STRATEGYNZ
GDS Index
Government department strategies under the microscope
The GDS Index aims to illustrate how New Zealand might strengthen government department strategies (GDSs) to be more effective, responsive, measurable, comparable and durable through public consultation, engagement and ownership.
The Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki ranks each GDS in terms of essential information. It does not rate the strategy as such; it rates the strategy document’s provision of essential information and clarity of communication so that readers can assess the strategic approach for themselves. Every GDS is reviewed against the Institute’s Transparency Scorecard to determine how well it articulates each of six elements.
The Institute regularly updates the Handbook so that information can be measured, analysed and tracked over time.
- The latest GDS Index scores strategies in operation as at 31 December 2024.
- The current GDS Index (in progress) scores strategies in operation as at 31 December 2025.
-
The Institute typically prepares a working paper providing an in-depth analysis of references to climate change in operational GDSs for each edition of the GDS Index. However, this analysis will not be undertaken until 2027, when the 2026 GDS Index dataset becomes available.
Thank you to everyone who helped, including the many officials who answered our Official Information Act requests.
If you have any queries or suggestions, please email us at [email protected].
Timeline of the GDS Index
The Institute has released six editions of the GDS Index since the project’s inception in 2014. Work is currently under way on the seventh edition, which is expected to be published in July 2026 (see image below).
2025 GDS Index (in press)
As at 7 July 2026: The following publications are currently in draft form. They are being shared in draft form to give departments the opportunity to review them and provide feedback before the final version is published.
- No scoring data has been included at this stage.
- The final list of government department strategies (GDSs) has yet to be confirmed. A number of Official Information Act (OIA) requests were emailed to departments on 7 July 2026, and responses are still pending.
- Department profile data is also awaiting OIA responses and final quality assurance checks.
- There are a few notes in double square brackets that will be removed from the final publication. These have been included for record keeping, to indicate whether a GDS appeared in the previous Index and, if so, its previous number (e.g. [[was xx]]), or whether it is a new entry (e.g. [[new]]).
- There are two GDSs where we have included a note at the top for the department, which forms part of the OIA to that department.
- All OIAs are made public on a schedule on our website. See https://www.mcguinnessinstitute.org/publications/oias-correspondence/
As a result, a number of graphs, tables, rankings and related analyses have not yet been completed and should be regarded as provisional until the final data has been verified and incorporated.
For any questions or points of clarification, please email us on [email protected].
2025 Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki as at 31 December 2025
July 2026 (in press)
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
Working Paper 2026/01 – Methodology [177]
The Methodology explains why the Institute produces and publishes a GDS Index and how, in detail, the 2025 GDS Index was created.
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2026/02 – List of GDSs archived or transferred by departments [57]
This working paper contains all GDSs archived by the government in 2025.
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2026/03 – List of documents rejected [13]
This working paper includes a list of documents proposed by departments but rejected by the Institute for not meeting the seven criteria (outlined below).
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2026/04 – Workforce composition by Government Department since 2000 as at 31 March 2026
This working paper graphs each departments FTEs since 2000.
See Working Papers to view and download.
The Transparency Scorecard
The Scorecard is used to rank each strategy. It explores whether the content of the strategy is sufficient for a reader to assess the quality of the strategy. The Index does not assess the quality of the strategy. Download the Transparency Scorecard.
GDS definition
Definition of a government department strategy (GDS)
A ‘government department strategy’ must:
1. be a publicly available document that is published by a government department
2. be a public-facing document that is written for the public to read
3. be an externally facing document (i.e. not written for internal management purposes)
4. be a strategic document that contains long-term thinking (i.e. it sets out the approach [the means] and the purpose [the ends] of the strategy)
5. be a national document (i.e. it excludes local and regional strategies)
6. be a document that looks out at least two years or more, and
7. not be a corporate document.
2024 GDS Index
Soft copies of the 2024 GDS Index Handbook, along with Working Paper 2025/01 – Methodology for the 2024 Government Department Strategies Index and Working Paper 2025/02 – Analysis of Climate Change in Government Department Strategies as at 31 December 2024 are available to download from Working Papers. In addition, we have made available a spreadsheet of all 195 GDSs that comprise the 2024 GDS Index (including links to a PDF of each strategy document).
