Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
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Editorial: (Un)Commoning Continued
Full text linkAfter a year of publication break, Commoning Ethnography is back not only with a new issue, but with a new editorial collective
Aotearoa New Zealand in 2050: preparing our retirement income policy for the future
Full text linkNew Zealand is expected to undergo significant demographic changes over the next 25 years, raising concerns about the sustainability of its retirement income system. As the population ages, the share of people over 65 will increase, driving up the costs of New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super). Spending on healthcare and other public services will also grow, while a smaller share of workers will be available to fund these costs. Under current policy settings, these trends will result in rising taxes, reduced public services or growing debt.
This article explores what Aotearoa New Zealand may look like in 2050 and considers how retirement income policy may need to adapt. It argues that the current pay-as-you-go system is vulnerable to demographic change and that shifting to a more savings-based system – such as by strengthening KiwiSaver or raising contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund – would make it more sustainable. The article is based on a recent report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), commissioned by the Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission for the 2025 review of retirement income policies (NZIER, 2025)
An Overview of the Pensions Policy Agenda in the United Kingdom
Full text linkThe UK pensions system has been under political scrutiny since the change of government in mid-July 2024 and the initiation of a two-part pensions review. The first part of the review focused on growth, particularly UK investment, and changes have been proposed in a Pension Schemes Bill submitted to Parliament in June 2025. Part two of the pensions review will focus on adequacy and commenced in July 2025. This article outlines some of the features of the UK pensions system and provides a comparison with similar elements of the pensions landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand. It finds differences as well as similarities in the state pension and occupational pension and KiwiSaver policy settings, along with policy-setting changes that have been proposed to increase retirement savings but remain unactioned. The article also outlines the pending changes arising from the government’s growth agenda in the UK, and considers the similarities and differences with investment approaches in Aotearoa New Zealand
The Debt Ceiling and its Discontents
Full text linkThis article challenges the New Zealand Treasury’s 2022 recommendation of a 50% debt-to-GDP ceiling, arguing that the analysis undertaken does not justify the recommendation, and that it contains structural biases favouring fiscal restraint over productive investment. We demonstrate that the Treasury’s conservative assumptions about the macroeconomic environment for debt consolidation, combined with excessive shock buffers, lack sufficient analytical justification. Replicating Treasury’s analysis with more realistic assumptions yields substantially higher sustainable debt levels. We discuss the asymmetric treatment of fiscal risks, where debt costs are precisely quantified while the benefits of public spending and risks of underinvestment are treated as secondary or speculative. We argue for balanced fiscal frameworks that recognise both excessive debt and chronic underinvestment as threats to sustainability
Escaping Muldoon’s Shadow tax and retirement options for 21st-century New Zealanders
Full text linkNew Zealand has the most unusual tax arrangements for providing public retirement incomes and taxing private retirement incomes in the OECD. The key differences are: (1) public retirement incomes are funded from general taxation, not social security taxes or contributions to a compulsory savings scheme; and (2) private savings are taxed on an income rather than expenditure basis. These arrangements distort investment decisions, reduce income levels, raise long-run tax rates, and artificially inflate property prices. Change is feasible, even if New Zealand Superannuation is not changed, and may be the key to reversing New Zealand’s long-term economic underperformance
The Covid Response: A scientist’s account of New Zealand’s pandemic and what comes next.: Shaun Hendy. 2025. Bridget Williams Books. ISBN 9781991301321
Full text linkBook Review: The Covid Response: A scientist’s account of New Zealand’s pandemic and what comes next
Exploring Contributing Factors in Psychological Contract Formation
Full text linkAbstract
Introduction: This review explored factors that influence the formation of psychological contracts. These are implicit, unspoken expectations employees develop about their employer’s obligations based on perceived promises and organisational values.
Methods: A targeted search of Emerald, SCOPUS, and ProQuest was conducted using Boolean operators and truncation, with date limits set from 2015 to 2025. Articles were screened and appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to ensure quality across diverse methodologies.
Findings: Employer branding, organisational website benefits, and information received during the orientation and onboarding stages of employment were found to contribute to the formation of psychological contracts. Psychological contracts were found to form in multiple contexts, including diverse cultures, organisational settings, and for-profit and not-for-profit environments.
Conclusion: This review highlights how psychological contracts are shaped by both organisational branding and early social interactions. By identifying the factors that influence their formation, organisations can take proactive steps to clarify and articulate expectations, helping to reduce strain in workplace relationships and thus manage psychosocial risk
Good Sport: Developing a Policy to Safeguard High-Performance Athletes from Psychosocial Workplace Hazards
Full text linkThis paper explores the New Zealand (NZ) high-performance sport industry from the perspective of occupational health and safety (OHS). High-performance athletes face significant psychosocial stresses and hazards in the course of their work, which have not been sufficiently addressed through top-down leadership, or safe systems of work. This paper outlines best practice for managing psychosocial hazards in the NZ high-performance sport industry, culminating in a proposed safeguarding policy. The “Proposed HPSNZ Policy: Wellbeing and Mental Health Support for High-Performance Athletes” is grounded in international best practice incorporating literature from OHS, hauora Māori (Māori health), and sport psychology. If implemented by High Performance Sport NZ (HPSNZ), this policy could safeguard NZ high-performance athletes from psychosocial workplace hazards. Such a policy was recommended following the death of NZ Olympian Olivia Podmore, and this paper presents a viable option allowing HPSNZ to fulfil that recommendation
Health and safety reporting in New Zealand: How senior leaders are (slowly) moving away from TRIFR and lag indicators
Full text linkIn a world of acronyms, health and safety is not immune – LTIs, RAMs, ISO, IOSH, SoPs, HSNO – the list could continue. Perhaps the one referred to most frequently by Boards and Executives is TRIFR – total recordable injury frequency rates. It’s a measurement tool which has its place, but there is a growing view among many in health and safety that TRIFR alone as a lag indicator is not sufficient for Officers to take an informed view of health and safety performance across a business or operation.
It’s for this reason that in early 2024 the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum (Forum), a membership group of 400+ CEOs focused on improving health and safety leadership, officially paused its annual benchmarking project. This project, run for more than a decade saw participating organisations who belong to the Forum submit their annual TRIFR data, enabling them to compare their organisation’s performance against those in the same industry. For some members this was a key benefit of joining the Forum. 
Regulatory Stewardship: an empirical view
Full text linkRegulatory stewardship aims to ensure that various parts of a regulatory system work together to achieve its objectives, allowing regulators to keep the system fit for purpose over time. A novel dataset shows that regulatory stewardship is increasingly integrated into agency practices in New Zealand and has outlasted previous regulatory initiatives. Furthermore, regulatory systems amendment bills (RASBs) have doubled the rate of legislative adaptation, while broadening their scope and significance. Regulatory systems amendment bills provide a scalable model for tackling future regulatory challenges
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