Published on 20 Aug 2025

Connecting policy to impact: Kāinga Ora Policy Review

Projects
4 ANTON 1x1 PORTRAIT 1
Anton Davis Director Consulting (NZ) Contact me
2 ALICE 1x1 PORTRAIT 1
Alice Palmer Consultant Contact me
17 JODIE 1x1 PORTRAIT 1
Jodie O'Neill Strategy + Planning Lead (NZ) Contact me

When Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities was formed in 2019, it inherited policy and strategy documents from three entities: KiwiBuild, Housing New Zealand and the Hobsonville Land Company. This created a fragmented policy environment that needed alignment with new statutory obligations. Allen + Clarke undertook a comprehensive review of 168 policies and strategies and delivered priorities recommendations to support a fit-for-purpose organisational framework. 

 

  • We designed a customised assessment framework which reflected Kāinga Ora's unique obligations including thirteen operating principles. 168 policies were assessed against the framework, demonstrating that 46% of existing policies fully reflected new statutory obligations. 

  • Our dashboard reporting created clear visibility for the Board on the level of compliance across the policy suite and identified high risk areas for immediate reform. 

  • Following the assessment, we partnered with Subject Matter Experts from across the organisation to update 18 critical policies. Approval of the new policies shifted the organisation from 46% alignment to 82% alignment with relevant operating principles. 

  • Based on our learnings from this process, we developed guidance to support future updates and development of best-practice policy that aligned with the organisation's operating principles. 
Our work helped Kāinga Ora transition from a fragmented policy environment to a cohesive framework that supported their new identity and responsibilities. Our prioritised recommendations allowed Kāinga Ora to target their actions to have the greatest impact on compliance and we followed this up by providing the support needed to action the highest priority changes.

Policy coherence for a new organisation

Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities was created from the merger of KiwiBuild, Housing New Zealand and Hobsonville Land Company. This new Crown entity faced a substantial challenge: aligning policies from three different organisations while meeting new statutory obligations, particularly thirteen operating principles from its founding legislation. 

The organisation lacked full visibility into which policies aligned with their new obligations and which needed urgent reform. This created compliance risks and made it difficult for staff to implement cohesive approaches to wellbeing, partnership and environmental sustainability. 

Tangled line drawing forming brain shape above hanging lightbulb
Single yellow lightbulb glowing on black cord
Resources Block
Power transmission towers standing amid rolling green farmland in rural New Zealand, with forested hills in the background and a natural gully cutting through the pasture.
Projects

Creating Powerful Connections for Energy Collaboration: Advisory and Secretariat Services for the Northern Energy Group

Read More
Silhouette of native tree against dramatic sunrise with sunbeams piercing through branches above misty valley landscape.
Projects

Creating system efficiencies: Private Secretary to Minister of Conservation

Read More
Panoramic view of Wellington, New Zealand
Projects

Leading Policy Advocacy for Wellington Chamber of Commerce

Read More

A structured, comprehensive assessment to identify priority updates

We worked with Kāinga Ora to create a robust assessment framework with clear criteria for alignment with the operating principles. This required interpreting legal advice on the operating principles and applying what this would look like from a policy lens. 

The framework was agreed with stakeholders from across Kāinga Ora before our comprehensive assessment of policies took place. 168 policies were then reviewed, using both a top-down (outcomes to operations) and bottom-up (operational policies to strategies) approach. We provided a rating for each policy, and identified gaps and inconsistencies. 

Our analysis showed: 

  • 46% of policies showed high alignment with relevant operating principles. The remaining policies required some level of amendment or reflect to reflect relevant new obligations. 

  • Particular opportunities existed to highlight how the organisation worked with Māori and treated Māori interests, to clarify how environmental considerations were taken into account in decision-making and to incorporate requirements for community engagement. 

  • Strategies for home ownership and corporate enabling functions were missing, which prevented aligned policy development. 

  • Inherited policies used inconsistent formats and terminology creating confusion for staff. 

Hand holding red book with abstract yellow geometric shapes
Hands writing with pen overlaid with yellow geometric shape and black squiggles

Find out how we can help.
Book a Discovery Session

Get clarity on your challenge with our free one-hour discovery session - no obligation, just practical insights on how we can help.

Structured approach to policy improvement

Following the review, we provided support to the policy team to commence high-priority updates. We developed a standardised policy template and terminology to improve usability and clarity and tested this with internal stakeholders. High-priority policies were updated by Allen + Clarke, with lower priority policies to be updated by relevant business group owners. 

We worked alongside Subject Matter Experts to draft proposed changes and supported the newly drafted policies through internal approvals and publication. This enabled Kāinga Ora to move from 46% of policies demonstrating high alignment with the operating principles to 82% of policies showing high alignment. 

Using lessons learned from the policy updates, we created guidance for the organisation on practical tips for drafting policy that reflects the operating principles. This will build Kāinga Ora's internal capability and knoweldge base going forward. 

Hand selecting orange block from teal and yellow options
Stacked blocks in teal, orange and yellow forming vertical tower