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Corporate documents

We're accountable to all New Zealanders and work to be as transparent as we can. Find out about our legislation, reports, plans, and briefings to the government.

Briefings to incoming Ministers

We brief each incoming Minister about their portfolio. The briefing includes information on:

  • the Veterans' Affairs portfolio
  • their legislative responsibilities
  • upcoming work
  • strategic challenges and opportunities
  • our organisation and the work we do.

Current Minister

Briefing to the Incoming Minister for Veterans, presented to the Hon Chris Penk, November 2023 [PDF, 1.4 MB]

Former Ministers

Briefing to the Incoming Minister for Veterans, presented to the Hon Meka Whaitiri, December 2020(external link)(external link)

Briefing to the Incoming Minister for Veterans, presented to the Hon Ron Mark, October 2017(external link)(external link)

The legislation we work under

The Veterans' Support Act 2014 (VSA 2014) defines what support we can provide to those with Qualifying Service and their families and whānau. It guides our decision making and outlines what happens if people disagree with the decisions we make.

View the Veterans' Support Act 2014 in full on the New Zealand legislation website(external link)(external link)

Our policies help our staff to interpret and apply the Act consistently.

Find out more about our policies

Our work is also governed by the:

Statement of intent

All government departments are required by the Public Finance Act 1989 to produce a statement of intent. As part of the NZ Defence Force, we are represented in their statement of intent.

NZ Defence Force's statements of intent on their website(external link)(external link)

Annual reports

The NZ Defence Force reports each year to the House of Representatives on how it has performed over the previous 12 months. As a unit of the NZ Defence Force, the performance of Veterans' Affairs New Zealand is included in these reports.

NZ Defence Force's annual reports on their website(external link)(external link)

Veterans portfolio Cabinet material

Cabinet papers prepared by the Office of the Minister for Veterans since 1 January 2019 and their related minutes are being proactively released.

As Veterans' Affairs is part of the New Zealand Defence Force, these papers are published on their website.

Cabinet material published by the New Zealand Defence Force(external link)(external link)

For more information on the policy see the related Cabinet Office circular:

CO (18) 4 - Proactive Release of Cabinet Material: Updated Requirements(external link)(external link)