Te Hāpai Hapori Spirit of Service Awards

Te Tohu mō ngā Hua E Pai Ake Ana | The Better Outcomes Award celebrates the achievement of significant outcomes in areas that matter most for the long-term wellbeing for New Zealanders.

The judges will be looking for initiatives that demonstrate spirit of service through:

• improved approaches to addressing a significant social, economic or environmental challenge important to New Zealanders
• the achievement of tangible results that will make a difference in the long term for the people we serve
• improving outcomes and accessibility for diverse communities.
• a collaborative approach to working across the public sector.

Te Tohu mō te Ratonga Whakahirahira | Service Excellence Award celebrates leading-edge service improvements that are making a real difference to the lives of New Zealanders.

The judges will be looking for initiatives that demonstrate spirit of service through:

• the achievement of significantly improved services for the people we serve
• agility in responding to the demands of diverse and changing communities
• innovation in areas such as the use of data and digital technology or approaches to community engagement
• a collaborative approach to working across the public sector.

Te Tohu mō te Tūhonotanga a Ngāi Māori me te Karauna | The Māori Crown Relationships Award celebrates outstanding contributions to strengthening the health of Māori Crown relationships through:

• auahatanga (innovation)
• whakapūmautanga (durability)
• kōwhiringa (opportunities).

The judges will be looking for initiatives that demonstrate:

• engagement with Māori that upholds and exceeds the Māori Crown Engagement Framework and Guidelines standards
• meaningful partnerships with Māori that deliver mutual outcomes
• embedding te ao Māori approaches and Te Tiriti o Waitangi perspectives at the heart of policy, programmes and services
• workforce initiatives that build and sustain the cultural competence of the public sector
• empowerment of Māori to succeed as Māori.

Te Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Mahi Whakahaere | The Leadership in Governance Award celebrates outstanding public sector governance. The award will be presented to a public sector board or cross-agency governance group delivering excellent results for New Zealand.

The judges will be looking for boards or governance groups that demonstrate the spirit of service and excellence in governance through:

• a focus on results and delivering for New Zealand and New Zealanders
• exemplary integrity, accountability and stewardship
• effective engagement with the sectors and people they serve.
• examples of any of the following key areas:
  • diversity – fostering a diverse, inclusive and highly engaged workforce
  • innovation – leading-edge, creative and effective approaches
  • collaboration – cross-agency or sector initiatives, improved governance structures
  • upholding public service principles – embedding the principles with the entity.

Te Tohu mō te Hiranga o te Mahi Kaupapa Here | Excellence in Public Policy Award celebrates outstanding public policy development.  

The judges will be looking for public policy that: 

• demonstrates courage, innovation and/or breakthroughs in approach – navigating existing or new issues 
• demonstrates quality of advice and analysis, informed by evidence and insights 
• successfully navigates stakeholder interests and values and creates solutions that meet their needs 

Te Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Rangatahi o te Tau | The Young Leader of the Year Award celebrates inspirational young public sector leaders who exemplify the spirit of service.

The judges will be looking for nominees who demonstrate spirit of service through:

• exceptional motivation and commitment to delivering for New Zealand and New Zealanders
• a collaborative approach to engaging and partnering with others
• setting ambitious goals and a track record early-in-career for delivering results
• actively supporting others.

Nominees must be aged 35 years or under as at 31 December in the year of application.

Te Tohu Oranga Angitū | The Lifetime Achievement Award honours an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to New Zealand or their community and who exemplifies a spirit of service.

The recipient is selected by the Public Service Commissioner.

Te Tohu a te Pirimia | The Prime Minister’s Award for the overall winner of the year is selected from the winners of the Better Outcomes Award, Service Excellence Award, Māori Crown Relationship Award and Leadership in Governance Award.

This award is not open to nominations.

Entries for Te Tohu mō ngā Hua E Pai Ake Ana | Better Outcomes, Te Tohu mō te Ratonga Whakahirahira| Service Excellence and Te Tohu mō te Tūhonotanga a Ngāi Māori me te Karauna | Māori Crown Relationships Awards will be accepted from single agencies or collaborative cross-agency initiatives and may include partners outside the public sector.

Entries for Te Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Mahi Whakahaere | Leadership in Governance Award will be accepted from public sector boards or cross agency governance groups. Crown entities and monitoring agencies may enter a public sector Board, with that Board’s consent.

Entries are invited from:

• Central government departments (Public Service departments, departmental agencies and non-public service departments)
• Crown entities (excluding Crown entity subsidiaries and school boards of trustees)
• Public Finance Act Schedule 4 organisations
• Offices of Parliament
• State-owned enterprises, excluding mixed ownership model companies
• Tertiary education institutions in the state sector (universities, polytechnics, wānanga)
• Local government organisations, excluding council-controlled organisations.

Te Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Rangatahi o te Tau | Young Leader of the Year Nominees must:

• be aged 35 years or under as at 31 December in the year of application.
• agree to be nominated
• be willing to present to a judging panel if selected as a finalist
• consent to the personal information in this entry form being provided to Te Kawa Mataaho | Public Service Commission and the external judging panel
• agree to the use of this information for publicity purposes
• consent to their nominating employer undertaking an integrity check, including of their current HR file and, if appropriate, the findings of that check being shared with Te Kawa Mataaho | Public Service Commission and the external judging panel
• consent to Te Kawa Mataaho | Public Service Commission undertaking additional integrity checks as required.

Step 1. Complete an Expressions of Interest 

(EOI) online form (see the current year page above) 

The Awards team will be in contact within three working days of your EOI submission to support you to complete the entry process. 

Step 2. Entry Forms

Better Outcomes Entry Form(PDF, 271 KB)

Service Excellence Entry Form(PDF, 275 KB)

Māori Crown Relationships Entry Form(PDF, 274 KB)

Leadership in Governance Entry Form(PDF, 278 KB)

Policy Award Entry Form(PDF, 273 KB)

Young Leader of the Year Entry Form(PDF, 272 KB)

We recommend using Adobe DC to open these editable PDFs. Unfortunately, macrons may not show correctly. The Awards team will correct any macron issues before the shortlisting process.

Step 3. Submit your entry form to us at awards@publicservice.govt.nz.

We will be in touch!  

Your entry must be endorsed by the relevant chair or chief executive. If multiple agencies are involved, including partners outside the public sector, the endorsement of all chief executives is required. We will accept a brief email from the chief executives of partner organisations indicating that they endorse the entry.

Please allow sufficient time for all groups involved to read and endorse the entry. We advise collaborating early with partner agencies to ensure all voices are captured.

Those selected as finalists will be notified via email and asked to confirm a short bio to be published on our webpage. All finalists are asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation, which will be presented to the judges at Te Kawa Mataaho | Public Service Commission in Wellington. Following the presentation, finalists sit with the judges for an informal Q&A session.