Regional Ministry Offices for Home Education Matters

The Ministry of Education divides the country into 10 "regions." When sending in an exemption application or needing to contact your regional office about home education matters, it's useful to know which ones cover what region. So here is the current list. Note, there are additional local offices in each region, but those do not deal with home education matters as such - they are only handled by the specific regional offices outlined below.

COVID-19: While we are under lockdown, Ministry staff are working from home. Exemption applications which are emailed to the regional offices will be processed, but those posted in cannot be processed at this time. For all matters during lockdown, it is best to EMAIL your regional office. Put "Home Education" in the subject line.

The email addresses given below are the central ones for each regional office. To ensure your email is directed appropriately, always put Home Education in the subject line.

If you are wanting information and forms to apply to Home Educate, you do not need to contact the offices. Just visit the Ministry's Home Education page, where you can download the forms and find current information. 
​(And for help understanding and completing those forms, see my Exemption Guide)

Regional Offices dealing with Home Education

The following include the contact details you can use when sending in an exemption or are needing to get in touch to update your address, advise your intention to begin/end a school trial, dates for leaving/returning to NZ or anything else related to your child's home education. The lead contacts named below are the specific staff members, where known, who deal directly with home education matters, or oversee such matters in their region.

Northland/Tai Tokerau (everything north of Wellsford)
PO Box 911
Whangarei 0140
Email: enquiries.whangarei@education.govt.nz 
Phone: 09 436 8900
Lead Contact: Lyndsay Whitehead

Auckland (from Wellsford to Mercer)
​Private Bag 92644
Symonds Street
Auckland 1150
Email: enquiries.auckland@education.govt.nz
Phone: 09: 632 9400
Lead Contact: Julie Spedding

Waikato (includes Thames-Coromandal, Matamata-Piako, Waipa, Otorohanga, Waitomo and part of Ruapehu including Taumaranui)
PO Box 774
Hamilton 3240
Email: enquiries.hamilton@education.govt.nz
Phone: 07 850 8880
Lead Contact: Candida Hamana

Bay of Plenty/Waiariki (includes BOP, Taupo, Rotorua, Opotiki) - all home education matters are currently handled out of the Tauranga office
PO Box 15564
Tauranga 3144
Email: enquiries.BoP-Waiariki@education.govt.nz
​Phone: 07 571 7800
Lead Contact: Elizabeth (Liz) Moli

Whanganui (includes: Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatu regions. Southern boundary is Himatangi corner. Tokomaru is included. Tararua region is not)
Private Bag 3012
Whanganui 4540
Email: enquiries.whanganui@education.govt.nz
​Phone: 06 349 6300
Lead Contact: Charles Quirk

Napier (Hawkes Bay and Gisborne)
​PO Box 147
Napier 4140
Email: enquiries.napier@education.govt.nz
Phone: 06 833 6730
​Lead Contact: Hana Ruth

Lower Hutt (from Foxton south including most of the Horowhenua, Kapiti, Porirua, Wairarapa and Tararua)
PO Box 30177
Lower Hutt 5040
Email: enquiries.lowerhutt@education.govt.nz 
Phone: 04 463 8699
​Lead Contact: Gail Vinnell

Nelson (all of Marlborough, Tasman, West Coast)
PO Box 282
Nelson 7040
Email: enquiries.nelson@education.govt.nz
Phone: 03 546 3470
​Lead Contact: Alison Locke

Canterbury (includes Chatham Islands)
PO Box 2522, Addington
Christchurch 8140
Email: enquiries.christchurch@education.govt.nz 
Phone: 03 378 7300
​Lead Contact: Fiona Green

Otago/Southland  (home education matters are handled in both Dunedin and Invercargill offices; the lead adviser is based in Invercargill)
Private Bag 1971
Dunedin 9054​
Email: enquiries.dunedin@education.govt.nz
Phone: 03 471 5200 (Otago office)
or 03 211 8000 (Invercargill office)
Lead Contact: Trina Eastwood

The role of Lead Contact: A lead contact is an Education Adviser or Senior Education Adviser who holds the portfolio for home education in their region. This means they take overall responsibility to ensure applications are processed and other enquiries responded to, but they may or may not directly process all exemptions themselves. In four of the offices, the lead contact is also the person who processes all exemptions. In all the other offices there are a number of advisers who process applications, reporting to the lead contact, who may peer review applications before a final decision is made. (All applications are peer reviewed, but by whom varies from office to office).

Resourcing Division

This department deals with the six monthly declarations and Supervision Allowance payments. They are also an alternative department to contact to update your contact details. 

PO Box 1666
Wellington 6140
Email: resourcing@education.govt.nz
Phone: 04 463 8383

Map & Further Contact Details:

The Ministry map of the regions can be viewed HERE
​For more contact details on all regional offices see the Ministry's website HERE