133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
2 March 2026
Spencer Jones
By email: [FYI request #32941 email]
Ref:
H2026078663
Tēnā koe Spencer
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your requests under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health – Manatū Hauora (the Ministry) on 9 and 12 February 2026 for information regarding
ethical oversight and informed consent. Each part of your requests is responded to below:
“Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request copies of existing documents held by
the Ministry of Health that describe how ethical oversight and informed-consent
governance are addressed for public vaccination programmes, where those programmes
are not conducted as research and are therefore outside the remit of Health and Disability
Ethics Committees.
Specifically, please provide any documents (including but not limited to policies, guidance,
briefing papers, legal interpretations, or internal frameworks) that address one or more of
the following:
1. Governance responsibility
Documents that identify which body or bodies are responsible for ethical oversight of
informed consent in the context of public vaccination programmes (as distinct from
research studies).
2. Ethical framework outside HDEC scope
Any guidance or analysis explaining how ethical considerations are assessed, assured, or
reviewed for vaccination programmes that do not require HDEC approval.
3.
Interface with consent obligations
Documents describing how ethical considerations are integrated with informed-consent
requirements under:
•
the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights; and/or
•
Medicines Act–related guidance or interpretations.
4.
Reviews or acknowledgements of governance boundaries
Any internal reviews, gap analyses, or briefing material that discuss the absence of ethics-
committee oversight for programme-based vaccination, or that explain how this is
mitigated or addressed in practice.
This request is limited to existing information and does not seek the creation of new
analysis or opinion. If no documents are held that meet one or more parts of this request,
please confirm that explicitly and identify which parts are affected.”
We have interpreted your request to relate to governance or bodies explicitly assigned with the
responsibility of ethical oversight of informed consent for immunisation, not discussion of cases
where informed consent may or may not have taken place. For examples of the latter, you can
search the Health and Disability Commission website’s decisions
(www.hdc.org.nz/decisions/search-decisions/) where there wil be detailed description of
investigations, findings and any actions required.
Like any other health service, immunisation programmes are covered by the Code of Health and
Disability Services Consumers' Rights and subject to the same ethical principles regarding
informed consent.
The Ministry of Health is not aware of any documents that discuss ethical oversight or
governance responsibility for informed consent specifically for public vaccination programmes,
as this is handled at an operational level. The National Public Health Service is responsible for
developing information material for clinicians and the public on immunisation, including t he
Immunisation Handbook, which provides guidance to vaccinators on the informed consent
process. This is published online at
www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-professionals/clinical-
guidance/immunisation-handbook/2-processes-for-safe-immunisation For this reason, your
request for specific documents is refused under section 18(e) of the Act as the information
requested does not exist.
The Ministry is responsible for co-ordinating immunisation governance in general, as set out at
www.health.govt.nz/about-us/organisation-and-leadership/public-health-agency/immunisation-
governance Should any issues emerge about informed consent at a governance level within an
immunisation programme, they could be addressed by the Immunisation Outcomes Collective
(responsible for cross-agency operational co-ordination) with the support of the National
Immunisation Technical Advisory Group, which provides independent expert advice on clinical
and technical issues.
The 2022 Taskforce Report commissioned by Health New Zealand
Initial Priorities for the
National Immunisation Programme in Aotearoa considers governance at a general level and
identifies gaps that were addressed by the establishment of the Immunisation Outcomes
Collective and Oversight Board. You may find more information here:
www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/assets/Whats-happening/Work-underway/Taskforces/Immunisation-
Taskforce-Report.pdf
The
Strategic Approach to Immunisation in New Zealand 2025-2030 sets out objectives
including providing people and whānau with advice and resources that are clinically sound,
culturally appropriate and evidence-based to support assurance and health literacy and to
reduce misinformation and disinformation.
This is available at:
www.health.govt.nz/system/files/2025-03/Strategic-Approach-to-
Immunisation-in-New-Zealand-2025-2030.pdf
On 12 February 2026, you responded to the acknowledgement email of the above request with
the below questions:
Subject: Clarification – Crisis KPIs and National Monitoring Datasets
Kia ora, Thank you for the workforce information provided.
To ensure clarity regarding the remaining components of my request, could you please
confirm the following. I am not requesting collation or analysis—only confirmation of
whether such datasets exist at national level
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Whether Health NZ holds any nationally aggregated crisis response performance
indicators (e.g., response times, crisis contacts, ED wait thresholds) for 2018–2025; and if
not, confirm explicitly.
Whether Health NZ holds any nationally aggregated monitoring dataset recording follow-
up within 7 or 28 days after a suicide attempt or acute crisis presentation; and if not,
confirm explicitly.
Whether Health NZ holds any national-level dataset recording Police attendance or
transport in mental health crisis events; and if not, confirm explicitly.
Whether nationally aggregated crisis workforce data prior to 2020 is held in retrievable
form; and if not, confirm.
And:
Thank you for your response dated 4 February 2026 (Ref: HNZ00105191) and for
providing Appendix One and associated links
I seek clarification on four narrow technical points to ensure I correctly understand what is
and is not held nationally. This is not a request for broad new collation.
1. Psychiatric Registrar Vacancy Data
Appendix One provides contracted FTE for psychiatric registrars but does not appear to
include vacant FTE or vacancy rate calculations for this group.
• Please confirm whether vacant FTE and/or vacancy rate data for psychiatric registrars
exists in any national dataset.
• If it exists, please provide the vacancy FTE and vacancy rate figures for the same
reporting periods already supplied.
• If it does not exist, please confirm this under section 18(e).
2. District Vacancy Reporting Gaps
Appendix One notes that vacancy data is unavailable from certain districts for some
periods.
• Please confirm which districts did not report vacancy data and from which reporting
periods.
• Please confirm whether this reflects a system limitation, a reporting policy change, or
local data capture issues.
• If there is a document or internal guidance explaining this reporting limitation, please
provide it.
3. Pre-2020 National Aggregation via HWIP
Your response notes that historical workforce data from former DHBs is retained within
HWIP and was used in part to respond.
• Please confirm whether HWIP can produce a national aggregate series (contracted FTE
and vacancy rates) for psychiatrists, registrars, and mental health nurses prior to 2020.
• If such national aggregation exists, please confirm whether it has been previously
produced.
• If no national aggregation exists for crisis workforce categories pre-2020, please confirm
this under section 18(e).
4. Crisis Response Time Targets (Existence Only)
Your response indicates that response-time data is not held centrally and refers to the KPI
programme.
• Please confirm whether any internal national or district-level policy document sets a
target or benchmark for mobile crisis team response times.
• If such a document exists, please provide the document name and date (no extraction
required).
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• If no such targets exist nationally, please confirm this.
These questions are confined to dataset existence, reporting structure, and document
identification, and should not require substantial collation.
These parts of your request are referring to a Health New Zealand response (HNZ00105191)
and information that sits within Health New Zealand’s remit. As such on 24 February 2026,
these parts of your request were transferred to Health New Zealand. You can expect a
response from HNZ in due course. They can be contacted at the following for further information
at
: [email address].
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please feel
free to contact the OIA Services Team on
: [email address].
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at
: www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official-
information-act-requests.
Nāku noa, nā
Jane Chambers
Group Manager, Public Health Policy and Regulation
Public Health Agency | Te Pou Hauora Tūmatanui
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