National Council of Women of New Zealand

12/08/2026

Mark Your Calendars!

📢 Our annual conference is coming up and you’re invited to take a seat at the table.

The theme this year is Our Voices, Our Power, Our Future 💪💜

Be inspired, lend your thoughts to discussion about the ongoing things impacting gender equality as well as celebrating the progress that has been made over the past 130 years.

Some of our key speakers include Prof Gail Pacheco (Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner), Julie Fairey (Councillor) and Zeo Hami (Wāhine Collective).

Join us in Tāmaki Makaurau 9.30-12pm on Saturday 12 September for your chance to be part of something inspiring, meaningful and fun 🎉

For more info and to get tickets, visit the event page:
https://events.humanitix.com/ncwnz-conference-2026

06/08/2026

Join us at our next Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub meeting to hear from Kaitiaki Hauora - a nationwide coalition working to protect and strengthen Aotearoa’s public health system ❤️‍🩹

We're lucky enough to be welcoming Louisa Wall and Gail Duncan to talk about their work uniting communities, health workers, iwi Māori Partnership Boards, unions, and advocacy groups as guardians of public health.

The meeting will be held on online and anyone is welcome to come along! Simply RSVP to [email protected] to receive the link to join.

🗓️ Wednesday 26 August 2026
⏰ 7.30pm

09/07/2026

As we whakanui|celebrate Matariki today, here at NCWNZ we encourage everyone to recognise this special time of reflection, gratitude, and hope. The phrase ‘Matariki Herenga Waka’ reminds us that Matariki is for everyone and provides us all a chance to noho tahi|come together to honour our multi-culturalism, share knowledge, and strengthen our sense of inclusion and belonging - not just for one day, but every day. Through unity, kindness, and connection, we can celebrate the diversity of Aotearoa and look to the future together. Mānawatia a Matariki! ✨💜

08/07/2026

We want to see mandatory pay gap reporting introduced to help address the unacceptable gender and ethnic pay gap in Aotearoa 📊 If you do too, join us in supporting STILL Minding The Gap.nz's campaign and drop a biscuit in the tin! 🍪

🍪 Not everyone gets the same biscuit. Sounds silly?

That's exactly the point.

Today we’re launching the A Fair Share campaign to shine a light on the gender pay gap in Aotearoa New Zealand – and we need your help! Our message is simple: everyone deserves a fair share.

The Pay Transparency Bill is in a tin at Parliament so we're asking people across New Zealand to fill our own online tin with virtual biscuits. Every biscuit is a show of support for pay transparency and fairer workplaces. At the end of the month we’ll tally up the biscuits and present to Parliament.

Join in - it’s easy!

1. Go to our website and drop a biscuit in the tin.

2. Share the campaign.
3. Put up one of our free posters at work if you can.

Together, we can show there's growing support for closing the gender pay gap.

Drop your biscuit and find the posters and fun things to share on our website www.stillmindingthegap.nz

30/06/2026

LAST CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR SUBMISSIONS!! ✍ 📣 🏳️‍🌈

Submissions against the Definitions of Woman and Man Bill are open until 2nd July 2026, and if you've been meaning to make one, now's the time. This bill is unnecessary, reductive, and completely out of step with the kind of Aotearoa many of us want to live in. This bill would embed permanent harm in our legislation, and we won't stand quietly by and let that happen.

Parliament is asking for public submissions. It takes a few minutes, but it matters. Tell your friends. Tell your flatmates. Send it to the group chat. The louder the opposition, the harder it is to ignore.

Here's a link to make a quick submission:
https://definitionsbill.org

03/06/2026

Not all digital platforms in Aotearoa New Zealand are doing enough to protect those who use them – and that must change. Alongside businesses and other not-for-profits, we've added our name to an open letter calling on the government to make systemic change and you can too! 🖊️📢

Online harm is affecting more and more people across Aotearoa New Zealand.

From scams and impersonation, to online abuse and misinformation — the systems shaping our online lives are not doing enough to protect the people who use them.

That’s why businesses, broadcasters, community organisations and not-for-profits have joined together to call for stronger digital accountability and safer online systems by design.

