Applying to become a consumer representative

Becoming a consumer representative – the basics

If you're interested in being considered by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for nomination as a consumer representative to a board or committee, you can apply to be on the database of the Ministry’s Consumer Representative Nominations Service.

Your application will be assessed and your referees will be interviewed by phone. If you are accepted to be on the database you will be asked to provide your curriculum vitae.

Writing your CV

A CV for a position as a consumer representative needs to provide:

A description of your experience as a consumer/consumer representative 

Use the description of the desirable qualities of an effective consumer representative as a starting point for describing your own experience. Rather than use it as a tick list, refer to the statements in order to give an overall description of your qualifications to be a consumer representative.

Describe your experience working with consumers by identifying:

• what you did 
• who worked with you 
• when it happened 
• what your goal was 
• what you achieved (or what you have achieved so far if it is ongoing).

Some examples may include: you might have been in a group of people who decided to bring an issue to the government’s attention; you might have been the prime mover in setting up a service; you might continuously help people who have particular problems; you might have taken the initiative to make some change in the way things are done in your organisation. 

An example of the level of information you should include in your final CV:

Since 2010

Have regular shifts at the local Women’s Refuge, answering the telephone and responding to the needs of women who call and who are in the Refuge.

2008-2009

Worked as one of a group of 3 who recorded the emotional poverty experienced by children of the Mongrel Mob.
This entailed the interview of teachers, parents of the children who made themselves available, and the children themselves. The information was then assembled into a report which was sent to the Ministry of Social Development. We then met with officials and talked them through the report. We also met with Ministers, and did a number of radio interviews on national and local media.

2007

Initiated a campaign to convince the Minister of Education that a historic school should remain. This entailed identifying a group of like-minded people to support me, building a reasoned case, presenting the case to officials, local MPs and then the Minister.

A description of the consumer constituency(s) you can represent 

The consumer constituency you represent is the group(s) of people you have worked with and whose lives you have shared and understand. For example, women and children who are disadvantaged by being associated with violence, and who find themselves in very difficult circumstances and a cross section of people who are interested in protecting New Zealand’s history.

Referees

Name people who were involved in these experiences with you and who can talk about your personal attributes and the way you achieved the outcomes. For example, your referee may be asked if you are good at working as a member of a group, can you express yourself clearly, do those you represent trust you to represent them, are your judgements about people and situations good?

The nomination process

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs puts each request it receives for help to find suitable people to represent the consumer perspective out to its Network Nominations Group asking for nominations. We also look at our database for suitable candidates, and at nominations received previously.

This enables us to consistently recruit new people as they develop their skills in the community and to take advantage of people already known to the Ministry.

The Ministry then submits the nomination with information about why the nominee(s) has been chosen and why they would be able to make an effective contribution as a consumer representative in the particular case.

Nominations Service – Application Form

If you wish to apply to be on the database of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ Consumer Representative Nominations Service, please complete all sections of the application form.

Download the application form [PDF format, 106KB]

Download the application form [Word format, 653KB] 

Send it to us: 
Consumer Representative Nominations Service
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, P O Box 1473, Wellington, 6140
Or email it as an attachment and send to mcainfo@mca.govt.nz
Or fax it to: 04 472 9400 

A publication 'Applying to be a consumer representative' [PDF] is available here.