Advisory Groups

Wellington City Council's advisory groups have different purposes but are all involved in advising Wellington City Councillors and officers in their area of expertise.

With the introduction of the Ethnic Communities Advisory Group this year, Wellington City Council now has six advisory groups. You can find out more about each advisory group below.

More detailed information about the advisory groups and the role of members can be found in the Terms of Reference document (300KB PDF).

Dates for upcoming meetings can be found in Advisory Group meeting schedule (94KB PDF)

Accessibility Advisory Group

The Accessibility Advisory Group provides the Council with feedback and advice from the view of people living with impairments by:

• Advising Council on how to help grow a great and accessible City, where barriers to people with impairments are minimised
• Bringing lived experience and knowledge to Council around accessibility issues in the context of Council’s roles and priorities.

Ethnic Communities Advisory Group

The new Ethnic Communities Advisory Group will consist of 12 members. The Ethnic Communities Advisory group will: 

• Identify the issues that are important to people in ethnic communities across the city
• Provide advice on Wellington City Council strategies, policies and plans, based on their lived experiences and diverse cultural knowledge
• Help the council to effectively engage with people from ethnic communities.

The Ethnic Communities Advisory Group will not be seen as representing all ethnic people in the city. The terms of reference for the group will be finalised following a review of the advisory group model by the Kōrau Mātinitini | Social, Cultural, and Economic Committee which is expected to be determined in November 2024. 

Environmental Reference Group

The Environmental Reference Group is the primary forum for advice to the Council during the developmental stages for water, energy, waste, biodiversity, urban design and transport management, in the context of Council’s roles and priorities. It advises the Council on the best ways to improve Wellingtonian’s quality of life environmentally, socially, culturally, and economically by protecting and enhancing the local environment.

Pacific Advisory Group

The Pacific Advisory Group is designed to have representatives from Wellington's main Pacific nation groups - Cook Islands, Fiji, Melanesia, Micronesia, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Tonga.

The group is a link between the Council and Wellington's Pacific communities by:

• Advising Council on how to help grow a great City, where Pasifika peoples thrive and contribute to Council’s priorities
• Bringing knowledge and extra insight into Council about how the different needs of Wellington’s Pasifika communities can be addressed in the context of Council’s roles and priorities.

Takatāpui Rainbow Advisory Council

The Takatāpui and Rainbow Advisory Council meets regularly to provide a voice for the rainbow community. They advise Wellington City Council on issues that affect the city and the city's rainbow communities by:

• Assisting and advising the City Council on how to help grow a great city where diverse rainbow people and communities thrive and contribute to the City Council's priorities
• Bringing knowledge and insight to Council to ensure rainbow inclusion in our City.

Youth Council

Youth Council work on youth-related projects and advise Wellington City Council on issues that affect the city and the city's youth. The Wellington Youth Council meets regularly to provide a voice for young people by:

• Assisting and advising the City Council on how to help grow a great city where young people thrive and contribute to the City Council's priorities
• Bringing extra insight to Council (a youth perspective) to solve problems facing a changing world
• Developing the capabilities of its members (including leadership and engaging more, wider youth).

Attending or speaking at a meeting

If you wish to attend an advisory group please email us at advisory.groups@wcc.govt.nz at least one week in advance for more information.

Recruitment for Advisory groups

Every year we recruit for open positions on the five advisory groups. If you are passionate about improving Wellington's quality of life and have knowledge or experience in one of these groups, we encourage you to apply. This year we are introducing a new group; the Ethnic Communities Advisory Group.

See more information on the recruitment process this year.

If you want more information or you are interested in joining a group, email advisorygroups@wcc.govt.nz and we can let you know when recruitment is open.

Contact us

If you have any questions or issues please contact us by email at: advisorygroups@wcc.govt.nz