The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy
A new booklet marking the Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy achievements to date is now available.
See the Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy Update 2011 PDF [3.2MB].
Vision
The people of the Wellington region welcome and support newcomers to settle successfully and newcomers participate, prosper, connect and contribute to the well-being of our communities.
Background
One of the key priorities of the New Zealand Settlement Strategy is to support the settlement of newcomers to New Zealand in the regions where they settle.
The intention in developing regional settlement strategies is to improve the services offered locally through central and local government agencies, and non-government agencies through collaborative planning and action.
At the time of Census 2006 one in four people living in the Wellington region were born overseas. The region has high labour market participation but also has an ageing workforce.
The development of a regional settlement strategy links with and supports the region’s plan for economic growth – the Wellington Regional Strategy: Internationally Competitive Wellington – as well as to the Wellington Regional Labour Market Strategy.
Newcomers from abroad bring new ways of thinking to the region, new knowledge and links to global markets. Having well-settled newcomers helps ensure that these benefits are realised; enriching our communities, and benefiting New Zealand as a whole.
The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy has been developed under joint Central Government and Local Government leadership – with the Department of Labour representing central government agencies and the Wellington City Council representing the five local territorial authorities – Hutt City Council, Kapiti Coast District Council, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council and Wellington City Council. Mr Roger Blakeley, Chief Executive of Porirua City Council was the project sponsor.
Objective
The objective of the Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy is to provide a proactive and coordinated approach which reflects how a range of players in the Wellington region can work together to address barriers and improve opportunities for newcomers to successfully settle.
The content of the Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy was developed first by talking to newcomers from throughout the region about why they had chosen to settle here, the support they had received on their arrival, and the challenges they had faced in settling quickly.
This was followed by wide consultation with central government and local government, iwi, non-government organisations, business, and newcomer community groups. These parties together identified actions that they could jointly work on to improve settlement outcomes for newcomers to the region.
The strategy development process began in mid 2007 and it’s associated Plan of Action for the Wellington Region looks forward to 2013. The Strategy and Plan of Action for Wellington Regional Settlement were launched on 30 June 2008. As with the Auckland Regional Settlement Strategy, the Strategy and Plan form part of the wider New Zealand Settlement Strategy objective of strengthening responsiveness to newcomers in the regions where they come to live.
The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy PDF [2075 Kb] outlines a vision and goals to achieve improved settlement outcomes for the Wellington region over the next five years.
The Plan of Action for Wellington Settlement PDF [883 Kb] identifies seven goals, and specific actions, agencies and timeframes under each goal, to address the barriers identified in the Strategy.
The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy - An Overview PDF [878KB] is a four-page summary of the Strategy.
The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy - Diagram PDF [439KB]
Printed copies of these four documents are available from city councils in the Wellington region and from the Department of Labour, PO Box, 3705, Wellington.
For further information, please contact SettlementInformation@dol.govt.nz.
