The history provides an overview of MSD and its predecessors, beginning in the 1860s with the creation of the first pensions (for soldiers in the New Zealand Wars) and the establishment of New Zealand’s first ‘industrial school’. The history primarily covers the past forty years, and focuses less on political history and the impacts of policies, and more on organisational dynamics, departmental strategies, and the delivery of services. Socal Developments was written by Tim Garlick, Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Social Development.

This history project was begun to help clarify the organisational changes in the Ministry of Social Development and its predecessors, particularly since the 1970s. At the time, senior management in MSD saw a practical need for staff to have a better understanding of the history of the Ministry – to know where things had been tried before, to understand the origins of current and past approaches, and to recognise recurring issues. (from the website).