Tçnâ koe J W

Thank you for your OIA request to the Department of Internal Affairs.

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as practicable and within twenty working days. The 20th working day is 1 May 2026.

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides information that is identified to be of general public interest, the response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.

Ngâ mihi

Huey Lim | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services | Taituarâ
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/

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Tēna koe,

Thank you for your email of 31 March 2026 to the Department of Internal
Affairs (the Department), requesting the following information:

 

 1. Is a registered charity permitted to adopt a partisan political
stance?
 2. In 2023 the government invited applications for funding contained
within the "Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Fund". Please
provide copies of all successful grant applications, and all material
supplied to the successful applicants (including but not limited to
any conditions around use of the funds).
 3. Is it permissible for a charity to pursue a stated purpose of
"promoting other [unspecified] charitable purposes as decided upon by
the Trustees"?
 4. What checks and balances are in place to ensure that a registered
charity meets, or continues to meet, its stated charitable purpose?
 5. If any, please provide all concerns/complaints received regarding
charities/projects which were funded by the Preventing and Countering
Violent Extremism Fund.

 

As currently worded, parts 2 and 5 of your request would be likely to be
refused under section 18(f) of the Act, as there is a significant volume
of information in scope of your request and this cannot be made available
without substantial collation or research.

 

In the hope that we may be able to avoid refusing your request, we would
be grateful if you could provide further detail on the nature of the
information you are looking for, including a refined time period,
applicant organisation, etc. Please note that details around the 43 funded
projects are available online at: [1]Preventing and Countering Violent
Extremism Fund | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC).
Identifying the specific information you are trying to find will assist us
find the relevant information for you.

 

We look forward to hearing from you by 15 April 2026.

 

Please note, any clarification or amendment of a request is considered to
be a new request for the purpose of calculating the maximum statutory
timeframe for response—see section 15(1AA) of the Official Information
Act.

Thank you,

 

Milan Magan (he/him) | Senior Advisor, Ministerial and Official
Correspondence
Toi Hiranga | Regulation & Policy
Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

 

 

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Kia ora J W

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

The information sought in questions one, three, and four is publicly
available, and therefore does not require an OIA request. This information
can be more promptly addressed as a business query by Charities Services.
The remainder of your request, questions two and five, will be considered
under the OIA by the Department, and you will receive a response in due
course.

 

Here are answers to your questions:

 

Question 1 - Is a registered charity permitted to adopt a partisan
political stance?

Registered charities can support a particular policy of a political party
that is important to their charitable purpose. They cannot, however, make
donations to political candidates or parties nor endorse them, since this
would be perceived as adopting a partisan political stance. 

Please refer to our guide on the website:
[1]https://www.charities.govt.nz/im-a-regis...

 

Question 3 - Is it permissible for a charity to pursue a stated purpose of
"promoting other [unspecified] charitable purposes as decided upon by the
Trustees"?

Charities Services takes a case-by-case approach to each application for
registration as a charitable entity. Charities Services considers the
specific wording of each applicant’s rules document and has regard to the
current and future activities of each applicant as required by section
18(3)(a) of the Charities Act.

Please refer to further resources on the website that may answer your
question further:

[2]Charities Services | Charitable purpose/Take atawhai

[3]Charities Services | Public benefit and charitable purpose

 

Question 4 - What checks and balances are in place to ensure that a
registered charity meets, or continues to meet, its stated charitable
purpose?

Charities Services takes a case-by-case approach to each application for
registration as a charitable entity.

Additionally, all charities need to report annually to Charities Services
using the reporting standards set by the External Reporting Board (XRB).
Charities with over $550,000 operating expenditure must have their
accounts audited or reviewed, and charities with over $1.1 million must
have their accounts audited. Information on reporting standards can be
found on our website here: [4]Charities Services | Audit and review
requirements

 

Charities Services also conducts checks, and operates a risk-based
compliance approach, focusing regulatory resources where there are:

•            evidence of misalignment with charitable purpose

•            governance failure

•            persistently non-compliant reporting

•            credible complaints

 

You can read more about the current compliance approach on our website
here: [5]Charities-Services-Compliance-Approach-V1.0.pdf

 

Ngâ mihi

 

Huey Lim | Advisor Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services | Taituarâ

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[6]www.dia.govt.nz

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.charities.govt.nz/im-a-regis...
2. https://www.charities.govt.nz/ready-to-r...
3. https://www.charities.govt.nz/ready-to-r...
4. https://www.charities.govt.nz/reporting-...
5. https://www.charities.govt.nz/__data/ass...
6. http://www.dia.govt.nz/

Kia ora J W,

 

Please find attached a response to your recent OIA request.

 

Kind regards,

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[2]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

From: MaSS info <[email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, 8 April, 2026 3:56 PM
To: [FOI #34308 email]
Subject: Clarification of your Official Information Act 1982 request

 

Tēna koe,

Thank you for your email of 31 March 2026 to the Department of Internal
Affairs (the Department), requesting the following information:

 

 1. Is a registered charity permitted to adopt a partisan political
stance?
 2. In 2023 the government invited applications for funding contained
within the "Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Fund". Please
provide copies of all successful grant applications, and all material
supplied to the successful applicants (including but not limited to
any conditions around use of the funds).
 3. Is it permissible for a charity to pursue a stated purpose of
"promoting other [unspecified] charitable purposes as decided upon by
the Trustees"?
 4. What checks and balances are in place to ensure that a registered
charity meets, or continues to meet, its stated charitable purpose?
 5. If any, please provide all concerns/complaints received regarding
charities/projects which were funded by the Preventing and Countering
Violent Extremism Fund.

 

As currently worded, parts 2 and 5 of your request would be likely to be
refused under section 18(f) of the Act, as there is a significant volume
of information in scope of your request and this cannot be made available
without substantial collation or research.

 

In the hope that we may be able to avoid refusing your request, we would
be grateful if you could provide further detail on the nature of the
information you are looking for, including a refined time period,
applicant organisation, etc. Please note that details around the 43 funded
projects are available online at: [3]Preventing and Countering Violent
Extremism Fund | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC).
Identifying the specific information you are trying to find will assist us
find the relevant information for you.

 

We look forward to hearing from you by 15 April 2026.

 

Please note, any clarification or amendment of a request is considered to
be a new request for the purpose of calculating the maximum statutory
timeframe for response—see section 15(1AA) of the Official Information
Act.

Thank you,

 

Milan Magan (he/him) | Senior Advisor, Ministerial and Official
Correspondence
Toi Hiranga | Regulation & Policy
Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

 

 

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