UNCLASSIFIED
New Zealand Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Manatū Aorere
195 Lambton Quay
16 April 2026
Private Bag 18−901
Wellington 6160
New Zealand
T +64 4 439 8000
F +64 4 472 9596
Liam Knight-Devlin
OIA 30833
[FYI request #34260 email]
Tēnā koe Liam Knight-Devlin
Thank you for your email of 27 March 2026, in which you request the following under the
Official Information Act 1982 (OIA):
“
Can you please detail the number of persons (and level of language ability)
employed by MFAT, excluding locally engaged staff with skills in the following
languages: Dutch, French, Greek, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian,
Russian and Spanish.”
Response to your request
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (the Ministry) Human Resource Information System
(HRIS) allows staff to self-report their language ability and proficiency. As of the date of your
request, the fol owing numbers of permanent ful -time equivalent staff members assessed
themselves as speaking at full or professional proficiency level across the European languages you
have requested:
Language
Number of FTE
Dutch
1
French
36
German
10
Greek
0
Italian
8
Portuguese
4
Russian
4
Romanian
0
Spanish
36
Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to official
information requests where possible. Therefore, our response to your request (with your
personal information removed) may be published on the Ministry website:
www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/contact-us/official-information-act-responses/
UNCLASSIFIED
Page 2 of 2
If you have any questions about this decision, you can contact us by email at:
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman of this decision by contacting
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Sarah Corbett
for Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Document Outline
