<p>Visit the cultural portal for New Zealand, <a href="http://www.nzlive.com" target="_blank">nzlive.com</a>.</p>

<p><strong>The Mandate</strong></p>

<p>Creative New Zealand was established by legislation in 19994, directly succeeding the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand, established in 1964.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The purpose of Creative New Zealand is &ldquo;To encourage, promote and support the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders / He kaupapa hei whakatenatena, hei hapai, a, hei tautoko i nga toi i roto i Aotearoa Hei painga mo te katoa o nga iwi o Aotearoa&rdquo; Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act 1994</p>

<p>The Council serves professional arts, community arts, amateur arts, music, theatre, dance, visual arts, crafts, cultural animation, heritage, folk or traditional culture, museums and galleries, language preservation, cultural industries, writing, support for book&nbsp;and magazine publishing, media arts, film, video &amp; television and mutli-media.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>The Council</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>provides financial support to arts/cultural organisations</li>
<li>provides financial support to individuals in the arts/culture</li>
<li>advises the national government on matters related to the arts/culture</li>
<li>implements national arts/cultural policies</li>
<li>conducts research in the arts/culture</li>
<li>promotes public understanding and appreciation of the arts/culture</li>
<li>awards prizes/honours in the arts/culture</li>
<li>provides training and professional development in artistic/cultural fields</li>
<li>administers a public lending right programme for books or printed materials</li>
<li>publishes books and/or magazines</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>The Governing Body</strong></p>

<p>The 7 person Council is the governing body of Creative New Zealand; members are appointed by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.&nbsp; The length of a member&rsquo;s term varies but is generally 3 years.&nbsp; The cultural community and the general public can participate in the appointment process as outlined below:</p>

<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;The Council shall from time to time publicly invite, in such manner as it determines, nominations of persons who wish to be appointed as members of the Council or either of the 2 boards or the South Pacific Arts Committee or for peer assessment purposes, and the Council shall at all times maintain a list of the names of the persons wishing to be so appointed which shall be open to public inspection at the Council&rsquo;s offices during normal office hours.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act 1994</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>The Staff</strong></p>

<p>There are 45 members of staff who are government employees.&nbsp; The chief executive officer is appointed by the Council. The staff who have direct program responsibilities (those who manage programs of support to organisations and/or individuals) come from the field. The organisation has regional&nbsp;offices whose role is to facilitate access to the organisation by the sector and the public, and to provide a range of advisory services.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Relationship with Government</strong></p>

<p>Creative New Zealand is a Crown Entity which operates under the &ldquo;arms-length&rdquo; principle, with a close relationship with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.&nbsp; CNZ&rsquo;s independence from government is ensured by legislation and accepted practice.&nbsp; Its accountability to government is ensured through a regular reporting regime agreed in an annual Memorandum of Understanding.&nbsp; The Council is required to file an annual report with the legislature and its financial accounts are audited by an auditor appointed by the government.</p>

<p>&nbsp;The government</p>

<ul>
<li>appoints the members of the governing board</li>
<li>determines the amount of funding the organisation receives</li>
</ul>

<p>The Council</p>

<ul>
<li>determines its own policies</li>
<li>determines its own current priorities</li>
<li>establishes its own strategic plan</li>
<li>appoints its chief executive officer</li>
<li>selects its other staff members</li>
<li>determines the allocation of the budget to various programs and activities</li>
<li>establishes its various funding programs</li>
<li>determines who will receive its financial support.</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;There are no other arts/cultural funding bodies of other levels of government from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Budget and Revenue Sources:</strong></p>

<p>The organisations total budget&nbsp;for 2003-2004 is approx&nbsp;NZ$32,796, 500 (approx US$17 million). 60% of this budget is contributed by the national government, while 40% is generated by the Lottery Grants Board of New Zealand.</p>

