Contractors and consultants: Which agencies dominate spending

Wednesday, 14 January 2026

Public Service agencies spent $147.7m in total for the quarter - of that $92.2m was opex spending. The total quarterly spend for Crown Entities was $204.1m.

From tens of millions of dollars to $0, new spending figures show stark differences in how public service agencies used external contractors and consultants last year.

Quarterly data from the Public Service Commission showed agencies spent $147.7 million on consultants and contractors over the three months to September.

More than $92m of the total spend was on operational expenditure (opex) - the use of consultants or contractors for ongoing spending on day-to-day requirements for the departments. The remainder was spent on capital expenditure, where consultants are used for things like property development and maintenance.

It was the first quarterly data release for consultant and contractor spend. As a share of the entire public service workforce spend, this everyday opex spending increased slightly to 5.4% for the first three months of the 2025/26 year, up from 5.3% across the 2024/25 year.

Crown Entities - agencies with some independence such as ACC - spent $204.1m in total.

The Ministry of Education spent significantly more than other agencies on everyday use of consultants (opex) - $21.5m for the quarter. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment were next at $8.8m and the Department of Conservation at $7.7m.

OPEX as a share of public service workforce spend

The Charter School Agency, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Te Tari Whakatau and Ministry for Pacific Peoples spent the least - between $0-$0.1m in total for the quarter.

During the 2024/25 year, widespread restructures across the public service saw consultants enlisted to assist with cost savings.

Of 70 departments, the executive branch (NZDF, Police and the Parliamentary Counsel Office) and Crown entities contacted by The Post, 50 had restructured between July 28, 2024 and July 28, 2025. Of those who restructured, 28 used consultants.

Overall, $5m was spent on consultants for restructuring - a small portion of the overall public service and Crown Agent spend.

Advisory firm MartinJenkins was used by five different organisations for restructuring.

That included for major restructure support at Kāinga Ora at $564k, a people and culture directorate review at DOC for $97.9k (between February and October 2024), organisational design work at NZTA for $66.1k, change proposal development at Taumata Arowai - the Water Services Regulator for $22.3k and for the Civil Aviation Authority, with payment figures not provided by the CAA.

After MartinJenkins, Nimbl Consulting was the next highest-paid at $426k for restructure work due to Kāinga Ora’s restructure.

At Te Tari Whakatau - The Office of Treaty Settlements, previously named Te Arawhiti, there were two restructures. For both, Te Arawhiti used consultant firms, Deloitte and Momentum Consulting Group Limited.

Of 70 departments, the executive branch (NZDF, Police and the Parliamentary Counsel Office) and Crown entities contacted by The Post, 50 had restructured.

In total, it cost $668,000.

IRD had six restructures during that time and spent more than $1m on consultants for restructures - but did not disclose who the payments went to.

For the year to June 2025, public service agencies spent $611.1m on contractors and consultants - $353m of that in operational costs.

Again, MOE came out ahead a $197.4m total spend - about $60m on operational costs. MOE maintained the country’s large $30b school property portfolio, which can drive up capital expenditure.

The Ministry of Social Development had the next highest operational spend at $32.2m, followed by MBIE at $30.6m, then the Department of Conservation at $29.4m.

Crown Agencies spent $1.8b in total on consultants and contractors for the year, $894.8m in operational costs.

Health NZ spent $506m on operational consultants and contractors of their total $1.3b spend.

The Public Service Commission estimated the spend on contractors and consultants operating across the public service and Crown entities will be $1.19 billion for 2025/26 - below the Government’s $1.25b limit. The spend for 2024/25 was $1.25b, while the three months to September 30 it was $296m.