Hamilton Multicultural Services (HMS) Trust was established as a Charitable Trust in February 1999. The Trust was formed out of concern regarding the gaps in services for people from different cultural, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The strategic focus of the Trust was to improve access for refugees and migrants to aid successful settlement and to increase the awareness of receiving communities.

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The first service offered by the Trust was the provision of an Interpreting Service and in May of 2000 the Interpreting Service opened and operated from an office in Knox Street. The service still operates today under the name Decypher, and also provides translation of multi media documents.

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The Trust moved in October of 2004 to the Multicultural Centre in Boundary Road (the former Marist Rugby Club rooms). In October 2006 the Multicultural Centre was renamed the Waikato Migrant Resource Centre, and in December 2017 it became Settlement Centre Waikato.

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Since then, HMS Trust has grown and offers a wide range of services to support successful settlement. The Trust is made up of a diverse team, with over 15 different ethnicities and more than 20 different languages are spoken in-house. 

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HMS Trust is the proud winner of the Waikato Chamber of Commerce 'For Purpose Award' 2022.  

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In 2023 the HMS Trust Board agreed to proceed with the redevelopment of the Settlement Centre Waikato. This long-term goal as been realised and the redeveloped Centre is New Zealand's first Ethnic Community Hub.