About Us

Complex social issues deserve quality evidence to enable better informed decisions. Decision-makers need to know what works and what doesn’t.
Our purpose is to increase the use of evidence by people across the social sector so that they make better decisions – about funding, policies or services – to improve the lives of New Zealanders, New Zealand’s communities, families and whanau.

What we do
We work across the wider social sector to:

promote informed debate on the key social issues for New Zealand, its families and whanau, and increase awareness about what works
grow the quality, relevance and quantity of the evidence base in priority areas
facilitate the use of evidence by sharing it and supporting its use in decision-making.
Who we work with
We work with those who fund, create or use social science evidence including policymakers, programme developers and funders, researchers, evaluators and practitioners.

We work across the wider social sector with people who are based in central and local government, academic, community and iwi-based organisations, and are tackling complex issues across key social policy areas like social development, housing, health, education and justice.

Our priorities
To influence providers and funders to do and fund research and evaluation that is useful to policymakers and programme developers.

To influence the development of sustainable research and assets and infrustructure that will support good social science research and it’s availability.

To commission and do good social science research and evaluation where there are critical gaps in the evidence base that are not being filled elsewhere.

To make social science research and evidence easier to access and understand.

To stimulate awareness of evidence, its importance and the big social issues for New Zealand.

To actively support the use of evidence by decision makers in the social sector.

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