Ngā mihi ki a koe
We joined the team at Nelson Bays Primary Health earlier this month to farewell a key member of their staff, Emily-Rose Richards.
Emily-Rose joined the PHO in 2016 and worked as the Executive Support Manager/EA to the Chief Executive. In that role, she was also secretary to the Board and Board subcommittees.
Kim, who also serves as Deputy Chairperson of the PHO, says Emily-Rose will be greatly missed.
“I would like to acknowledge her for professional acumen, which is of a very high level but also for the manaakitanga she has offered to Te Temu Whakaora, the Māori Advisory Group to Nelson Bays Primary Health. She has always gone above and beyond for us and ensured we are kept informed and on track.”
Ngā mihi nui ki a koe Emily, and best of luck as you start a new chapter!
NMIT Open Day
Rangatahi and pakeke thinking of studying or changing careers should check out NMIT’s Open Day on Saturday, September 13, from 10am to 2pm at the campus in Whakatū. A whole range of courses will be showcased, but of course, we’d love to see more whānau in the healthcare space. NMIT have amazing programmes for Nursing and Social Sciences, which includes counselling, social work and professional supervision.
NMIT also have some awesome bridging programmes that support whānau to prepare and transition into degree study.
It's never too late, e te whānau, so get on down there on September 13.
Local solution recognised on global stage
While men’s health in Aotearoa continues to face severe underinvestment, a global men’s health charity has put its money where its mouth is and has committed $63 million over seven years to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of indigenous men and boys across Australia, Aotearoa, Canada and the United States.
Even better, Movember has recently announced Te Tauihu-based Hawaiki Kura as its first New Zealand Innovation Grant recipient!
Kiley and Donna Nepia, co-founders of Hawaiki Kura, have been running Tāne Te Waiora for a few years now and are now recognised leaders in their field. The programme aims to transform the social, emotional, and overall wellbeing of its participants by fostering a profound sense of cultural reclamation, healing and community connection.
Through a strengths-based, mana-enhancing approach, Tāne te Waiora offers an authentic and safe space for tāne Māori to be empowered and reconnect with their identity, heal from intergenerational trauma and establish a strong community of like-minded individuals. Participants engage with taonga tuku iho (ancestral gifts) and mātauranga Māori, learning to integrate these timeless teachings into their lives in ways that foster oranga (holistic wellbeing) and cultural confidence.
Kiley says it has been humbling for their work to be recognised by Movember.
“Movember is a serious player and they are committed to the idea that we hold our own solutions. We don’t need another expert-led framework or study telling us what is wrong with us. We’re focused on positive change, and we see it every time we hold a wānanga. For a global organisation to recognise that gives us tremendous hope.
“We firmly believe when you heal the tane, you heal the whole whānau.”
Demand for the Hawaiki Kura model has grown beyond expectations and wānanga are now being delivered nationally.
Landmark health report finds inequity gap widening
The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC), established under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, provides independent advice to the Minister of Health on major public health challenges.
Last week, the committee published the first major report on determinants of health and equity in Aotearoa in more than 25 years.
‘Determining our Future’ examines trends since 2000 in the distribution of the determinants of health (such as income, housing, cultural identity and social cohesion) and in health outcomes, and why these are unevenly distributed in our society.
It looks forward to 2040, and assesses challenges to health equity and wellbeing, including the impacts of commercial interests and of the ‘megatrends’ - the climate crisis, AI and digital technology.
It is stark reading e te whānau, and backs up what we already know – that Māori continue to bear the brunt of inequity. You can read the report here.
New Māori Service Regional Director for Te Waipounamu
Pouwhakahaere Kim Ngawhika was in Ōtautahi earlier this week to welcome the new Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Māori Service Regional Director for Te Waipounamu, Jeanine Tamati-Elliffe.
Jeanine (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga) brings more than 25 years’ experience in hauora Māori, iwi development, education and equity-focused leadership.
