Human Rights Act 1993

Human Rights Commission - Membership of Commission

8: Membership of Commission

You could also call this:

"Who is on the Human Rights Commission team?"

The Human Rights Commission has a Chief Commissioner and at least 3 other Commissioners. You can think of the Commissioners as a team that works together. The team has leaders for different areas like disability rights and equal employment opportunities. The Commission is like a board and the Commissioners are the members of this board. The Chief Commissioner is the leader of the board. The Chief Commissioner leads the board for the same amount of time they are the Chief Commissioner. Some rules from the Crown Entities Act 2004 do not apply to the Commission. The Commission follows its own rules and the Chief Commissioner decides on priority areas after talking to the Minister and other Commissioners, based on the strategic direction and general nature of activities determined by the Commission under section 7(1). The Commission also has to follow the Crown Entities Act 2004 in some cases.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM304289.

This page was last updated on 13 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Rights and equality > Anti-discriminationGovernment and voting > Government departments

7: Commission determines general nature of activities, or

"The Commission decides what it will do to help with human rights."

9: Alternate Commissioners, or

"Substitute Commissioners to Help with Decision-Making"

Part 1Human Rights Commission
Membership of Commission

8Membership of Commission

The Commission consists of the following Human Rights Commissioners:
the Chief Commissioner; and
not less than 3 and not more than 4 other Commissioners.

There must be a Commissioner, other than the Chief Commissioner, appointed to lead the work of the Commission in each of the following priority areas:
disability rights (the Disability Rights Commissioner):
equal employment opportunities (including pay equity) (the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner):
race relations (the Race Relations Commissioner).

A Commissioner must lead the work of the Commission in any other priority area that is designated by the Chief Commissioner, and the Chief Commissioner may designate an area of work as a priority area only in accordance with the strategic direction and the general nature of activities determined by the Commission under section 7(1) and after consultation with the Minister and the other Commissioners.
The Commissioners are the board for the purposes of the Crown Entities Act 2004.
The Chief Commissioner holds office as chairperson of the board for the purposes of the Crown Entities Act 2004 for the same term as he or she is Chief Commissioner.
Clauses 1 to 5 of Schedule 5 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 do not apply to the Commission.

Compare

1977 No 49 s 7(1)(a), (c), (ca), (d), (2)
1983 No 56 s 4(1), (2)
1991 No 132 s 3(1)
1993 No 35 s 2

Notes

Section 8: substituted, on 1 January 2002, by section 5 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).
Section 8(1): replaced, on 15 June 2016, by section 7 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 28).
Section 8(1A): inserted, on 15 June 2016, by section 7 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 28).
Section 8(1B): inserted, on 15 June 2016, by section 7 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 28).
Section 8(2): substituted, on 25 January 2005, by section 200 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 (2004 No 115).
Section 8(3): substituted, on 25 January 2005, by section 200 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 (2004 No 115).
Section 8(4): added, on 25 January 2005, by section 200 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 (2004 No 115).