NEW ZEALAND
Capital: Wellington | Population: 5 million
Lead body for sport development: Sport NZ
| Government Support | A |
| Elite Sport Rank | 24 |
| Elite Sport Rank Per Capita | 4 |
| Youth Sport Participation Grade | B- |
Housed in the Ministry of Culture & Heritage, Sport NZ is the agency responsible for national sport policy in New Zealand (or Aotearoa New Zealand, the Māori name). Sport NZ serves as umbrella for Sport and Recreation New Zealand, its wholly owned subsidiary High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), and the New Zealand Sports Foundation Charitable Trust (NZSFCT), in which Sport NZ has a controlling interest. Sport NZ promotes quality play, recreation, and sport that improve levels of physical activity and wellbeing for all New Zealanders. The country is governed by a national sports policy (2020-2032) with its simple vision to get every person active. The policy is executed in partnership with National Sport Organizations (NSOs), Regional Sport Trusts (RSTs), National Recreation Organizations (NROs), educational institutions, disability organizations, and local, regional and ethnic councils.
Recognizing the importance of coaches and the challenge in working with them all directly, Sport New Zealand has built a robust coach developer network. Housed across national, regional and local sport organizations, coach developers are sport professionals who provide on-site education, support and resources to the coaches in their community. The Sport NZ approach includes residential training, where coach developers across different sports come together for a short but focused multi-day, off-site retreat to participate in expert-led workshops and connect with peers outside of their sport. Support for coach developers has been a strategic pillar of the Community Sport Coaching Plan, which aligns to a national coaching strategy & pathway, coach development framework and High Performance Coaching Plan. The Sport NZ approach has received attention from experts as a model for countries and sport organizations around the world.
HPSNZ is responsible for elite sport. The organization is charged with three systemic areas of focus: (1) Performance Pathways, (2) Wellbeing and Engagement, including diversity metrics and mental health, and (3) Funding and Investment. HPSNZ measures success by: (a) medals and podium results, (b) non-podium performances such as placings and world rankings, (c) diversity and inclusion measures, (d) wellbeing measures for high performance environments, and (e) New Zealanders inspired by high-performance success. HPSNZ works with NSOs and RSTs to execute their elite sport agenda. HPSNZ received $273 million or approximately $164 million USD of funding from 2020-2024. The HPSNZ is funded through a combination of national and local government funds, proceeds from gambling, participants funds, and commercial/philanthropic endeavors. The HPSNZ works closely with the Olympic Committee, an independent charity organization that relies on commercial funding and partnerships to select and lead the national teams.
The Sport and Recreation Complaints and Mediation Services is the independent agency responsible for mitigating complaints or disputes. The service is free and open to anyone involved in high-performance sport as well as community sport and recreation. The service is operated by Immediation NZ Limited, a contracted entity paid for by Sport NZ. The Olympic committee also has a safeguarding policy and hired a Safeguarding Officer to handle issues of inappropriate behavior or harm within the Olympic system.