Political neutrality is about serving New Zealand’s democratically elected government to the best of our professional abilities, irrespective of our political opinions.
Ngā paerewa The standards
Public servants have the same rights to freedom of expression and political activity as other New Zealanders under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. We must exercise these rights in a way that doesn’t affect our ability to do our work in a politically neutral way. This doesn’t prevent us from all political participation, but there are some things we should think about when engaging in political activity that might impact our role as a public servant. These include:
- the seniority of our role
- the nature of our work, and
- the scope and scale of the proposed political activity.
Political neutrality when performing our roles at work
Being politically neutral helps keep the work of Ministers (setting policy direction, making decisions, and advocating for government policies) and our work (providing advice, implementing policy, and delivering public services) distinct.
Political neutrality [1] requires us to be particularly careful with:
- our approach to advertising and publicity
- engaging with Members of Parliament and political parties
- our use of organisational social media and media comment
- what we do and say around the general election period, and
- appearing before select committees.
Political neutrality for public servants as individuals
Being politically neutral at work doesn’t generally stop us from being politically active outside of work in our own time. But when we’re being politically active outside of work, we must not represent or give the impression that we represent our organisation or disclose or use confidential government information. Sometimes there may be circumstances where it’s difficult to reconcile your personal political interests with performing your Public Sector role.
In particular, those of us who are senior public servants or work closely with Ministers should consider public perception and exercise additional judgement and care when being politically active outside of work.
Political neutrality for members of a profession or a statutory role
If we are members of a profession or have a statutory role that involves public advocacy, we need to fulfil our professional obligations or statutory role while staying politically neutral. We have the same rights to political activity as other public servants while also having the same requirements to exercise those rights in a way that doesn’t affect our ability to do our work in a politically neutral way.
Professional codes of ethics or obligations – such as those for medical, accounting, social work and legal professions – apply alongside this Code. If there is inconsistency or conflict between our professional obligations and this Code, we need to raise it with our organisation.
Members of a profession may wish to comment publicly in a professional capacity on matters within their areas of expertise or experience including on work-related matters. When considering this we should:
- be open and honest with our organisation, and consider any legal requirements that may apply
- not enter into debate criticising or advocating for particular politicians or political parties, and
- exercise care if commenting on Government or party-specific policies.
Our organisations should have policies and procedures that outline what members of a profession should do if they wish to make a public comment. If we are a spokesperson for a professional body, our comments should clearly be made on behalf of that professional body.
If our professional member or statutory role obligations are also legislative requirements, those will prevail over this Code, although any inconsistency should still be raised with our organisation.
Respecting the authority of the government of the day
Through our work we support the government of the day to develop and implement its policies. We must respect the authority and decisions of the Government and Ministers as elected representatives. We must act in a way that maintains the trust and confidence of the Government while ensuring the same relationship can be established with future governments. We must follow lawful instructions from Ministers, irrespective of our own political opinion.
[1] The guidance in this section reflects more comprehensive guidance on political neutrality contained in the guidance on Public Service Principles.
Guidance: Public Service Principles