The Race Relations Commissioner has updated a government guide on religious diversity for the first time in nearly seven years. The changes were made after talking with faith groups across New Zealand about their safety concerns.

The original guide came out in 2016. This new version includes a foreword from the Prime Minister, which shows it now has backing from government across the board.

Commissioner Melissa Derby said the update was needed because of a recent rise in attacks on religious groups — both online and in person. Faith communities have told her they feel unsafe, and they're pointing to specific incidents, not just general concerns.

The guide matters because New Zealand's religious landscape has changed significantly. In the 2023 Census, 51.6% of New Zealanders said they had no religion. That's the first time a majority has said this. At the same time, religious minorities report feeling more targeted.

This creates a tension that the updated guide is trying to address. On one side, there's a growing non-religious majority. On the other, there are faith communities that feel vulnerable to hostility. The guide asks both sides to respect each other's place in New Zealand.

A document like this isn't a law that courts can enforce. Its power comes from how much weight the government puts behind it. By adding the Prime Minister's foreword, the government is saying: this is how we expect New Zealand to treat religious minorities. That gives the Race Relations Commissioner more clout when she talks to employers, local councils, and government agencies about how they're treating faith groups.

Whether that actually changes how people and organisations behave is another question. The guide itself can't force that to happen.

Nearly seven years is a long time to go without an update in a country that's changed a lot. The 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, growing online harassment of religious groups, and the demographic shift shown in this year's Census all made the update necessary. The fact that the Commissioner talked extensively with faith communities before revising the guide suggests she wanted the changes to reflect what those groups actually needed, rather than what officials thought they needed.