VANZ is currently a semi-autonomous body within the New Zealand Defence Force. A change in this status will occur from 1 July 2008 when Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand will come under the direct control of the Chief of Defence Force.
The New Zealand Defence Force provides infrastructure support for VANZ. The staff of VANZ are members of the civil staff of the New Zealand Defence Force. The Director, Veterans' Affairs reports directly to the Chief of Defence Force.
The relationship with the New Zealand Defence Force allows VANZ to operate autonomously, from a policy and service delivery perspective, while giving the advantage of the infrastructure support of a larger organisation. Alignment with the New Zealand Defence Force has the advantage of enabling VANZ to access information on current and past deployments.
The environment in which VANZ operates as an organisation requires the capability to work on both current and historic issues across the interface of the political environment, public service and veteran community. In order to be effective VANZ needs to develop the following organisational capabilities:
- The capability to critically analyse issues in context, identify the level of risk and take a pragmatic approach to proposing solutions.
- The analytical capability to establish cause as well as to generate a solution so that risk is minimized and future practice is informed.
- Knowledge of the legislation and regulatory components and policy expectations of the environment in which VANZ operates.
- The capability to build constructive relationships with the groups impacting on VANZ role, while understanding the boundary issues inherent in those relationships and the consequences of crossing those boundaries.
- The capability of working across the whole organisation so that the organisational impact of decision-making is considered.
Human Resource Management
As a semi-autonomous body within the New Zealand Defence Force, VANZ is subject to the human resource management polices put in place for the civil staff within the New Zealand Defence Force.
Information Technology Systems
The New Zealand Defence Force provides information technology support for VANZ. VANZ uses the New Zealand Defence Force corporate systems.
Financial Accounting
The accounting policies and financial forecasts associated with Veteran’s Affairs - Defence are incorporated into the New Zealand Defence Force Financial Statements.
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