New Government Statistician and Stats NZ Chief Executive Colin Lynch is encouraging a focus on trust and transparency as digital transformation in the public sector accelerates.
Colin has been at the helm of the National Statistics Organisation since January, bringing extensive leadership experience across the public and private sectors. Read the news story here.
He has a strong focus on trust, ethics and customer service, which was evident when he addressed audiences at this month's Digitising Government New Zealand conference in Wellington.
Colin described data as sitting at the "epicentre" of national and local decision-making.
"It is the oil that fuels digital services. It shapes our policies. It drives the services we provide. It guides investment. And, most importantly, it influences people's lives in real and tangible ways.
"It is the mirror that reflects who we are - as a nation, as communities, and as individuals.
"My counsel is simple: with every significant decision you make in delivering digital services, ask yourself - will this improve New Zealanders' trust in the service, and in the data that underpins it?".
During his address, Colin spoke about the ongoing work of the Data Ethics Advisory Group, and emphasised the importance of embedding ethics into the design of data gathering, analysis and deliver.
He warned that with technology advancing rapidly, getting it right now, is more important than ever.
"As we continue to digitise services, innovate, and adopt AI (and with the rise of agentic AI) we need a strong focus on trust - and on the policies, controls, and everyday practices that build it.
"That brings me to a hard but necessary point: Policies are not enough. Implementation matters - and consistent adherence matters most."
Colin also took part in an engaging panel session at the conference, discussing the topic of 'building in equity and trust'.
He was joined by Bernadette Scanlon, Deputy Secretary, Policy & Insights from Ministry for Pacific Peoples, and Kate Kolich, Head of Data & AI from Contact Energy.
The panel discussed the relationality of trust, biases in the digital landscape and the importance of considerate service design.
Colin highlighted that Stats NZ as an agency was navigating an evolving data landscape, moving away from the traditional ownership of data and towards interagency collaboration to enable increased public trust.
Digitising Government Conference: Government Statistician address, 18 March 2026
Tēnā koutou katoa
It is a privilege to be here today at Tākina as the new Government Statistician, Government Chief Data Steward, and Chief Executive of Stats NZ.
I've spent much of my career in and around data and statistics - including my time as Deputy Chief Executive at Stats NZ. And the truth is, I never really left.
Stats NZ has always stayed close to my heart. I chose to return because I believe in the importance of a strong, independent National Statistics Office.
And I believe in giving life to the Data Stewardship role in the context of the ambitions Myles set out - not least of which is treating data as an asset.
Leading Stats NZ as both Government Statistician and Chief Data Steward is not just a professional step for me. It is a responsibility I care deeply about - and a privilege I'm committed to.
Those of you in the room today all know this: data sits at the epicentre of decision making - nationally and locally. And it is the oil that fuels digital services.
It shapes our policies. It drives the services we provide. It guides investment. And, most importantly, it influences people's lives in real and tangible ways.
It is the mirror that reflects who we are - as a nation, as communities, and as individuals.
As I step into this role, I want to start as I mean to go on - by talking openly about trust and confidence:
- where we have been
- where we are now
- and what building and maintaining trust and confidence needs to look like in the future.
In government - in fact, in any arena - we know this: trust and confidence are hard won, and easily lost.
In many respects I want to set the frame for the session following this.
In the interest of adhering to Shakespeare's advice - 'brevity is the soul of wit' - and, as only an Irishman can (and it was St Patrick's Day yesterday), let me start where I intend to finish.
Trust needs to be at the centre of everything we do to build digital services - and to use the data they create.
My counsel is simple: with every significant decision you make in delivering digital services, ask yourself - will this improve New Zealanders' trust in the service, and in the data that underpins it?
So, let me reflect on how Stats NZ has approached trust - our successes, and our failures.
Stats NZ - and national statistics offices internationally - are the original data agencies. Collating data, analysing it, and reporting it has been our bread and butter for more than 50 years.
We have been focused on trust in our data for a long time.
Because if people do not trust what we publish, the decisions built on that data are weaker - and our ability to serve is diminished from the outset.
NSOs around the world are grappling with how to uphold trust - now more than ever. For us, it has always been front of mind.
That focus on trust and confidence led the UN to develop the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics more than 30 years ago.
These principles are the 'gold standard' for how official statistics should be produced, protected, and shared.
But alignment is only meaningful if our own system reflects those expectations.
That is why New Zealand has long placed the standards required to enable trust and confidence into legislation - for more than half a century, in fact.
New Zealand first legislated the specific powers and duties of the Department of Statistics and the Government Statistician through the Statistics Act 1975.
Now, Stats NZ and my role as Government Statistician sit under the statutory authority of the Data and Statistics Act 2022.
Our Act sets out how we collect, manage, and use data. It provides a framework that supports a well-functioning, trustworthy, and future-proof data and statistics system.
The Act explicitly recognises Māori interests in data and requires engagement with Māori across planning and decision-making - that can look like taking further steps and demonstrating a duty of care so that data does not cause harm.
The Act is also focused on managing risk and it ensures that data is used safely and responsibly for public good while continuing to protect people's privacy and confidential information.
It also gives Stats NZ the ability to lead the government data system - of which you are a critical part.
This brings me to the role of the Government Statistician.
The Act provides the Government Statistician with a special level of independence on how official statistics are produced. Again, this is to support public trust and international statistical principles.
In my capacity as Government Statistician, I make independent decisions on:
- what data sources to use
- what methods, definitions, and classifications to apply
- when and how statistics are released.
