A panel set up to review the basic rules by which New Zealanders live does not recommend including the Treaty of Waitangi in a single written constitution.
The Government has released a report by the Constitutional Advisory Panel, which partly looked at whether there should be a written constitution.
The panel attended 120 hui and meetings, and received more than 5000 written submissions.
The report says perspectives ranged from the Treaty being fundamental to how the country is governed, that the Treaty is a base for a multicultural future, or that the Treaty has no role in how the country is governed.
Co-chair of the panel Sir Tipene O'Regan says more discussion is needed about the options for the future role of the Treaty.
It recommends the Government continue to affirm the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi as a founding document.
And it calls for more accessible information about the current arrangements and how settlements between iwi and the Crown work.
It says many submissions appeared to demonstrate a lack of awareness of the significant and good faith efforts by iwi and the Crown to settle their differences through the well documented Treaty settlement process.
