The National Integrity System Assessment (NIS) is essentially a country integrity risk assessment. At the heart of the NIS are reports on 12 'pillars' – branches of government, sectors, or agencies. The NIS evaluates whether the pillars, and underlying foundations, including the Treaty of Waitangi, function well and in balance with each other to safeguard against the abuse of power.
When properly governed, regulated, and managed, each pillar will both support good performance in other pillars and provide checks and balances across the system to reduce and limit inappropriate behaviour.
New Zealand National Integrity System - Gap analysis 2026 is providing a basis to assess the priority policy interventions required to achieve a step change in the performance of New Zealand's anti-corruption architecture.
The New Zealand report covers the three branches of government (legislature, executive, and judiciary), key watchdog agencies, law enforcement, political parties, the media, business, and NGOs.
TINZ makes recommendations in its NIS assessment, and many of these have been accepted and implemented. New Zealand’s first NIS assessment was carried out in 2003. The 2013 NIS assessment focussed on developments over the intervening 10-year period. In 2018 Transparency International NZ undertook an update report of the 2013 NIS assessment.
Since 2024, TINZ has adopted a more targeted approach to New Zealand's National Integrity System work. Instead of undertaking a comprehensive National Integrity System Assessment (NISA) with a pillar-by-pillar review, TINZ is identifying the priority reforms needed to strengthen the country's integrity system. The result will be a National Integrity System (NIS) action plan that focuses on practical actions to improve transparency, accountability and integrity.
