# 2026 Agency Profile — Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora

## Agency Details

- **Official Name:** Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora
- **Official URL:** [tewhatuora.govt.nz](https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz)
- **Type:** Crown Entity / National Health Service
- **Minister Responsible:** Hon Simeon Brown (National) — Minister of Health
- **Portfolio:** Health

## Role & Function

Health New Zealand (HNZ) is the national public health service established following the 2022 health reforms. It plans, funds, and delivers all publicly funded health services in New Zealand. For older New Zealanders, this includes aged residential care (ARC) funding and contracting, Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC), interRAI assessments, Home and Community Support Services (HCSS), hospital-level care, and palliative care services.

## Relevance to Older New Zealanders

HNZ is the single most important health agency for older people:

- **Aged Residential Care (ARC) Funding:** Contracts and funds all rest homes, dementia units, and hospital-level care for assessed residents. Sets subsidy rates paid to providers.
- **Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC):** Contracts NASC organisations to assess older people's care needs, determine eligibility for ARC, HCSS, and other services. Uses interRAI assessment tool.
- **Home and Community Support Services (HCSS):** Funds home support (personal care, household management) to enable ageing in place. This is a significant and growing area.
- **Hospital Care:** Acute, elective, and rehabilitation services for older people.
- **Falls Prevention:** Coordination of falls prevention programmes across the health system.
- **InterRAI rollout:** Mandated comprehensive clinical assessment tool for older people to determine care needs.

## Key Documents Already in KB

| Document                                                             | KB Location                           |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Health NZ — Topic Map: Aged Care Assessment and Audit Pathway (2026) | `02_Aged_Residential_Care/`           |
| Health NZ — Web Capture: Residential Care Overview (2026)            | `02_Aged_Residential_Care/`           |
| Health NZ — Web Capture: Rest Home Certification and Audits (2026)   | `02_Aged_Residential_Care/`           |
| Health NZ — Web Capture: Home Support Services (2026)                | `04_Home_Care_and_Community_Support/` |
| Health NZ — Web Capture: Fall Prevention (2026)                      | `07_Dementia_and_Health/`             |
| Health NZ — Meeting with Aged Care Commissioner (2025)               | `02_Aged_Residential_Care/`           |
| Health NZ — The Health of Older People and Aged Care in NZ (2024)    | `02_Aged_Residential_Care/`           |
| DHB / Health NZ — National Framework for HCSS (2020)                 | `04_Home_Care_and_Community_Support/` |
| Disability Support — Tier Two HCSS Specification (undated)           | `04_Home_Care_and_Community_Support/` |

## Key Documents Missing

- **Health NZ Annual Plan 2025/2026** — specific sections on aged care funding and service targets
- **Health NZ ARC Funding Model Review** — any current review of the aged care funding model (Sapere review is in KB but government response missing)
- **NASC service specifications current version** — contract terms for NASC organisations
- **interRAI national data report** — aggregate outcomes, assessment volumes, and trends
- **Health NZ workforce plan for aged care** — recruitment and retention strategy for ARC and HCSS workers
- **Health NZ Aged Care Commissioner's recommendations implementation plan** — tracking responses to HDC/Ombudsman reports

## Current Consultations & Policy Processes

- **ARC Funding Model Review** — ongoing work on sustainable funding for aged residential care (refer to Sapere review in KB)
- **HCSS transformation** — potential restructure of home support funding models
- **Health workforce strategy** — aged care workforce component
- **interRAI system implementation** — full rollout across all DHB regions (now HNZ regions)
- **Palliative Care Strategy update** — updated national palliative care approach

## Data Sources

- **Health NZ data dashboard** — ARC occupancy, HCSS hours, hospital discharge data
- **interRAI national data set** — comprehensive clinical assessments of older people
- **NASC service data** — numbers of assessments, referral outcomes, wait times
- **ARC provider reporting** — mandatory quarterly reporting from all contracted providers
- **Health Quality & Safety Commission data** — adverse events in aged residential care

## Decision Influence

- **Very High:** HNZ determines the funding and service model for virtually all publicly funded health care for older people
- ARC subsidy rates directly affect provider viability and quality of care
- NASC assessment thresholds determine who qualifies for funded care (and waits for community services)
- HNZ's prioritisation of home support vs residential care shapes the entire aged care market
- Budget decisions by HNZ feed into the Ministry of Health's advice to the Minister

## Business Implications

- **ARC Providers:** HNZ contract rates and conditions determine revenue; occupancy targets affect growth plans
- **Home Care Providers:** HCSS funding models (hourly rates, volume caps) determine business viability
- **Retirement Villages:** HNZ policies on hospital-level care and dementia care affect village service offerings
- **Pharmaceutical / MedTech:** Hospitals and ARC prescribing patterns influenced by HNZ formularies
- **Workforce training:** HNZ's aged care workforce plan affects demand for enrolled nurses, caregivers, and support workers

## Campaign Relevance

- **ARC Underfunding Campaign:** HNZ funding rates to ARC providers are a core campaign issue — below-cost funding claimed by providers
- **Home Support Wait Times:** Campaign for reduced wait times for HCSS assessments and services
- **NASC Consistency:** Campaign for nationally consistent NASC assessment processes (current regional variation)
- **Dementia Care:** Campaign for increased dementia-specific funding and training
- **Workforce Campaign:** Aged care worker pay equity — HNZ is the funder so is the ultimate target
- **Hospital Discharge:** Campaign around timely hospital discharge for older people (delayed discharge due to lack of ARC/HCSS availability)

## Cross-References

- See also: **Minister Brown MP Profile** (`03_MP_Profiles/2026 MP Profile - Brown, Simeon - National.md`)
- See also: **[Ministry of Health](2026%20Agency%20Profile%20-%20Ministry%20of%20Health.md)** (regulatory and policy arm)
- See also: **Portfolio Profile — Health** (`04_Ministers_and_Portfolios/2026 Portfolio Profile - Health.md`)
- See also: **[HQSC](2026%20Agency%20Profile%20-%20HQSC.md)** (quality oversight)
- See also: **[HDC](2026%20Agency%20Profile%20-%20HDC.md)** (complaints and Aged Care Commissioner)
- See also: **[Aged Care Association](..\09_Stakeholder_and_Specialist_Groups\2026%20Stakeholder%20Profile%20-%20Aged%20Care%20Association.md)** (provider perspective)

## Last Updated

June 2026