Anyone can list a business online. The harder part is knowing which listings are actually accurate, and we think that’s worth being upfront about. This page explains where our data comes from, how we check it, and what to do if you spot something that needs correcting. Read more about Local Family Hub here.
Where our data comes from
Listings are checked against government and professional organisation registers where one exists, with manual research used to confirm suburb-level detail and to fill categories with no central register. A majority of listings come from these verified sources. Businesses can also submit their own listing directly; every submission is reviewed against the same standard before it’s approved and published.
We’re launching in New Zealand first, with other countries to follow. Sourcing is listed here by country as each market goes live, since the registers available differ from one country to the next.
New Zealand
- Childcare & Early Education: Sourced from the Ministry of Education’s ECE Directory (educationcounts.govt.nz), a government-maintained dataset. We imported name, address, licensed capacity, and service type from this dataset as our initial data load, and refresh it periodically rather than in real time.
- Schools: Checked against the Ministry of Education’s schools directory.
- Family Health & Dental: Regulated providers (dentists, doctors) are checked against the relevant professional register — for example the Dental Council of New Zealand or the Medical Council of New Zealand. Unregulated practitioner types are researched manually.
- Maternity & Baby Services: Midwifery listings are checked against the Midwifery Council of New Zealand register where applicable; other services are researched manually.
- Pets & Family: Veterinary listings are checked against the Vet Council of New Zealand register where applicable.
- Categories with no central register (Arts, Music & Creative Classes; Family Photography; Family Products & Retail; Family-Friendly Dining & Outings; Parties & Entertainment; Tutoring & Education Support; most of Sports & Physical Activity): researched and verified individually, drawing on publicly available business information.
As we expand into Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, we’ll add the equivalent government and professional body sources for each country here.
How often listings are updated
Register-sourced categories are imported as an initial data load and refreshed periodically, not in real time. Manually researched categories and business-submitted listings are reviewed on a rolling basis; we prioritise suburbs with the highest visitor traffic. If you spot something out of date, the fastest way to get it corrected is the contact method below
How to correct or update a listing
If you run a family service and need to update your listing, or you’ve spotted something incorrect, contact us at [email] with the listing name and the correction. We aim to review update requests within 7 business days.
Featured listings and how payment works
LocalFamilyHub offers paid packages, including featured placement within a category, clearly marked wherever they appear. Payment affects visibility, not verification: a featured listing goes through the same review process as any other, and paying for a featured spot does not change whether a business is included in our standard results or how it ranks there. Standard category rankings are never for sale
How we choose what to publish
We only publish a suburb and category once we have enough verified listings there to be genuinely useful. If you don’t see a category for your suburb yet, it means we’re still building it out – check back, or contact us to let us know it’s needed