Nicola Willis at Appointment of the New Ministry, November 2023 – Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
In a powerful address at New Zealand’s Social Investment Hui, Hon. Nicola Willis, Minister for Social Investment, outlined an ambitious plan to reimagine how government agencies, private sector partners, and non-profit organisations can work together to improve social outcomes for New Zealand’s most vulnerable through the Social Investment Agency.
Outlining a data-driven approach, Willis stressed her urgency for change, highlighting a stark parable of systemic failure through the sad and familiar story of a young man she named “Jack”, whom she used to represent the vulnerable people her initiative aims to help.
Ultimately, Willis’s speech made a clear call for collaboration, innovation, and results-focused investment to create enduring improvements in the lives of New Zealanders.
The Social Investment Agency
Willis positions the Social Investment Agency as a central mandate for coordinating social investment across multiple sectors. The agency, originally established in 2017 and recently reinstated to its original form after a period as the Social Wellbeing Agency, operates as a cross-system facilitator and adviser, with the authority to influence standards, track outcomes, and guide government spending on social issues.
According to Willis, the agency’s mission is to lead with evidence-based policies and measurable goals, ensuring that social services deliver real change rather than merely fulfilling contract obligations.
The Social Investment Agency has recently been granted four new core functions to support its expanded role, as set out on its website:
- Setting the standards for social investment practice to ensure there is consistency across government agencies and contracted providers
- Advising on and facilitating the creation of the data and evidence infrastructure for social investment
- Working with other agencies to apply the social investment approach
- Leading an ongoing review of social sector spending to measure outcomes.
Willis laid out the core ethos of the Social Investment Agency as, “[We need] to understand what real change looks like, how we should be measuring it, how we can generate more of it.”
“Jack’s” Story as a Parable of Systemic Failures
To illustrate the challenges the current system faces, Willis introduced the story of “Jack”, a 22-year-old who, despite repeated interactions with various government services, found himself on a path to prison after a third arrest. Jack’s life story—punctuated by absenteeism, interactions with child protection agencies, and frequent emergency department visits—demonstrates how multiple, disconnected services can fall short of addressing the underlying issues that drive disadvantage.
“Jack has been in full view of multiple government agencies since he was born,” Willis said, pointing to a system that, despite good intentions, has not been able to redirect his life toward positive outcomes. Citing government data, Willis noted that the number of young people facing similar circumstances to Jack has risen by 50% over the last five years.
Her speech highlighted that, too often, services focus on the number of interactions or visits recorded rather than concrete improvements in people’s lives. “Success is not about whether we get money out of the door”, Willis said, “It’s about whether that investment gets results in terms of changing peoples’ lives.”
The minister also shared sobering statistics about Jack’s future if he remains on his current trajectory: by age 27, there’s an 80% likelihood that he will have experienced significant life-altering events, such as incarceration, family violence, or child welfare intervention. This grim forecast reflects the limitations Willis sees in the existing system, which can be hampered by contract constraints, agency silos, and budgetary restrictions.
Shifting to Outcomes-Focused Support
In a clear departure from the traditional funding model, Willis stressed the need to redefine what “success” looks like in social services. Rather than tallying program outputs or yearly spending, she proposed that success should be measured by life-changing impacts, such as reductions in incarceration rates, improved educational outcomes, and enhanced family stability.
To support this new approach, the Social Investment Agency is piloting “prototype social investment outcomes contracts” that aim to track specific improvements in the lives of individuals and families, rather than “the current set of crisscrossing and overlapping outputs-focused contracts” Willis’s vision includes moving away from “sticking plasters” that address immediate needs without solving root issues, instead focusing on creating systemic changes that will disrupt cycles of disadvantage. “Success is not an evaluation sitting on a shelf,” Willis remarked. “Success is Jack out of prison, positively contributing to the life of his family and community.”
Cross-Sector Collaboration and Innovation
Willis’s address also marked a significant call to action for providers, NGOs, and private investors to join the mission of social investment. She emphasised that lasting change will require contributions from all sectors, particularly in areas where government funding alone has not yielded desired results. She made the case that non-profit organisations and community groups are often better positioned to deliver interventions.
To further facilitate better collaboration, the government has set up a “Social Investment Fund … to cut through the vote silos we’ve created for ourselves and test innovative approaches to both delivering and funding for social outcomes.” The fund will serve as a “testing ground” for new approaches, and the lessons learned will inform future investments in the social sector.
Data, Accountability, and Evidence-Driven Policy
Willis underlined the importance of using data to measure outcomes, identify intervention points, and refine social policies. She reiterated the importance of holding agencies accountable for results, stressing that the success of social investments depends on accurate data and transparent tracking mechanisms. To address this need, the agency is building a data infrastructure that will allow for the collection and analysis of social investment indicators.
However, the government is conscious of ethical data practices, recognising the need for public trust in how data is used to guide interventions. In her speech, Willis’s Cabinet paper emphasised that maintaining this “social license” is crucial for sustaining support for data-driven social policies.
Local Empowerment
Willis’s vision extends beyond data analytics and cross-agency collaboration to include localised, community-led solutions tailored to the unique needs of regional populations. By empowering local organisations to design and implement programs that directly address community needs, Willis hopes to make social investment more responsive and effective. This approach includes prototype contracts that give local agencies flexibility and responsibility for achieving long-term outcomes.
The ultimate goal, Willis explained, is to adopt a budgeting model that reflects long-term savings and returns on social investment. Instead of annual funding allocations that focus on immediate needs (as she sees it), Willis envisions a system where investments are assessed based on their potential to yield lasting improvements in human capital and reduce social costs over time.
Willis’s Call for Change
Closing her address, Willis called on attendees to join her in championing this new approach to social investment, urging providers, funders, and community leaders to contribute their expertise and insights to drive meaningful change. Her message was clear: everyone has a role to play in the Social Investment Agency, an initiative she argues will rewrite the story of New Zealand’s most vulnerable.