110th National Council

The RNZRSA's 110th National Council will be held in Wellington over the period 21 - 22 November 2026. The venue for National Council is the Rydges Hotel, 75 Featherston Street.

Planning for National Council is underway and this page will be regularly updated as information becomes available.

Page last updated: 23 October 2026

Registration

In accordance with RNZRSA Constitution para 18.30, each Association and Affiliate member may register one delegate and up to two observers to attend National Council.

Registrations are now open.

Delegates and observers can register for National Council using the form found here.

National Vice-President Election

We have received two nominations for the vacant National Vice-President position.

Both nominations have been reviewed by the Forum Selection Committee, which has confirmed that both candidates meet the required eligibility criteria.

With two eligible candidates standing for one position, an election will now be held.

In accordance with the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association (RNZRSA) Constitution, voting will take place remotely, with Associations able to submit their votes by email or post.

Everything Associations need to participate in the election will be included in the Notice of National Council, being distributed on 30 October. This will include information about both candidates, voting forms and clear instructions on how to cast your vote.

Volunteer sought to act as Election Scrutineer

National Office is seeking a volunteer to act as Scrutineer for the National Vice-President election.

The role of Scrutineer is to ensure a fair and impartial election. The role is not overly cumbersome, but will require a small number of visits to National Office so would best suit someone Wellington based.

The Scrutineer will:

confirm and review the process for handling and recording votes
review all votes to ensure they meet the Constitutional requirements and discard any invalid votes
tally the votes and confirm the result of the election
provide the confirmed result to the National President at National Council

If you would like to fill the role of Scrutineer, please register your interest via email: nationalcouncil@rsa.org.nz by 30 October 2026.

Notices of Motion

Notices of motion to be considered at this year’s National Council will be released to Associations via the Notice of National Council scheduled for release on 30 October 2026.

Voting

Voting rights at National Council are set out in para 18.37 of the RNZRSA Constitution.

Each Association shall have two votes, to be cast by their Delegate during the AGM.

Board Members, Forum Members, the RNZRSA Kaumātua, RNZRSA Life Members and Affliliates shall have one vote.

No proxies are permitted.

National Council Programme

A detailed programme will be released with the Orders for National Council once all aspects have been confirmed. The programme below is provided for planning purposes.

Day One

9.00am	Doors and Registrations open (refreshments available)
10.00am	Mihi Whakatau
10.30am	Key Note Address / Q&A (presenter TBC). “The next generation of veterans: Challenges and Opportunities”
12.00pm	Lunch Trial Sentinel Terminal will be available to view during the lunch break.
12.45pm	Royal New Zealand RSA Annual General Meeting
3.00pm	Sentinel Launch
4.00 pm	Day Two preview
4.15pm	End of Day One. Optional Sentinel Familiarisation session will run at this time.

Day Two

9.00am	Karakia to open Day Two
9.15am	Challenges facing the RNZRSA
11.00am	Opportunities for the RNZRSA
12.00pm	Lunch
12.30pm	Opportunities for the RNZRSA continued
2.15pm	Summary of Day Two
2.30pm	Awards/Farewells
3.00pm	End of National Council

Note: The proposed Challenges and Opportunities discussions on Day Two will be interactive sessions seeking input from Associations. Final topics to be discussed will be determined by the Forum and Board and will be disseminated with the Notice of National Council.

Accommodation and Transport

Associations and Affiliate members are responsible for organising transport to and around Wellington, and accommodation for their delegate and observers.

We know that accommodation in central Wellington is expensive, and we’re very conscious that attending National Council already represents a significant cost for Member Associations.

The RNZRSA has been working with a number of hotels close to the conference venue to secure discounted accommodation options for attendees. While we have been able to negotiate some savings, the level of discount available has been limited because we’re unable to guarantee how many rooms will be booked at each hotel. Most hotels reserve their strongest rates for confirmed bulk bookings.

The discounted rates we’ve secured are still a meaningful saving on standard Wellington CBD prices, but we appreciate they remain a significant expense for Associations. We’ve included a range of nearby options so you can choose what works best for your budget and circumstances.

Accommodation options:

Quest on Johnston
35 Johnston Street, Wellington Central, Wellington 6143 (3 min walk to venue)
Studio - $195 per night
One bedroom - $215 per night
Rooms can be booked directly through email reservations@questonjohnston.co.nz using the code RSA2026.

Wellesley Boutique Hotel
2/8 Maginnity Street, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011 (3-4 min walk to venue)
A Classic room $209 per night per room (discounted from $259).
This is an accommodation rate only.
Rooms must be booked directly with Fiona Voisey and paid on booking:
reception@wellesleyboutiquehotel.co.nz

Ibis Wellington
153 Featherston Street, Wellington Central (2-3 min walk to venue)
15% discount offered on their flexible rate of the day. Discount can be accessed via the following link: RNZRSA National Council 2026 - Accor Meetings & Events

Rydges Hotel

For those wishing to stay at the conference venue, the hotel has set up a special page for bookings at discount rates. Please note, this is high end accommodation and this is reflected in the rates (even discounted). We have been advised that the rates available on this page are “dynamic” and change over time which we appreciate is not necessarily helpful to Associations.

The discount rates can be found here: https://www.rydges.com/private-page/rnzrsa-national-council/

We’ll continue to look for any opportunities to reduce costs where we can, and hope these options make planning your trip to Wellington a little easier.

Parking

There is no parking available at the conference venue for anyone not staying in the hotel's accommodation.

There are a number of parking buildings near the venue which can be used, parking rates vary so Associations are encouraged to research options online.

Meals

Lunch and refreshments will be provided at the venue on both days of National Council. Associations are responsible for providing all other meals for their delegates.