Rights and wellbeing in sport policy and provision: a New Zealand case-study

Abstract

This article reviews ways in which leisure and sport provision have been seen as a social necessity or public good, or an element of a citizen's rights in a single democratic society. We present a case study of the development and implementation of sport policy in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). We highlight the specificity of socio-political influences upon the emergence of state support for leisure development, and the creation of forms of access to leisure activity for the wider population. In the development of sport policy in innovative and sustained partnerships NZ has established a state-based approach to sport, with the wellbeing potential of sport integrated into cross-government thinking, planning and policy; this has prioritized the right to access sport for all sectors of the population, with recognition of significant wellbeing and health benefits for all.