About us

Our mission: Supporting people to lead fulfilling lives in the community.

At the beginning of this century, it was easy to describe what Pact did. We provided the services below:

Nowadays, trying to cover all our services in one sentence can cause us to run out of breath. Our funders have expanded to include the Ministry of Social Development, Oranga Tamariki, the Department of Corrections and the New Zealand Police, and our support now looks like this:

LOCATIONS AND SERVICES

So, rather than explaining what we do by service type, it’s simpler to explain that we provide support to anyone with a support need, so they can lead fulfilling lives in the community. It doesn’t matter why you need our support or what that support looks like – we’ll figure that out with you.

We have more than 270 staff supporting about 380 people throughout Otago, with staff and clients in Dunedin (which houses Pact’s head office), Oamaru and Balclutha. We also have support in Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago, managed through Pact Southland.

About 105 staff support around 470 clients in greater Wellington, Manawatu, Whanganui and Hawke’s Bay. Our office is based in Lower Hutt.

In the Upper South, our team is led by a service coordinator and supported by our West Coast management. Together they assist young people in our supported accommodation home in Nelson and supporting people with intellectual disabilities in the community.

We have about 150 staff supporting more about 300 people throughout Southland with staff and clients in Invercargill (which houses our office), Gore, Winton and Western Southland. Pact Southland also oversees our Queenstown and Central Otago services.

We have more around 85 staff supporting about 185 people throughout the West Coast with staff and clients in Greymouth (which houses our main office), Hokitika and Westport. Pact West Coast oversees our new Upper South services in Nelson and Tasman.

OUR CONTRACTS

Pact has a variety of funders, with contracts covering a broad range of needs, age groups and support types. Click below to find out more.

CLICK HERE TO SEE CONTRACTS

BOARD & EXECUTIVE TEAM

Pact’s chief executive Paul Chamberlain, Board of Trustees chair Bill Dunbar and other trustees have experience in health and disability fields and a wide range of skills that help provide governance. When looking at new services (even challenging ones), they always ask “if not us, then who?”

Paul Chamberlain

Chief Executive

Simon Anderson

Chair

Mark Miller

Deputy Chair

Marie Ballagh

Board of Trustees

Michael Ferrari

Board of Trustees

Robert Gale

Board of Trustees

Helen Porter

Board of Trustees

VISION, VALUES AND ATTITUDES

HISTORY

There aren’t many organisations which can claim a history going back to the 1800s, but we can.

We had our beginnings in an organisation called the Patients’ and Prisoners’ Aid Society of Otago (PPAS). PPAS was set up in 1877 by a group of Dunedin people whose mission was to “help the helpless and bring relief to the needy.” It provided support, help and hope to people in Dunedin prisons and “lunatic asylums”.

In the 1980s two new trusts were set up to provide separate services – one for patients (called PACT – which at the time stood for the Patients and Community Trust) and one for offenders (PARS – Prisoners Aid & Rehabilitation).

Pact rapidly expanded in Dunedin in the 1990s, and we also began services in Southland, followed by the West Coast, Balclutha and Oamaru.

In early 2006 we rebranded with a new logo and changed the look of our name from PACT to Pact. The concept behind the red icon on Pact’s logo is based on the idea of a “pact” – a pact being an agreement between two parties. It also plays on the customised service that people experience; this is represented by the two shapes fitting together.

In 2014 we expanded into the North Island, when we merged with Wellington and the Hutt Valley provider, Q-nique.

We further expanded in the North Island in 2017 with a Department of Corrections contract to provide support to people in prison and on probation (and their families), in Hawke’s Bay, Whanganui, Wellington (Upper Hutt) and Manawatū.

In 2022, we opened our first home in Wānaka, for people with intellectual disabilities, and our expansion continued in 2023, when we moved into the upper South Island with a youth supported accommodation service in Nelson, building on our relationship with Oranga Tamariki.

In 2024 we expanded into Alexandra, with a home for clients with an intellectual disability. Also planned for 2024 are a new bespoke youth home in Cromwell, and a new home in each of Richmond and Motueka.

Tel: 03 477 4312

Tel: 03 477 4312