

• Excellence in Regulatory Systems

• Improving Diversity and Inclusiveness within the Public Sector

• Young Professional of the Year

An overall Prime Minister’s Award for Public Sector Excellence is also awarded to one of the category winners (excluding the Young Professional award).

In 2017 it was won by Te Urewera - DOC Tūhoe Partnership which the judges said was, “An excellence initiative, demonstrating a transformation in the relationship.”

Working collaboratively, the Department of Conservation and Tūhoe implemented ground-breaking new Treaty settlement legislation, which granted Te Urewera legal personhood. The former national park, comprising over 2,000 square kilometres of native forest, has the same rights and powers as a citizen – a first for New Zealand. This has led to more Tūhoe employed in Te Urewera, more visitors to Te Urewera, and innovative DOC practices, including secondments with Te Uru Taumatua.

The Programme also won the Crown-Māori Excellence Award, by demonstrating how Crown and Māori can work together in partnership.

Deloitte partner and public sector lead David Lovatt says Deloitte is proud to be lead sponsor of the awards.

“We are committed to supporting excellence in public policy, administration and management in the sector. Public sector agencies make a huge impact on the lives of all New Zealanders, and publically recognising successful initiatives is vitally important.”

The awards, which have been running since 2008, are open to central and local government (including Council-controlled organisations), District Health Boards and tertiary institutions.

Nominations close on 8 March 2018. The Awards Ceremony will be held on 25 July 2018 at the TSB Arena, Wellington.

More information about the awards and how to enter can be found at https://ipanz.org.nz/excellenceawards.

ends

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