Work Plan

The OPMCSA has a small team that provides science-based evidence to the Prime Minister to inform the programme of government. The OPMCSA may also assist Cabinet Ministers with requests for science advice.

Advice from the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor:

Formal Advice

This can be provided in three different ways:

In response to an informal, sometimes confidential request – in person, direct to the PM and/or Ministers.
In response to a request from the PM and/or Ministers – a formal letter containing a quick scan of the relevant literature on a topic of interest, by way of quickly providing advice and scoping an issue for possible future comprehensive research.
A full and comprehensive report on a well scoped topic. This will generally become publicly available and could be:
- - Initiated by the PMCSA with agreement from the PM
  - Initiated by the PM as part of the core work plan
  - Commissioned as a separate project by a Minister

Informal Advice

In addition, there are often ‘hot topics’ that emerge due to a rapidly changing research landscape and/or particular public interest. The office will keep a watching brief on these topics and produce clear information summaries from time to time which are uploaded onto the PMCSA website, after prior distribution to the Prime Minister and relevant Ministers, on a no surprises basis.

Wide consultation in the first one hundred days of her tenure, has led to the PMCSA developing a list of topics where a piece of evidence synthesis would likely to be useful to inform the programme of government. We have done a preliminary categorisation of these topics into areas where evidence synthesis is required in a major project, and ‘hot topics’ where there is a large body of evidence available, but a clear summary of the current evidence would inform government and the public. We are now in the process of scoping and prioritising these, having had an initial discussion with the Prime Minister. This is a live document that will be updated regularly as priorities evolve here.

Topics being scoped for more formal evidence synthesis or narratives:

This list was discussed with the Prime Minister and the first piece of work that we are undertaking will be on plastics. The rest are still being prioritised.

General area	Area to scope	Current status
Sustainability	Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa, New Zealand	Currently active.
Artificial Intelligence	Opportunities and implications for Aotearoa, New Zealand	Internship by Kyle Webster scoped this area.
Climate change	Implications for Aotearoa New Zealand	Informal advice as required.
Decriminalisation of drugs	Possible focus on evidence for harm reduction of cannabis	Currently active.
Adaptation to the carbon zero economy	Renewable energy	Current internships by Odile Smits and Georgina Shillito, see here.
Water quality		Covered by other offices, e.g. the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Child well-being		Covered by other offices, e.g. the Parliamentary Commissioner for Children, various Ministry work streams.
Connecting the Innovation Economy		Needs careful scoping in collaboration with key stakeholders

How we ‘do’ science in Aotearoa New Zealand:

This list was identified by the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor and constitutes areas in which we are undertaking work.

General area	Issues that need addressing	Current status
Earning the trust of the public – understanding social license to operate	We need to change the relationship between scientists and the public. A general area of concern across all topics considered.	The approaches of Kaupapa Māori researchers may offer insight that may help more broadly in the dialogue with communities. We are exploring the idea of curating a series of success stories, where Mātauranga Māori and Western Science have come together to the benefit of both knowledge frameworks.
Regulation of GE	A specific example of the more general issue of social license –to what extent does Aotearoa New Zealand have social license to use new genetic technologies.	A comprehensive piece of work is being carried out by the Royal Society and the OPMCSA will provide commentary on this as appropriate, once complete.
Diversity in Science and in science education	We need to understand how to make science more inclusive, both in the framing of its questions and in the people doing the science	We will explore a project that identifies barriers to inclusion and mechanisms to increase the participation of Māori and Pasifika in STEAM. Current internships by David Pomeroy, Ankita Gangotra and Tara McAllister, see here.
How will Aotearoa NZ meet its UNDP sustainable development goals		Obviously an important area, but one in which there is a lot of other work both internationally and nationally – requires careful scoping.
Aotearoa NZ’s framework for science advice in emergencies		Requires careful scoping in collaboration with other agencies e.g. MCDEM and GNS – led by Gill Jolly.