Read the letter here:https://cdn.sanity.io/files/ysiap3nf/production/40d70f4a4cf8469929edf51144acae498ff207f9.pdf

Add your name: https://amnestynz.typeform.com/to/VLSEgeQy?typeform-source=statics.teams.cdn.office.net

27/05/2026

After more than three years of focused campaigning, this week marks a major step forward in the criminalisation of stalking in Aotearoa.

National Council of Women NZ (NCWNZ), alongside fellow violence-prevention advocates, celebrates this milestone while committing to remain vigilant in ensuring the law is effectively used to protect victim-survivors.

“We thank everyone who helped make this hopeful day of celebration possible, including those who signed and shared the anti-stalking petition, everyone who made a submission, and politicians on both sides of the house,” says NCWNZ President, Suzanne Manning. “Our work together has made real change in the protection of women’s rights and freedom.”

This new law has the potential to strengthen protection, improve accountability, and better support those experiencing stalking - including online and within diverse communities. But its success depends on how it is implemented.

Now, the focus turns to ensuring police and agencies prioritise victim-survivor safety, and that support services are resourced to respond.
This is an important milestone - and a reminder that the work continues.

To learn more, check out the web-based, community-collated resource from the Auckland Women's Centre

awc.org.nz/stalking-response-guide

25/05/2026

National Council of Women (NCWNZ) believes that the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill is unworkable and unscientific in that it ignores innate variation of s*x characteristics (that is, inters*x people), exclusionary and discriminatory, and breaches human rights.

NCWNZ supports the statement by the Honorable Nicola Grigg, Minister for Women, when she said, "I'm not convinced that this bill will advance the rights and opportunities or the wellbeing of women and girls in any way, shape, or form in New Zealand.”

We urge the Minister to persuade her colleagues that this Bill is a waste of time and money. Time and money which could be used by the government on legislation that will improve the wellbeing of women. Time and money that could be used by cash-strapped and time-poor community groups to work on initiatives that progress the status of women instead of preserving the status quo.

Parliament is taking public submissions for the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill, click on the link below to make a submission.

https://www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/54SCSSC_SCF_9E8E8A14-A51C-4567-AB33-08DE9053A7D1/legislation-definitions-of-woman-and-man-amendment-bill

06/05/2026

This week marks one year since the shocking gutting of pay equity legislation in Aotearoa. But this is not an anniversary to celebrate - it’s a time to escalate the push to see these changes repealed by the next Government.

Earlier today, the Pay Equity Coalition Aotearoa (including the NZCTU) and Te Kāhui Tika Tangata lodged a formal UN complaint under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), requesting an investigation into whether the Government’s changes to pay equity laws constitute systemic discrimination against women.

Notification of the complaint, alongside a letter from Dame Judy McGregor, will be sent this week to the Prime Minister, with copies to the Minister of Finance and Minister for Women.

NCWNZ is proud to support this action and will continue shining a light on the real impact of these changes. We’ve been visible. We’ve been vocal. And we won’t stop.

As Dame Judy McGregor puts it:
“This is no longer just a domestic policy debate. It raises serious questions about whether the law now enables state-sponsored discrimination against women, and what that means for New Zealand’s commitment to fairness and human rights.”

This matters. And the pressure is building.

To find out more about the complaint and watch the recording of the live stream, head to the link in our bio.

30/04/2026

This year, we’re marking 130 years of advocacy for women’s rights in Aotearoa New Zealand!

Founded in 1896 by Kate Sheppard and a group of determined wāhine, NCWNZ wasn’t created as a monument - it was built as a movement. 130 years on, that movement is still going strong 💪

The issues we face may have changed but our mission hasn’t. From advocating for the right of women to vote in 1896 🪧🗳️ to representing gender quality in areas such as climate change, online misogyny, and trans rights 🌍🏳️‍⚧️ NCWNZ has spent 13 decades standing firm for equality in Aotearoa and alongside women worldwide.

Join us as we celebrate this milestone and our continued commitment to achieving gender equality in Aotearoa!

Click on the link below to read more.

https://tr.ee/RgUWc4R8Eh