Kia Tūtahi Standing Together Fact Sheet

The Kia Tūtahi Relationship Accord sets out principles and expectations to guide how communities and government can work together for the benefit of society. The following principles form the basis for committed actions:

• We will respect Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• We have a collective responsibility to hear and respond to the voices of all.
• We will act in good faith.
• Our work together will be built on trust and mutual respect.

The Kia Tūtahi vision is: the communities of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Government of New Zealand working together for a fair, inclusive and flourishing society.

Find out more at the Kia Tūtahi Relationship Accord page

The Relationship Accord was signed by government and community members on 1 August 2011.

The signing follows many year of debate about the state of the community/government relationship and replaces the Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship signed by government in 2001.

The Accord was developed by a joint Steering Group appointed by the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector in 2010.

To support strong community-government relationships because:

• Government is increasingly devolving more responsibility and decision-making to communities.
• Strong community-government relationships help communities and government work better together.
• Communities and government need to work together to respond to the complex issues that society faces.

The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector is coordinating a low key approach to implement the Accord:

• supporting seven government agencies to identify opportunities to give effect to the Accord, such as promoting emerging good practice and addressing persistent problems in order to make a practical difference to how they carry out their business.
• inviting communities to identify and promote opportunities to give effect to the Accord with government agencies and other communities.
• inviting community and government people to be part of a community of interest as a sounding board on this work, and a small reference group to provide expert advice.
• supporting agencies and communities to capture and analyse lessons learned and to develop a body of good practice for replication across government agencies and communities
• reporting progress to the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector by December 2012.
• Continuing to promote and replicate good practice across government post 2012.