National Agencies
New Zealand has numerous national agencies operating across a wide range of areas including agriculture, health, development and the environment. National agencies assist the work of government ministries or departments, forming an essential part of what New Zealanders call the ‘state sector’. Some national agencies are styled as ‘crown entities’ because they are legally separate from the Crown (or government) although the terminology ‘crown entity’ is, in a vast majority of cases, informally used to mean any public funded agency outside a government department. Some agencies are part of government ministries or departments and are thus headed by government ministers. Prominent national agencies include the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID), a semi-autonomous development agency within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade which manages New Zealand’s overseas development efforts; the Health Research Council (HRC) which is responsible for managing the Government’s investment in a broad range of health research on issues of importance to New Zealand; and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise which works to help New Zealand businesses to grow internationally.