The Tūhono Trust was established under the Electoral Act 1993 to assist Māori  to register with their iwi and other Māori entities, and to assist Authorised User Organisations (Iwi organisations) to develop comprehensive and reliable registers of their members. Tūhono is Kaitiaki of the register of iwi affiliation, and enables Tūhono to achieve its charitable objectives by facilitating links, communication and interaction between iwi and their members.  This requirement is set in an agreement between the Minister of Māori  affairs, The Minister of Justice and the Tūhono Trust known as the Māori Affiliation Service.