Our council and boards

Creative New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act 1994. Our governing body is the Arts Council and our three funding bodies are the Arts Board, Te Waka Toi (the Māori arts board) and the Pacific Arts Committee (a committee of the Arts Board).

A bill to replace Creative’s New Zealand existing governance and funding structure with a single council of 13 members is currently before Parliament.

Under the Crown Entities Act 2004, Creative New Zealand is an autonomous Crown entity which must have regard to Government policy when directed by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

The Council carries out its statutory functions with funds provided by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board and by the New Zealand Government through Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and is accountable to the Minister.

The Minister, in consultation with the Minister for Maori Affairs, appoints members of the Council and the arts boards (the Arts Board and Te Waka Toi). The Pacific Arts Committee is a committee of the Arts Board. A member of the Arts Board chairs the Committee and the Arts Board appoints committee members.

Two committees undertake work on behalf of the Arts Council: the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee and the Chairs Committee.

You can read more about the proposed change here.

Nominate someone to be on one of our boards

Nomination form (pdf 180kb)