Appendix 3: How we carried out our audit

Effectiveness of arrangements for reducing child poverty.

Our performance audit involved 41 interviews with a total of 70 people. We concentrated on interviewing staff from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Ministry of Social Development, the Treasury, and Statistics New Zealand (the agencies).

We also interviewed staff from a wider group of public organisations and one Crown entity that were leading child poverty-related initiatives. These were:

  • the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment;
  • Inland Revenue;
  • the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development;
  • the Ministry of Education;
  • the Ministry of Health; and
  • the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

We also spoke to representatives from a range of other public organisations, Crown entities, and non-government organisations (NGOs) that are directly involved in child poverty work. We held two workshops with a total of nine representatives from NGOs and Crown entities.

We interviewed a mix of leadership, management, research, and operational staff. We also interviewed the two previous Ministers for Child Poverty Reduction and the current Minister.

To ensure representation from people disproportionately experiencing child poverty, we interviewed representatives from Māori, Pacific, disability, and human rights organisations.

We reviewed more than 300 documents that the agencies provided, as well as publicly available documents. These included:

  • legislation;
  • Cabinet papers;
  • briefings to Ministers;
  • strategies and plans;
  • review findings;
  • annual reports;
  • progress reports;
  • monitoring and evaluation papers; and
  • media releases.