Mō mātou

About Us

The Children's Commissioner represents the 1.2 million people in Aotearoa New Zealand under the age of 18. The Office of the Children's Commissioner is an Independent Crown Entity.

We advocate for children's rights to be recognised and upheld, provide expert advice to courts and government agencies, advocate for system-level changes, ensure children's voices are heard in decisions that affect them, raise awareness about children's rights and wellbeing and monitor places where young people are detained.

Frances Eivers

Judge Frances Eivers

Te Kaikōmihana mō ngā Tamariki ō Aotearoa | Children’s Commissioner

Her Honour Judge Frances Eivers (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato) is our current Children's Commissioner, taking on the role from 1 November 2021. Before being appointed Commissioner, she was a Judge in the District Court in Manukau, working extensively with mokopuna in the court system.

About Judge Frances Eivers
Siblings

Te moemoeā

Our vision, values and priorities

Kia kuru pounamu te rongo | All mokopuna live their best lives

Our vision is for every child in Aotearoa, regardless of their background, to grow up knowing they belong with their whānau and have what they need to live their best life. It also means mokopuna have a say about what really matters for them, and that their rights are honoured by those in power.

We have a tikanga framework with four principles: Aroha, Pono, Tika, and Mātauranga.

We have set four priorities for the office: Education, Mental Wellbeing, Ending Family Violence and Monitoring Places of Detention.

Te tiriti

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi

The office is committed to recognising and implementing the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Under the leadership of our Commissioner, and Te Rōpū – our caucus of Māori staff – our office is working towards reflecting the true intention of te Tiriti o Waitangi in everything that we do.

Our History

Ngā kōrero

Our history

The role of Children’s Commissioner was established in 1989 to be an independent advocate for children. Since 1989, there have been eight Commissioners, all unified with an unwavering commitment to confront the systemic issues children are affected by but do not have a voice in changing.

Te mahi mō te tari

Work for the office

Working for the Office is an opportunity to help realise our vision for an Aotearoa where all mokopuna live their best lives. We are a friendly, supportive and inclusive office that prioritises wellbeing and a child friendly working environment.

Administrator

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Our commitment to Kia Toipoto

Our tari is committed to meeting the milestones of Kia Toipoto - the Public Service Gender, Māori, Pacific, and Ethnic Pay Gaps Action Plan 2021-24.

Under Kia Toipoto, agencies and entities need at least 20 employees in each comparative group to publish statistically robust pay gaps, while also protecting the privacy of employees. We are a small organisation, meaning publishing pay gap data risks breaching the privacy of our kaimahi. We are, instead, using the data we have and employee engagement to develop our first Kia Toipoto Action Plan.