Shaping sport governance in New Zealand
Senior leaders from across Aotearoa New Zealand’s sport and recreation sector gathered at South Campus to tackle some of the challenges facing the sector and explore how they can work collectively to address them.
The triannual Sector Governance Hui is part of the Sector Governance Community, a collection of board chairs and governance leaders from more than 40 National Sport Organisations and Regional Sports Trusts. Its purpose is to grow quality governance across the sector through shared learning, trusted relationships and practical peer support.
As a key partner in the Community, Sport NZ works alongside governance leaders and supports its wider governance development work. Sport NZ Group CEO Raelene Castle joined the hui to share her perspective on the challenges facing the organisation, while the organisation's governance team also provided an update on the future of its governance support programme.
The programme also included a session on Māori perspectives on governance, leadership and decision-making with Te Toi Aronui, Professor Meihana Durie. In his address, Professor Durie explored the cultural, relational and intergenerational dimensions that underpin Māori leadership models and how these relate to governance across the sector.
AUT's role in building Aotearoa's first sport governance community
Sport NZ has invested in governance advice and support for New Zealand’s sport sector since 2001, working primarily through its partner organisations, including National Sport Organisations and Regional Sports Trusts. While these relationships have traditionally operated vertically between Sport NZ and individual organisations, there has historically been less opportunity for governance leaders to connect directly with one another.
The Community was initiated and funded by Sport NZ to help fill this horizontal governance gap, creating a space for board chairs and governance leaders to share experiences, build relationships and collectively contribute to improving governance across the sector. Sport NZ’s approach has been to support the Community while keeping its leadership and facilitation at arm’s length, with the belief that stronger ownership comes when governance leaders themselves lead the initiative.
Since its inception it has been led by former Black Cap and renowned sport and business administrator, Martin Snedden, alongside facilitators that include New Zealand’s leading academic in sport leadership and governance, Professor Lesley Ferkins, Julie Hood from Sport NZ, and supported by key Sport NZ kaimahi.
Since 2021, more than 30 National Sport Organisations and 13 Regional Sport Trusts have been represented in the Community, making it one of the most significant collaborations between AUT and the national sport ecosystem.
Professor Ferkins, who helped co-design the initiative, says the Community provides a forum where board chairs and governance leaders could learn from one another, build relationships across organisations that might otherwise never interact, and collectively lift standards of governance across the sector.
“What makes this Community so valuable is that it creates the opportunity for New Zealand’s sport leadership to learn from one another, rather than trying to solve complex challenges in isolation,” says Professor Ferkins.
“Since its inception it has grown to be a trusted environment where they can share what has worked, what hasn’t, test ideas and develop their governance practice.”
The Community's work also extends into some of the major issues currently facing the sport sector, including the threat posed by changes to online gambling legislation to community funding.
Developing knowledge that works in partnership with the sector
Alongside its facilitation role, AUT has connected its research and expertise with the work of the Sector Governance Community. Former Sport NZ lead governance and planning consultant Julie Hood is now an AUT PhD candidate alongside Katie Dee, a prospective PhD candidate and AUT alumni. Both have worked with the Community in various capacities, while AUT academics including Dr Tracy Molloy, Dr Katie Bruffy and Gaye Bryham, have also contributed to the Community over the years.
AUT’s SPRINZ research team is also currently completing an impact evaluation study of the programme, which aims to give the sector evidence-based insight into how this model of peer-led governance development is shifting outcomes.
Professor Ferkins said the connection between research, education and practice is central to the value of the initiative for AUT.
“It provides an incredibly valuable vehicle for our students and researchers to engage with the realities of governance in action, while the Community benefits from new research, ideas and perspectives. The development of this two-way relationship has been one of the most pleasing and beneficial outcomes of AUT’s involvement,” says Professor Ferkins.