Welcome to the Honours Unit.
The Honours Unit is a small team within the Cabinet Office, which is part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
What do we do?
We are responsible for administering a range of New Zealand Royal honours and awards, including the Order of New Zealand, the New Zealand Order of Merit, the King's Service Order and associated Kings's Service Medal, the New Zealand Bravery and Gallantry Awards, the New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration, and the New Zealand Antarctic Medal. More information about these honours and awards can be found elsewhere on this website.
The most important part of our work is administering the New Year and King's Birthday Honours Lists. From time to time, we also publish special, one-off Honours lists, such as Bravery or Gallantry lists.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, we receive nominations for honours, and prepare them for consideration by the Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee. We publish the Honours Lists, and liaise with recipients of honours. We work with Government House to arrange investitures (ceremonies where recipients of honours are presented with their insignia by the Governor-General).
We also provide policy advice to the Prime Minister on the New Zealand Royal Honours system, and manage the procurement of honours insignia, which is designed by the New Zealand Herald of Arms.
Listen to the RNZ interview Queen's Birthday 2020 Honours: inside the Honours system.
Making a nomination
If you would like to nominate someone for a New Zealand Royal Honour, please start by reading about nominations, and our nomination guidelines. You will need to complete a nomination form, which you can download in Word or PDF. You can make a nomination at any time.
More information
This website contains information about the New Zealand Royal Honours system. For more information, see the Cabinet Manual, or contact us.