Chief Executive's preface
 The Social Report
2005 provides us with a dynamic picture of social wellbeing in New
Zealand . It does this by looking at how social conditions are
changing over time and how different communities are faring. The Social
Report is updated annually to ensure we have the most up-to-date and
relevant information on social wellbeing in New Zealand .
The Social Report collects together information from across a
wide spectrum of social policy concerns. The combined picture makes a
vital contribution to the development of integrated social policies
that are capable of addressing the often complex and interrelated
causes of social problems.
This year, in response to the needs of the local government
sector for regional information to monitor community outcomes, we have
expanded the content of the report. For the first time, we have
collected together significant information on regional social
wellbeing, and I hope that this will help local government to assess
where they are now and how they might plan for the future. This
information will also assist the Ministry of Social Development to
better understand how social conditions vary between communities. This
information can be found on this website.
The high quality of the report and its importance across the
social sector is due to the hard work of many staff from within the
Ministry of Social Development and the ongoing support and advice that
we receive from across the government sector and the wider community.
I commend The Social Report 2005 to you. The report has an
important contribution to make to informed discussion about social
policy priorities at both a national and local level across New
Zealand . It will be of great use and interest to a wide range of
readers.
Peter Hughes
Chief Executive
Ministry of Social Development
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