It has been a busy few months since funding for the Hira programme was announced in Budget 2021. We appreciate the New Zealand market is highly motivated and ready to help us move forward with this critical piece of work.  

The detailed business case for tranche one of Hira has completed Ministry of Health internal reviews, and we are preparing for its submission to Cabinet. Prior to Delta and the level 4 lockdown, we anticipated Cabinet approval could be received in late September. We will keep you updated if the current need to focus on the response to Delta leads to any significant changes to this timeframe.

Meanwhile, we are working on a sector and market engagement plan to support an interactive, collaborative, and pragmatic approach to participation.

We plan to begin our re-engagement on Hira with an online briefing for all stakeholders, to provide an overview of the programme and lay out our plans for ongoing market engagement. The intent is that we will start this process ahead of detailed business case approval. The initial briefing will be followed by workshops with data providers, consumers, and vendors.

Further information will be available on the Hira webpages and circulated to stakeholders once the details and timings have been finalised. Please email us at to register your interest in attending the briefing and workshops, and to ensure you are added to our Hira mailing list.

We appreciate your continued support and look forward to updating you soon.  

Shayne Hunter – Deputy Director-General Data and Digital – MoH

Darren Douglass – GM Digital Strategy & Investment – Data and Digital – MoH

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