In October 2024, the previous Minister for Sport and Recreation commissioned an Independent Rapid Review (IRR) of the Sport NZ Group. The Review’s objective was to provide assurance that the Sport NZ Group was using public funding effectively and efficiently. The IRR concluded in December 2024, with the final Report being delivered on 20 February 2025.

The IRR provides the government with a “health check” on the Sport NZ Group and shows we are operating efficiently and effectively with sound strategies and governance in place. The report also finds that:

• we have adopted a robust approach to reaching our budget reduction target savings and that we have identified credible saving options 
• our operational spending is within the acceptable range and our back-office costs benchmark favourably compared to public sector averages. In addition, consultant and contractor use is trending down and staff turnover is relatively low.

The report also provided recommendations on our institutional arrangements for the Minister to consider. The Minister has decided to progress the following changes:

• Shifting the strategic policy function of Sport NZ to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (our monitoring agency) to align us with all other Crown Entities
• Strengthening the monitoring of Sport NZ by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
• Progressing minor amendments to governance arrangements which includes retaining two separate Boards for Sport NZ and HPSNZ.

These changes have been made in the broader context of directives to all agencies across Government to focus on consistency and improving accountability. In our context, moving the strategic policy function is to ensure we are within the same structure as other Crown Entities.

A transition group of Sport NZ representatives and other Government agencies has been established to support this shift. We estimate the changes to take place by 1 October 2025.

The IRR also identified savings of up to $2.9m per annum to direct to strategic priorities. These savings were from operating budgets and uncommitted allowances to minimise any direct impact on the sector. The Minister has asked that we explore opportunities to support the reduction of youth offending and recidivism, particularly in collaboration with NZ Police, the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Ethnic Communities in this context.

It was also agreed with the Minister that the Hawaiki Hou programme will come to a close. The Minister has asked us to focus our efforts on delivering our strategy, with an immediate emphasis on improving physical activity levels. This represents a shift from the medium- to long-term focus of Hawaiki Hou. The Minister has directed us to transfer uncommitted funding from the programme to HPSNZ to help address a funding shortfall in the lead-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. While Hawaiki Hou will no longer continue in name, its impact will live on through 9 projects, which will run over the next 6 to 12 months to deliver on commitments made.

We will be working closely with these affected teams, and we are committed to navigating these changes with care, transparency and a responsibility to everyone involved.

Please note that these changes do not affect any current Sport NZ or HPSNZ partner investment. Should you wish to read the IRR, it is available on the Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s website.