Victoria University of Wellington — Education Charity in Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington is a Trust charity in the Education sector, based in Wellington, Wellington. CharityData rates this charity A- (87.3/100). Annual revenue: $582.1M NZD. Financial data as at December 2025.
Mission: The primary purpose is to provide tertiary education services. This includes advancing knowledge by teaching and research and offering courses leading to a range of degrees, diplomas and certificates. It also makes research available to the wider community for mutual benefit, and provides research and scholarships for the purpose of informing the teaching of courses.
- Registration Number
- CC47181
- Charity Type
- Trust
- Registration Date
- 2011-08-23
- Status
- Active
- CharityData Rating
- A- (87.3/100)
- Sector
- Education
- Location
- Wellington, Wellington
- Jackie.Anderson@vuw.ac.nz
- Data as at
- December 2025
Beneficiaries: General public
Financial Summary
- Total Revenue
- $582.1M NZD
- Total Expenses
- $572.7M NZD
- Total Assets
- $1468.3M NZD
- Net Assets
- $1193.2M NZD
- Reserve Months
- 1.4 months of operating expenses
- Staff Count
- 4908
- Financial Year End
- 2025-12-31
Financial History
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $582.1M | $572.7M | $1193.2M |
| 2024 | $554.3M | $541.1M | $1156.8M |
| 2023 | $576.7M | $545.8M | $1145.1M |
| 2022 | $491.8M | $517.0M | $1160.0M |
| 2021 | $525.5M | $493.8M | $1014.5M |
| 2020 | $497.4M | $500.7M | $892.1M |
| 2019 | $518.9M | $501.9M | $896.8M |
| 2018 | $490.4M | $475.4M | $807.9M |
| 2017 | $455.8M | $442.4M | $794.5M |
| 2016 | $420.5M | $406.4M | $701.6M |
CharityData Rating
- Overall Grade
- A-
- Overall Score
- 87.3/100
- Financial Score
- 92.5
- Governance Score
- 75
- Transparency Score
- 85
Board Members and Officers
Current Officers (3)
| Name | Role | Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Mei Johnson | Council Member | 2025-11-01 |
| Megan Evans | Council Member | 2025-11-01 |
| Asifa Hanif | Council Member | 2025-01-01 |
Former Officers (53)
- David Smol — Council Member
- William Bell-Purchas — Council Member
- Nicolas Smith — Vice Chancellor
- Pania Gray — Council Member
- Kelly Mitchell — Council Member (departed 2024-12-31)
- Professor Richard Arnold — Councilor
- Jennifer Windsor — Acting Vice Chancellor (departed 2023-01-16)
- Jaistone Finau — Council Member (departed 2023-12-31)
- David McLean — Council Member
- Mayan Street — Council Member (departed 2025-10-31)
- James Te Puni — Council Member
- Dianne McCarthy — Council Member (departed 2022-08-09)
- Cath Nesus — Council Member (departed 2024-06-18)
- Hugo Lawrence — Council Member (departed 2020-12-31)
- Rhianna Morar — Council Member (departed 2021-12-31)
- Brigitte Bönisch-Brednich — Council Member
- John Allen — Council Member (departed 2025-03-31)
- Isabella Lenihan-Ikin — Council Member (departed 2019-12-31)
- Alan Judge — Chair
- Leslie Montgomery — Chief Financial Officer (departed 2023-12-20)
Executive Compensation
| Name | Role | Compensation | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Te Hiwa (aggregate) | Senior Leadership Team | $4,172,000 | 2024 |
| Te Hiwa (aggregate) | Senior Leadership Team | $4,172,000 | - |
| Te Hiwa (aggregate) | Senior Leadership Team | $4,172,000 | 2023 |
| Council Members (aggregate) | Board/Council Members | $245,000 | 2024 |
| Council Members (aggregate) | Board/Council Members | $245,000 | 2023 |
| Council Members (aggregate) | Board/Council Members | $245,000 | - |
| John Allen | Chancellor | $40,000 | 2023 |
| Hon. Maryan Street | Pro-Chancellor | $25,000 | 2023 |
| Alan Judge | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Kelly Mitchell | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| David McLean | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| James Te Puni | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Pania Gray | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Cath Nesus | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Richard Arnold | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Jaistone Finau | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Brigitte Bönisch-Brednich | Council Member | $20,000 | 2023 |
| Dame Therese Walsh | Council Member | - | 2019 |
| Professor Rawinia Higgins | Senior Leadership Team Member | - | 2019 |
| Unknown Vice-Chancellor | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2021 |
| Not named | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2021 |
