About us

Ki Te Pae Tawhiti – Aotearoa New Zealand’s Health Reform Collective – is a transdisciplinary community that monitors and analyses the implementation of health reforms in New Zealand and aims to inform and engage the public in dialogue about how the changes will impact them and their communities.

In July, Aotearoa New Zealand embarked upon transformative health reform with the passage of Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. The Act aims to protect, promote, and improve the health of all New Zealanders and achieve health equity across the population.

While the Act set out numerous goals for the new health system, here remains much uncertainty regarding how these objectives will be achieved.

Ki Te Pae Tawhiti will function in this space and engage with different stakeholders on health reforms in New Zealand. The Collective brings together a diverse mix of disciplinary and cultural knowledge, epistemologies and methodologies, and stakeholder perspectives, which is vital to understanding and measuring the impacts, positive and negative, of the health sector reforms.

Ki Te Pae Tawhiti will operate a publicly accessible website that will host a curated collection of legal documents, academic scholarship, news articles, podcasts, webinar recordings, and public opinion pieces. The website will provide information and analysis to enable policymakers, journalists, academics, iwi and the public to more easily access, discuss, and analyse the changes occurring within the health care system, as well as the multiple perspectives from which they can be viewed.

Our principles

Research-informed

  • Our analysis and the material we post will be evidence-based and research-informed.

Equity and Inclusivity

  • The health reforms should promote equity and create a health system where all those living in Aotearoa feel they belong.
  • We will be inclusive in the range of viewpoints and stakeholder perspectives we share on the website.

Community-focused

  • The New Zealand health system should strive to create healthy communities and should include community perspectives in decision-making.

Accessible and Transparent

  • We believe that information about the healthcare system should be easily accessible to the public.
  • We believe in being transparent in all aspects of the website, and especially about our values, the source of information posted, and the extent to which it is research-based.

Our team

Jaime King

Professor, Law

Jaime S. King is the John and Marylyn Mayo Chair in Health Law and Professor of Law at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Her research explores the ways that the law and policy can be used to promote health and improve healthcare system functioning.

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Chris Bullen

Professor, Public Health

Chris Bullen is a public health physician and Professor of Public Health at the University of Auckland. He is particularly interested in how public health expertise, capacity and priorties will be structured, function and drawn upon within the reformed health system.

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Tim Tenbensel

Professor, Health Systems

Professor Tenbensel is a social scientist with a background in political studies and public policy, teaching and researching in a medical and health faculty. He specialises in the domains of health policy, health systems and public policy implementation.

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Collin Tukuitonga, Knight of NZ Order of Merit

Assoc Dean Pacific

Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences Administration

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Corina Grey

Snr Research Fellow, Medical
Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

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Jo Manning

Professor, Law

Faculty of Law

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Paula Lorgelly

Professor, Health Economics
Population Health

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Dr Mataroria Lyndon

Senior Lecturer, Medical Education
Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Wai, Waikato
Dr Lyndon is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Auckland and co-founder of Tend Health. With governance roles spanning health and academia, he is a Board member of Pūtahi Manawa Centre of Research Excellence, and was previously Deputy Chair of Te Hiringa Hauora Health Promotion Agency NZ, and Board member of the Northland District Health Board. Mataroria completed his Master of Public Health at Harvard University as a Fulbright Scholar and Frank Knox Fellow, and his PhD is focused on medical education

 

Matire Harwood

Associate Professor (Ngāpuhi)

Head of Department, General Practice and Primary Healthcare

Matire is HoD for the department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, and works as a GP at Papakura Marae.  Her interests lie in Kaupapa Māori leadership, research and practice for health policy, service and workforce development, with a focus on managing long term conditions in the community.

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Suzanne Woodward

Knowledge Translation Expert
Arts Research Support

Faculty of Arts

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Julia Slark

Associate Professor, School of Nursing

Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

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Robyn Whittaker

Adjunct Professor, Medical Pacific Health

Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

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Sandra Hanchard

Research Fellow, General Practice and Primary Healthcare

Sandra Hanchard is a Pacific researcher at the University of Auckland. Her research investigates equity-focused approaches to heart health care for Māori and Pacific communities. She is interested in how a whānau-centric health system will address gaps in continuity of care, particularly for long-term health conditions.

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Monique Jonas

Associate Professor, Health System

Monique is an ethical theorist with a specialization in health care ethics, focusing on distributive justice in health, the relationship between the family and the state, and the ethics of advising and decision-making for children.

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Vanessa Selak

Head of Department, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Vanessa is a Senior Lecturer in the Section of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. She is medically trained, has a PhD in Epidemiology, is a fellow of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine and has 20 years’ health sector experience.

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Research Fellows

Olawale Oladimeji

Research Assistant, Law Research Support

Wale is a Ph.D. candidate in the SOPH in the Health System Department. He has a background in Public Health research and program implementation of over 15 years. He had his Master degree from the University of Sydney, Australia after which he pursued a career in Public Policy in the development space. He worked with UNICEF as a Social Policy Analyst and with WHO as an Epidemiologist/ Public Health Specialist. He is passionate about public health policy research, economic analysis and program implementation.

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Photograph of Jacinda Yee, Research Assistant

Jacinda Yee

Research Assistant, Law Research Support

Jacinda is a fifth-year student in law and health sciences, majoring in public health. Her goal is to empower communities and drive positive change. She has worked with Te Toihau Hauora | Health and Disability Commissioner on complaint assessments, served as a Cancer Society Ambassador, spreading skin cancer awareness, and was a Research Assistant for the Aotearoa Concussion Services Cost-Effectiveness Study. These experiences have deepened her commitment to enhancing equitable access to legal and healthcare services.

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Key issues

HEALTH SERVICES AND SYSTEMS

Covering developments in the provision, funding and organisation of health care services.

EQUITY

Exploring the impacts of the health system on minorities within the population, notably including Māori, Pacifica, Asians and LGBTQI.

DRUGS, DEVICE AND DIAGNOSTICS

Covering prescription medicines and medical devices.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Focusing on efforts to promote health and prevent disease through social and economic interventions.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Exploring the potential digital transformation to provide a more connected and accessible health system.

TE TIRITI

Monitoring how the health reforms and the performance of the health sector uphold Te Tiriti obligations.