Search online: Spreadsheet of operational GDSs as at 31 December 2024 [195]
The tables provide detailed information on each GDS, as well as a pdf of each strategy document. Download an excel of this spreadsheet here: Download (XLSX, 101 KB).
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki as at 31 December 2024
April 2025
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
2024 GDS Index: By the numbers
Page 16 of the 2024 GDS Index Handbook gives a quick snapshot of GDSs as seen through lenses such as content, accountability, sector and climate.
Download (PDF, 89 KB)
Working Paper 2025/01 – Methodology
The Methodology explains why the Institute produces and publishes a GDS Index and how, in detail, the 2024 GDS Index was created.
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2025/02 – Analysis of Climate Change
The Analysis of Climate Change paper provides an in-depth discussion of mentions of climate change in operational GDSs.
See Working Papers to view and download.
2023 GDS Index
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki as at 31 December 2023
December 2024
See Books and other publications to view and download.
Letter to MPs
28 June 2022
Download (PDF, 284 KB)
Letter to CEs of government departments
28 June 2022
Download (PDF, 217 KB)
2023 GDS Index: By the numbers
Page 6 of the 2023 GDS Index Handbook gives a quick snapshot of GDSs as seen through lenses such as content, accountability, sector and climate.
Download (PDF, 71 KB)
Working Paper 2024/08 – Methodology for the 2023 Government Department Strategies Index as at 31 December 2023
The Methodology explains why the Institute produces and publishes a GDS Index and how, in detail, the 2023 GDS Index was created.
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2024/09 – Analysis of Climate Change in Government Department Strategies as at 31 December 2023
Analysis of Climate Change provides in-depth discussion of mentions of climate change in GDSs.
See Working Papers to view and download.
2021 GDS Index
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki
June 2022
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
By the numbers
Page 8 of the 2021 GDS Index Handbook
Download (PDF, 66 KB)
See Working Papers to view and download the below publications
Working Paper 2022/01 – Methodology for the 2021 Government Department Strategies Index
August 2022
Working Paper 2022/02 – Complete Lists of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 2021
July 2022
Working Paper 2022/03 – Scoring Tables: Collating and Ranking Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 31 December 2021
July 2022
Working Paper 2022/04 – Analysis of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 2021
December 2022
Working Paper 2022/05 – Best Practice: Guidance for policy analysts preparing government department strategy documents
July 2022
Working Paper 2022/06 – Strategy Maps: Copies of all strategy maps found in government department strategies in operation as at 31 December 2021
June 2022
Working Paper 2022/06 – Strategy Maps: Copies of all strategy maps found in government department strategies in operation as at 31 December 2021
June 2022
Working Paper 2022/07 – Analysis of Climate Change in Government Department Strategies as at 31 December 2021
November 2022
Working Paper 2022/08 – Analysis of Poverty in Government Department Strategies as at 31 December 2021
November 2022
2018 GDS Index
See Working Papers to view and download the below publications
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki
December 2018
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki
December 2018
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki
December 2018
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki
December 2018
See Books, journals, and other publications to view and download.
Working Paper 2019/01 – Methodology for the Government Department Strategies Index New Zealand
May 2019
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2019/02 – Lists of Government Department Strategies from 1 July 1994
May 2019
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2019/03 – Scoring Tables Collating Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 31 December 2018
May 2019
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2019/04 – Analysis of Government Department Strategies between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 2018
May 2019
See Working Papers to view and download.
Working Paper 2021/02 – List of Government Department Strategies as at 31 December 2020
April 2021
See Working Papers to view and download.
2014 GDS Index and 2015 GDS Index
See Working Papers to view and download the below publications
Working Paper 2015/04 – Methodology for the Government Department Strategies Index New Zealand
February 2015
Working Paper 2015/05 – Tables Collating and Ranking Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2014
February 2015
Working Paper 2015/06 – Profiles Scoring Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2014
February 2015
Working Paper 2015/07 – List of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2015
October 2015
Working Paper 2015/08 – Tables Collating and Ranking Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2015
November 2015
Working Paper 2015/09 – Profiles Scoring Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2015
November 2015
Working Paper 2015/10 – Analysis of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2015: An overview
November 2015
Working Paper 2015/11 – Observations from the GDS Index 2015
October 2015
Working Paper 2014/02 – Analysis of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2014: An overview
December 2014
Working Paper 2014/01 – List of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2014
September 2014