What has happened since the Amendment Paper 583 was dismissed?‍ ‍

25th June 2026

For those who have been wondering about what comes next since the proposed legislation was withdrawn, here is the first of many updates to come:

Representatives of NCHENZ met last week with senior Ministry of Education staff to discuss operational matters. This is the first in a series of planned or expected meetings, with both the operational team and the policies team.

The key operational matters under discussion were:

- Intended updates to the exemption application forms

- Possible centralising of the processing of applications to the national office, rather than through regional offices as currently happens

We had an open and productive discussion, and have another meeting set for next month. We were able to put forward questions and concerns, and will continue to discuss these. The Ministry is committed to on-going dialogue and consultation.

The application form changes and centralising of processing are under development, and no date has yet been set for these to be introduced. When they are ready to be rolled out, we will have the opportunity to inform and prepare the home education community for these changes. It is agreed that there will be a reasonable transition period when updated application forms are introduced, so that parents who are already well into working on their applications have the opportunity to complete that process rather than be required to start over with new forms. (This also occurred when the current forms were introduced back in late 2015.)

Digitalising the six-monthly declaration and allowance forms, and updating the Ministry’s Home Education Policies and Procedures Manual was also discussed, with work planned on both of these matters.

We have a meeting with the Secretary of Education, Ellen MacGregor-Reid, and Deputy Secretary Geoff Short, set for 2nd July in Wellington. Subsequently we will also begin meeting with senior members of the policies team, whose responsibilities include any future policy or legislative change proposals.