The Paralympics New Zealand was presented with the Sport NZ Governance Mark ©Getty Images

The Paralympics New Zealand has been awarded with the Sport NZ Governance Mark in recognition for the improvements it has made across the sporting sectors.

The prestigious award, launched in 2016 by the Government agency, follows three years of governance development, according to the PNZ.

The PNZ is the 18th organisation to achieve the internationally-accepted good governance standards, called Nine Steps to Effective Governance.

"Governance Mark is a great initiative from Sport New Zealand to improve the level of governance across the sector," said PNZ Board chair Jana Rangooni.

"It has been a really useful exercise for us to look at what we were doing well and where we could improve, which is something all organisations should be doing constantly."

The Sport NZ Governance Mark recognises the improvements made by Paralympics NZ over the past three years ©Getty Images
The Sport NZ Governance Mark recognises the improvements made by Paralympics NZ over the past three years ©Getty Images

PNZ Board member Catriona McBean has been heavily involved in the work to attain the Governance Mark.

"I am absolutely proud of PNZ receiving the Sport NZ Governance Mark," said McBean.

"After three long years, a rigorous process of self-assessment, third-party review, governance development and reassessment, all interrupted by COVID-19, we’ve achieved this huge organisational milestone."

Julie Hood, governance and planning consultant at Sport NZ, added: "The Governance Mark indicates that Paralympics New Zealand understands the strategic nature of its role, how to carry that out within an ethical framework, and how to hold itself accountable to stakeholders for its use of time and money."