Te Pūtahi Rauemi mō ngā Hinonga Karauna Crown Entity Resource Centre

The establishment of CERC demonstrates the commitment of Public Service Commission to increase the level of support for the Crown entity system. Statutory Crown entities make up a big part of government service delivery. Services provided by statutory Crown entities touch the lives of New Zealanders every day.

Board appointments

Statutory Crown entities are governed by boards appointed by ministers or the Governor-General on ministerial advice. Ensuring capable and diverse board appointments is a key mechanism for ministers to support effective entity performance. Government departments assist ministers by identifying and assessing potential candidates, while the CERC advises on best-practice appointment processes and works to broaden the pool of diverse candidates reflective of New Zealand’s population.

For information on which government department manages appointments to specific Crown entities, please refer to the Public sector governance page on our website.

Public sector governance in New Zealand

To support oversight and reporting, the Public Service Commission has introduced AppointNet, a digital system that captures board and committee appointment data across ministerial and agency appointments, with a focus on those under the Cabinet Fees Framework. AppointNet enables a unified view across government and facilitates required reporting.

Supporting board governance, alignment and performance

To be effective, statutory Crown entity boards must understand ministers’ expectations, legal obligations, and their operating context. The CERC is working to ensure boards are clear on these expectations, particularly regarding workforce relations, integrity, ethics, conduct, diversity, inclusion, and service. CERC also supports the induction of board chairs and members.

Monitoring of statutory Crown entities

Statutory Crown entities are typically overseen by a designated monitoring department, which advises the responsible minister on strategic alignment, performance, capability, and risk. Effective monitoring depends on strong, trust-based relationships and clear communication between the minister, department, and entity to ensure alignment with government expectations and delivery of public value.

The CERC supports monitoring departments and entities by promoting best practice in monitoring.

Engagement

CERC engages widely with both monitoring and appointing departments, as well as collectively with Crown entities. The Public Service Commission also manages a community of practice to promote and share good practice in monitoring, appointments, and governance.

A core part of the work of CERC will be to refresh and keep updated the range of published guidance material and resources on the above areas.

All guidance material is available below and on our website. 

Guidance