The Ministry for Culture and Heritage leads government work in the arts, heritage, broadcasting and sports sectors. We provide advice on legislation, policy, and sector development to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Minister for Broadcasting and Media and the Minister for Sport and Recreation.
Arts, culture, heritage, media and sports are part of our everyday lives
We work in a sector that contributes $11 billion to New Zealand's GDP and over 90,000 jobs, ranging from screen production to symphonies, broadcasting to ballet, kapa haka to heritage, and more. With our partners – Māori, public sector agencies and our funded agencies – we connect local communities to cultural experiences to enrich our mātauranga. Our sector funds and tells stories reflecting who New Zealanders are today, helping us to navigate our future and building the inclusive and cohesive country we want our tamariki to grow up in and call home.
We connect people from all walks of life to our culture and heritage and bring our past to life in many ways.
The Ministry’s websites include our comprehensive encyclopedia Te Ara and NZHistory. The Ministry works with national cultural agencies such as NZ On Air, Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Film Commission and Te Papa Tongarewa. We administer their funding, monitor their activities and support appointees to their boards. The Ministry administers key cultural and heritage legislation, including the Flags, Emblems and Names Protection Act 1981 (to protect objects and symbols of national identity) and the Protected Objects Act 1975 (to protect taonga tūturu).
Critical to our future strategy is our relationship with Treaty partners
We have Treaty settlement protocols and relationship arrangements with more than 50 iwi, hapū and whānau groups. We’ve also had input into the development of the Māori language strategy and given advice on Māori heritage sites, taonga tuturū, Māori arts and performance and commemorations for Waitangi Day. The successful biennial Te Matatini festival has tremendous economic and social benefits which sit alongside its cultural aspirations. Equally significant in our distinctive history and heritage is the Crown-Māori relationship. Reflecting this, the Ministry has developed a major project Te Tai Whakaea Treaty Settlement Stories charting the history of the Treaty Settlement process which seeks to collect, preserve and share the broad and multi-faceted history of Treaty settlements. It aims to educate and inform people of Treaty settlements and their impact by connecting and engaging them with a diverse range of Treaty settlement stories.
Updated on 9th August 2023