Honours Unit

Welcome to the Honours Unit. The Honours Unit administers the New Year and Queen’s Birthday Honours Lists.

It receives and compiles nominations for consideration by the Government, liaises with recipients, publishes honours lists, and works with Government House to arrange investiture ceremonies. It designs and supplies honours insignia, provides policy advice on the system, and administers bravery, gallantry and other awards introduced by The Queen and the Government.

The Honours Unit is part of the Cabinet Office.

You can get a nomination form and find out how to make a nomination, or view the honours lists.  There is information about the current honours system, with pictures of the insignia, and you can read about the history of the honours system.

There are no deadlines for the submission of a nomination to the Honours Unit.

Information about the honours system is also contained in the Cabinet Manual.

For a quick-find look at the seniority of various New Zealand honours see this PDF (1.49 mb).