These decisions must be based on professional statistical judgement - free from political influence. Put simply: the Government Statistician decides how statistics are produced and released, without Ministerial interference.
My independence as Government Statistician is critical to trust and confidence in official statistics. But it is only one part of what is needed to maintain trust in our services - and the data that underpins them.
When I first started at Stats NZ in 2011, our discussions about trust were largely focused on our independence - though we were, of course, aware of the privacy challenges and cyber threats - and public trust in government data appeared to be high.
We now find ourselves in a very different world. Maintaining trust needs to be built into just about everything we do - every day - not treated as an occasional focus.
The list of policies, procedures, and practicalities we now need to think about is long.
Take data ethics. I know ethics is not something technologists have always had to think about explicitly - but it matters. We need to build in trust by design.
This is what my role as Government Chief Data Steward and the ongoing work of Data Ethics Advisory Group (DEAG) is focused on.
Data ethics guidance includes:
- the Algorithm Charter and impact assessment tool
- Data Protection and use policy
- the Privacy and Human Rights and Ethics Framework
- Ngā Tikanga Paihere for Te Ao Māori principles
- AI Guidance.
This is not to suggest it is all too hard, but rather to emphasise that as we continue to digitise services, innovate, and adopt AI (and with the rise of agentic AI) we need a strong focus on trust - and on the policies, controls, and everyday practices that build it.
That brings me to a hard but necessary point: policies are not enough. Implementation matters - and consistent adherence matters most.
To reference the great Wellington band Trinity Roots - it's the little things that really matter.
A lesson that has been learned the hard way by Statistics New Zealand.
Stats NZ made mistakes relating to the handling of personal information associated with the 2023 Census.
Independent reviews made it clear we failed to fully implement our own safeguards and processes - especially in our oversight of third-party providers. In short, we did not consistently follow our own policies and procedures. For that, we apologised unreservedly to New Zealanders.
It is important to be precise here: our own assurance and contracting practices fell short. And that shortfall damaged trust. We have worked hard to learn from it - and to put it right.
The lesson is as old as time: trust is easily lost, and hard won back.
So this brings me back to where I started: to maintain trust, we need to think about our actions - and whether they build trust, or diminish it.
How might you think about trust in everything you do?
My simple test is whether I could explain my actions to my neighbours, Stephanie and John.
If I can't, then I need to think harder about what I am doing.
And when we make mistakes, I want them to know we learned - and that we acted.
I want them to be confident we make changes in the way we do our work - not just hear about them in a speech.
Now, before I finish, I want to do a plug for census - after all, its success is intrinsically linked to trust and confidence.
It's also something I anticipate you might want to ask me about.
An admin-data-first census is a conversation that has been on the table for many years now, not just here in New Zealand, but around the world.
Making this change makes our system more sustainable and resilient, using information New Zealanders have already provided to government to fill gaps where responses are missing and deliver high-coverage, high-quality statistics.
Earlier this month the Data and Statistics (Census) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in Parliament.
This marked a significant step toward delivering a modern, admin data-first census and supporting Stats NZ's shift to an annual census, and the publishing of critical population and housing statistics every year from 2030.
There are many benefits:
- it reduces respondent burden
- enables more timely and frequent insights
- enables us to embrace technological changes and the safe use of AI.
And critically, we will continue targeted surveys to collect what admin data cannot, working in partnership with iwi Māori and smaller populations and diverse communities.
The admin data census cannot work without the data generated through digital services, in that respect you all play a part in the future census.
As you develop your services I need you to think of data as an asset that not only supports data for service delivery but also as an asset that can be used to provide New Zealanders with valuable insights.
On that note, I will bring this address to a close. Trust and confidence are complex - and even more so in the world today.
I'll leave you with a couple of quotes that, while not my own, are from individuals who have thought about trust a lot longer than a recently arrived Government Statistician.
Let me start with a comment from a respected and long-standing colleague at Stats NZ - with over 50 years' experience.
"We've all got skin in this game. Government needs reliable data to provide the services its citizens need, and do demonstrate accountability. Citizens expect government to use their data well, ethically and safely.
Let's work together to maintain trust and confidence. We owe that our family, friends, neighbours, and the generations to follow."
And I'll finish with a quote from Dame Diane Robertson - a New Zealander who has served this country for many years, not least as Auckland City Missioner, and as chair of the Data Futures Working Group.
While the quote refers to data ethics, I think it equally applies to all our work with data.
"In our increasingly digital world, the collection and use of data impact the lives of everyone including our most vulnerable populations.
As chair of the Data Futures Working Group in 2018, I travelled nationwide to engage diverse communities about their views on data use and control. These consultations revealed that individuals seek more than mere compliance with legal regulations; they desire assurance of respectful and trustworthy data management.
In this context, robust data governance and ethical frameworks become essential. Rapid technological advancements - especially in artificial intelligence and quantum computing - should not overshadow the need for ethical practices; rather, they necessitate placing ethics at the forefront of data handling. The challenge we face is ensuring that all stakeholders not only understand these ethical imperatives but also actively apply them in their data interactions.
Ultimately, building trust is critical for fostering community acceptance and collaboration. Effective data ethics must guide the technical aspects of data management while also nurturing relationships between data holders and communities. As we move forward, prioritising human-centric ethics will help navigate the complexities of data use and uphold the dignity of those we serve."
I look forward to collaborating with you as Government Statistician, Government Chief Data Steward, and Stats NZ Chief Executive.
Ka kite anō. I hope to see you again.
