The Department of Labour ( mi, Te Tari Mahi) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

public sector organisation tasked with improving the performance of the labour market and, through this, strengthening the economy and increasing the

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...

. It was replaced with the

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE; mi, Hīkina Whakatutuki) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with "delivering policy, services, advice and regulation" which contribute to New Zealand's economic p ...

on 1 July 2012.

History

The Department was established under the

Liberal Government of New Zealand The Liberal Government of New Zealand was the first responsible government in New Zealand politics organised along party lines. The government formed following the founding of the Liberal Party and took office on 24 January 1891, and governed N ...

in 1891 as the Bureau of Industries with Edward Treager as its sole employee. The following year, when W. Pember Reeves was appointed the first

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

, the department changed its name to the Department of Labour. The Labour Department Act 1893 defined the general duties of and powers of the department, which were to administer the labour laws, acquire and disseminate knowledge of occupations with a view to improving relations between employers and workers, and collect and publish information on industries and rates of wages. Over time, the functions of the department changed, including the acquisition of responsibilities around employment. The department's functions were reaffirmed through the Labour Department Act 1954. As a result, the Employment and Immigration Departments were merged into the Department of Labour. One division of the Department of Labour was the

Immigration Department The Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control of Hong Kong. After the People's Republic of China assumed sovereignty of the territory in July 1997, Hong Kong's immigration system remained l ...

, which was established in 1912. The Immigration Department underwent several incarnations including the Immigration Division and Immigration Service before assuming its current name,

Immigration New Zealand Immigration New Zealand ( mi, Te Ratonga Manene; INZ), formerly the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS), is the agency within the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that is responsible for border control, iss ...

Disestablishment

In March 2012 Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

announced that the Department of Labour would be integrated into a new Ministry, the

(MBIE), comprising the Ministry of Economic Development, the Department of Labour, the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the

Department of Building and Housing The Department of Building and Housing ( Māori: ''Te Tari Kaupapa Whare'') was a government agency within the New Zealand government. Established in 2004 out of the former Ministry of Housing, it was disestablished in 2012. The department's for ...

. The new Ministry began operating on 1 July 2012. Immigration New Zealand also followed its parent organization into MBIE. Employment New Zealand is the brand name for the part of the MBIE responsible for overseeing the former functions of the Department of Labour.

References

External links

Former Department of Labour official site
(redirects to Employment New Zealand) {{NZ Public Service Departments Labour, Department of 2012 disestablishments in New Zealand 1891 in New Zealand

History

Disestablishment

References

Further reading

External links