<p>CNZ receives annual funding from the governments general revenues or culture budget and government revenues derived from the lottery. Over the last three years the percentage of funding from government has increased considerably, and funding from Lottery sources has decreased slightly.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Programs of Financial Support for the Arts/Cultural Community</strong></p>

<p>The Council provides financial support to organisations and individuals, and it provides financial support to lower levels of government. Most of its programs are organised by function (e.g. preservation, creation, audience development, etc).</p>

<p>&nbsp;The funds can be used for</p>

<ul>
<li>creation</li>
<li>research and development</li>
<li>production, presentation and exhibition</li>
<li>publication</li>
<li>the operations of an organisation</li>
<li>deficit reduction.</li>
</ul>

<p>Funding is not available for projects that:</p>

<ul>
<li>are retrospective. In other words, projects that have started before the grant decisions are advised</li>
<li>focus on the purchase of capital items: e.g. computer, artist&rsquo;s studio, vehicle, recording equipment, musical instruments</li>
<li>focus on the establishment and general running costs and salaries of an ongoing organisation except where these are linked to a specific, time-bound arts project</li>
<li>focus on the establishment and regular maintenance&nbsp; of websites unless the costs are linked to a specific, time-bound arts project</li>
<li>have been declined before unless they have been extensively redeveloped on the advice of a Creative New Zealand arts adviser</li>
<li>are the responsibility of private or publicly funded institutions, including polytechnics and universities</li>
<li>have outcomes other than artistic as the primary focus</li>
</ul>

<p>Funding is also not available for:</p>

<ul>
<li>individuals, groups or organisations that have not met the conditions of a previous grant from Creative New Zealand: e.g. have not provided a full report on the project outcomes within a reasonable time frame</li>
<li>employees of Creative New Zealand</li>
<li>members of the Arts Council, the Arts Board, the Pacific Arts Committee or Te Waka Toi</li>
<li>projects or agencies that receive direct funding through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand Lottery Grants Board or NZ On Air unless discussed with CNZ staff.</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Assessment of Applications for Financial Support</strong></p>

<p>Applications for financial support are assessed in two ways, either by assessment committee members or those who provide assessments independently of a committee.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Creative New Zealand maintains a register of people nominated to be peer assessors.&nbsp; Inclusion on the register is via self-nomination, nomination by a peer or nomination by staff of Creative New Zealand.&nbsp; Recommendations are made by staff for ratification by the Chair on the decision making group.&nbsp; Advice from peer assessors form recommendations to the decision making groups &ndash; either the Arts Board (general arts), Te Waka Toi (Maori arts), or the Pacific Arts Committee.</p>

<p>Peer assessors serve for a term of up to two years or four funding rounds.&nbsp; Once an assessor has served as an assessment committee member for four rounds a buffer period of two years applies before that person may serve as an assessor for that committee again.&nbsp; Assessors must abide by the Conflict on Interest policy.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Unique or Special Features of the Organization</strong></p>

<p>The most significant feature of Creative New Zealand is its structure (determined by legislation) with a governing Arts Council, two arts boards (a general Arts Board and Te Waka Toi, the Maori Arts Board) and a Pacific Arts Committee.&nbsp; This structure reflects the bi-cultural nature of the organisation and New Zealand society, and acknowledges the significant population of Pacific Islands peoples resident in New Zealand.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Greatest Current Challenge</strong></p>

<p>The greatest challenge facing Creative New Zealand is the breadth of its mandate and the limited resources it has available to respond to this mandate.&nbsp; Within this challenge are others: to find an appropriate response to New Zealand&rsquo;s growing ethnic and cultural diversity, and an appropriate balance of activity and investment between professional and community arts.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<strong>Greatest Current Strength</strong></p>

<p>The organisation&rsquo;s greatest strength is the knowledge and skill of its staff, Council and Boards and the commitment of its personnel to arts development.&nbsp; Other significant strengths include its positive relationship with other government agencies and the arts sector and the high value placed on the arts and creative sector by the current government.</p>

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