Who We Are

IPANZ (Institute of Public Administration New Zealand) is here to inform, inspire and challenge public sector professionals - to help build skills, knowledge, performance, connections and careers - and to strengthen the public administration system in which they work.

We have much to offer professionals at every level, from new professionals learning the ropes to mid-level professionals looking for the next step, and senior leaders cultivating best practice in their organisations.

We connect online with our database once or twice a month and run face to face seminars in Wellington and Auckland.

We provide a forum for our members to learn, share and debate new ideas, and celebrate excellence.

What We Do:

Our activities provide a platform for debate on emerging and relevant issues, a forum for networking, ideas, learning and development, and an authoritative voice for increasing public understanding of the public administration system and the work the public sector does. Our activities include:

• Online webinars throughout the year.
• Free face to face events in Wellington.
• Videos of free events available to all our members.
• Foundation training courses which are highly in demand (e.g. Parliament in Practice, Effective Engagement with Maori, Public Sector 101).
• A range of networking and educational events designed by, and for, our New Professionals - people under 30 or new to the public sector.
• The quarterly Public Sector Journal which contains a wide range of stimulating articles.
• Information, posts, videos, links on social media and our website and an electronic update exploring a wide range of interesting topics.
• Roundtables with senior professionals tackling the significant issues facing the public service.
• A biennial Public Sector Conference.
• Submissions on behalf on the sector as required.
  

Members: 

Our membership includes more than 140 organisations as well as individuals working within or in close contact with the public sector - comprising public sector departments, Crown entities, local councils, academic institutions, not-for-profit organisations and some private sector agencies.

Our Team and Governance:

The IPANZ team includes an Executive Director, Office Manager and Events Manager and support for social media posting and journal editiorial.

Our strategic direction is set and monitored by a governance board, which is elected by members. Our current president is Liz MacPherson.

Our History:

In 1934 a group of public servants in Christchurch, moved by ‘their desire to learn something of the broader background and common principles of public administration which might not be evident in the ordinary work of a department’, formed the Public Service Administration Society. Similar societies quickly cropped up in Wellington, Dunedin and Auckland. In 1936 these groups joined forces to become the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration.

More than eighty-five years on, IPANZ continues to have a significant place in New Zealand public policy and is New Zealand’s leading professional organisation for public servants.