Ministry of Social Development (New Zealand)

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD; Māori: Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the New Zealand Government on social policy, and providing social services. MSD is the largest public service department, employing public servants in over 200 locations around New Zealand. MSD delivers its programmes and services through a number of business groups and agencies.

Functions and responsibilities
The Ministry of Social Development is responsible for providing income support, superannuation, employment support, student loans and allowances, housing assistance, and allocating funding to community providers. It is also the Government's chief social policy adviser. MSD also designs and provides community services in conjunction with other organisations.

MSD also hosts several other government ministries and services including the Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People, Te Kāhui Kāhu (Social Services Accreditation), the Office for Seniors, and the Ministry of Youth Development. Between 2019 and 2023, the Ministry also hosted the Independent Children's Monitor, a children's ombudsman.

History
The Ministry of Social Development was created on 1 October 2001 through a merger of the Ministry of Social Policy and the Department of Work and Income. Some of the functions of the Ministry were historically performed by the Pensions Department, Social Security Department, the Department of Social Welfare, and the Department of Work and Income.

On 1 July 2006, the former Department of Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) was integrated into MSD as a service line. On 1 March 2010, MSD established a Senior Services division. On 1 February 2011, the Office of the Community and Voluntary Sector was relocated from MSD to the Department of Internal Affairs. In July 2011, the Ministry of Commerce assumed responsibility for the Retirement Commission, which had previously been under MSD.

On 20 August 2012, the Ministry established a Youth Service unit. On 14 April 2014, MSD assumed responsibility for social housing assessment and income-related rent subsidies. On 31 October 2017, the Ministry's CYFS service line was replaced by a new ministry, Oranga Tamariki (the Ministry for Children).

In 2019, the Independent Children's Monitor was established as a business unit within the Ministry of Social Development. In May 2023, the Children's Monitor was transferred to the Education Review Office with a wide mandate to oversee the Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children) system.

In February 2021, the Auditor-General investigated a scheme by the Ministry of Social Development where private landlords were paid exorbitant rental rates for emergency housing; some of which was reportedly unfit for human habitation. In mid-December 2021, the Auditor-General released a report criticising the Ministry for paying more than NZ$37 million in inflated rents between November 2017 and June 2020 to private landlords and property managers to provide emergency housing for homeless people. The report found that the Ministry did not exercise control over rental prices which drove up rental rates. Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni expressed surprise that the Ministry had not consulted her, while the National Party's housing spokesperson Nicola Willis called for Sepuloni to hold the Ministry to account.

On 12 May 2024, RNZ reported that the Ministry had received almost 5,000 complaints related to staff's poor handling of clients looking for help and financial assistance. In response, the Ministry claimed that complaints represented less than 0.1% of its interactions with clients over the past two years. By 23 May, the Ministry announced plans to lay off 712 jobs as part of government cutbacks.

Ministers
The Ministry serves nine portfolios and eight ministers.