About

The Foundation for Social Responsibility New Zealand (FOStR NZ) is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to make New Zealand a better place to live by inspiring socially responsible behaviour.

New Zealand generally thinks of itself as a socially progressive country. We pride ourselves on our social history – being the first country in the world to introduce women’s suffrage, our advanced social welfare policies of the depression era, homosexual law reform, civil unions and more.  Yet our child abuse statistics are horrendous, our prison population is third highest in the world, and 20% of our children live below the poverty line. These are just some of New Zealand’s social issues that require attention.

We are convinced there are significant gaps in New Zealanders’ understanding of these issues: a lack of awareness of the work being done to address them, a lack of information about the outcomes being achieved and, most importantly, a lack of information about how Kiwis can get involved and make a difference.

Social responsibility is everyone’s responsibility; it belongs to businesses large and small, government organisations, boards, leaders, NGOs, communities and individuals – all of us. We all have a stake in our society, and therefore it’s everyone’s responsibility to help make New Zealand a better place to live for us all.