| Vice-Chancellor | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2022 |
| Professor Grant Guilford | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2020 |
| Not specified in report | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2022 |
| Professor Grant Guilford | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2019 |
| Professor Nic Smith | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2023 |
| Not disclosed | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2022 |
| Professor David Harper | Senior Leadership Team Member | - | 2019 |
| Farib Sos | Council Member | - | 2019 |
| Annemarie de Castro | Senior Leadership Team Member | - | 2019 |
| Chancellor | Chancellor | - | 2021 |
| Unknown Chancellor | Chancellor | - | 2021 |
| Not disclosed individually | Council Member | - | 2022 |
| Professor Mark Hickford | Senior Leadership Team Member | - | 2019 |
| Unknown | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2022 |
| Neil Paviour-Smith | Chancellor | - | 2019 |
| Neil Paviour-Smith | Chancellor | - | 2020 |
| Caroline Ward | Secretary to Council | - | 2023 |
| Vice-Chancellor | Vice-Chancellor | - | 2021 |
Major Funders and Contracts (FY2020)
As disclosed in Victoria University of Wellington's annual report.
- Tertiary Education Commission – Te Amorangi Mātauranga Matua — $35,236 (7.2% of revenue) — Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) funding
- Government of New Zealand — $35,236 (7.2% of revenue) — Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) funding
Service Providers
- EY
- Bank of New Zealand
Similar Charities in Education
- The Hato Paora Trust Board — Education
- Otago Presbyterian Girls' College Board of Governors Incorporated — Education
- Hawksbury Community Living Trust — Education
- Far North Reap Society Incorporated — Education
- Victoria University of Wellington Students Association and Te Aka Tauira Incorporated — Education
Victoria University of Wellington
Financial data as at December 2025. Sourced from Charities Services register.
Reasons to look carefully (1)
These structural observations are drawn from public data and are worth considering before a donation. They are not allegations of wrongdoing, and they don’t affect the charity’s letter grade.
- Same audit firm for many yearsSame audit firm (Ernst & Young) for 10 consecutive years — best practice rotates audit firms periodically to refresh independent oversight
Each signal is a data-driven observation, not a judgement. They fire automatically from the figures filed with Charities Services. A charity can address any of these by filing fuller disclosure or updating its officer register. Methodology: /about/methodology/concern-signals.
$582.1M
$572.7M
$1.5B
4,908
Financial data from Charities Services annual return (FY2025). Ratings calculated using CharityData v3.1.1 methodology.
About
The primary purpose is to provide tertiary education services. This includes advancing knowledge by teaching and research and offering courses leading to a range of degrees, diplomas and certificates. It also makes research available to the wider community for mutual benefit, and provides research and scholarships for the purpose of informing the teaching of courses.
Who We Serve
Key Statistics
Financial Trends
Financial Trends (14 Years)
Revenue Breakdown
Expense Breakdown
API DataBased on annual return data. Detailed program/admin breakdown not available.
Financial Health Dashboard
Based on latest annual return data. Metrics are calculated from reported financial data and may not reflect the full picture. View methodology
Revenue Diversification
HHI (Herfindahl–Hirschman Index) measures concentration across 6 income categories. Lower HHI = more diversified. Score above 60 indicates healthy diversification.
Peer Comparison
Ranked against 500 peers · Education (all sizes)
Top Peers in Group
Peers are charities in the same sector and revenue size band. Rankings are based on the latest available data.
Rating History
Rating
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Sector & Activities
Data sourced from Charities Services register and publicly available annual returns. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. Scores are calculated using disclosed methodology and are analytical tools, not investment ratings or recommendations. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@charitydata.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice. Last updated: 28 September 2026.
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