Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu holds the collective assets and liabilities of Ngāi Tahu and administers these on behalf of all Ngāi Tahu individuals, whānau and papatipu rūnanga through the Ngāi Tahu Charitable Trust.

In so doing, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and its representatives are bound by New Zealand’s company law and trust law and a suite of specialist statutes. Representatives are also subject to the Charter of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. This outlines their core responsibilities, particularly clauses 8.1 and 8.2.

8.1. Fundamental Duty – The Rūnanga Representatives will administer the assets and liabilities of Te Rūnanga as kaitiaki for Ngāi Tahu Whānui. In performing those duties each Rūnanga Representative is to act in good faith and in a manner that the Rūnanga Representative believes on reasonable grounds is in the best interests of Ngāi Tahu Whānui as a whole.

8.2. Collective interests of Ngāi Tahu Whānui – A Rūnanga Representative must not, when exercising powers or performing duties as a Rūnanga Representative, act or agree to act in a manner which unfairly prejudices or unfairly discriminates against any particular Papatipu Rūnanga unless that Rūnanga Representative believes on reasonable grounds that the fundamental duty set out in sub-clause 8.1 requires such action.

KEY DOCUMENTS

Ngai Tahu Charter (PDF, 700kb, 53 pages)

Standing Orders (PDF, 340kb, 11 pages)

Code of Conduct (PDF, 450kb, 12 pages)

Ngāi Tahu 2025 (PDF, 1.5MB, 50 pages)

Ngāi Tahu Charitable Trust General statements, and annual reports from the last ~15 years

Form and Function Review Looking at decision-making and communication

LEGISLATION

Te Rūnanga o Ngai Tahu Act 1996

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (Declaration of Membership) Order 2001

Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998

Ngāi Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act 1997

Ngāi Tahu (Tutaepatu Lagoon Vesting) Act 1997