Steve Jobs

Citizens Advice Bureau provides free, impartial and confidential advice to everyone. We take the time to listen to you and equip you with the information, options and support that fit your needs.

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has its roots in war-time England.

Bureaux were established on the eve of the Second World War to help people cope with the dislocation, trauma and complexity that war brings.

Initially, bureaux were places people could go to for help in tracing missing relatives in bombed areas or learning about all of the new war-time rules and regulations that were put in place at the time and which the general public were expected to know and observe.

But the need for the bureaux did not diminish when the war ended.  Things were changing in society with the growth of bureaucracy, the increasing codification of people’s rights and responsibilities, and a general increase in the complexity of everyday living.

By peace time the CAB had become an essential community service; somewhere people could go to learn about their rights and obligations and also how to use this information to good effect to get the best outcomes. 

In the decades since the war the CAB service has been replicated in other parts of the world and it has been adapted to suit the different societies in which it has been established.  The Citizens Advice Bureau on Richmond Road in Grey Lynn was the first bureau to be established in New Zealand – it opened its doors to the public in October 1970.  It is still going strong and now there are 91 other Citizens Advice Bureau sites in communities around New Zealand, from the far north to the deep south.

The CAB in New Zealand has changed and developed over the years so that it remains relevant and useful to the public.  In 2006 our organisation went through a significant and exciting process of strategic thinking and planning to create a pathway to connect where we are now to where we want to be in the future.  This was a...