Jeanine was the first strategic hauora lead for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, shaping the iwi’s Hauora strategy before moving into the tertiary sector with the University of Canterbury and local government (Canterbury Regional Council). More recently, she served as the Tuia Te Herenga Initiative Lead with Environment Canterbury.
Te Kāhui Hauora extend a huge mihi to Jeanine as she starts this new chapter, and we are excited to work alongside her to support better outcomes for whānau Māori in Te Waipounamu.
We also acknowledge National Director, Hauora Māori Services, Selah Hart (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Whakaue), and Executive Regional Director for Te Waipounamu, Dr. Pete Watson, for welcoming us to Jeanine's mihi whakatau as valued partners.
Pictured, from left, Taone O'Regan, System Monitoring & Commissioning Lead with Te Tauraki IMPB, Jeanine Tamati Elliffe and Te Kāhui Hauora Pouwhakahaere Kim Ngawhika.
Te Kāhui Hauora call for bill to be scrapped
Te Kāhui Hauora recently submitted our opposition to Health Minister Simeon Brown’s Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill, which seeks to weaken the legislative role of the 15 Iwi Māori Partnership Board and erase Health New Zealand’s legal requirement to address health inequities for Māori.
The amendment bill, now being examined by the Health Select Committee, is the latest in a very long list of legislative changes which seek to undermine Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. While the bill has not received as much attention as other legislation proposed by the Coalition Government, it is just as damaging and rewinds years of work.
We also made a joint submission with the other 14 IMPBs nationwide—you can read the submissions by clicking the links below.
Te Kāhui Hauora o Te Tauihu submission on Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill
Submission by Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards on the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill
Leading us forward
Te Kāhui Hauora o Te Tauihu Iwi-Māori Partnership Board extend a huge mihi to Naomi Solomon, who stepped in to support us as interim Pouwhakahaere earlier this year. It has been a privilege to work with Naomi through the establishment and transition phase of IMPBs. Naomi has navigated fast-changing political waters with grace and humility, and she will be very much missed. Naomi will remain with us until the end of August in a transitional capacity.
After a formal recruitment process, we are pleased to announce that Kim Ngawhika will take up the role of Pouwhakahaere and join us from next week.
Kim (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Whakahemo) comes to us from Te Aka Whai Ora/Te Whatu Ora Te Waipounamu Hauora Māori Regional team and will be known to many of our stakeholders. Kim brings extensive experience in the Māori health and social services sector, both as a practitioner and as the long-serving pouwhakahaere of Whakatū Marae.
Kim currently serves as deputy chair of Nelson Bays Primary Health, is a trustee of MMPO, and formerly served as chair of Nelson College for Girls. Kim was also an inaugural trustee of Te Kāhui Hauora.
With signalled changes to the Pae Ora Act, under which IMPBs were established, there is much to do, and the Board look forward to working alongside Kim to navigate the next chapter.
Whaitua brings knowledge to your hands
A huge mihi to Āti Awa Toa Hauora Iwi Māori Partnership Board following the release of Whaitua this week.
Whaitua is an online mapping tool with national coverage that visualises critical information about whānau households and their communities across the social and economic determinants of health. This includes the prevalence of liquor stores, vape shops, fast-food outlets, housing conditions, environmental degradation and healthcare access points. The platform equips whānau, iwi and communities with precise, local-level insights to help raise whānau voice and improve policies that impact whānau.
Whaitua has been developed by the Āti Awa Toa Hauora IMPB in collaboration with Te Tāhū Hauora (Health Quality & Safety Commission) and with early input from Te Karu o Te Ika Poari Hauora IMPB. The tool is presented with the collective support of all IMPBs across Aotearoa, including Te Kāhui Hauora, enabling iwi and communities to access and use this valuable data.
“Our dual launch coincides with the end of Matariki season, a significant time for reflection and renewal, marking a collective commitment to creating healthier, safer communities for current and future generations,” said Hikitia Ropata, Āti Awa Toa Hauora Iwi Māori Partnership Board’s Manahautū.
“We are indebted to the support of our mana whenua iwi, Te Āti Awa ki te Upoko a Māui, Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. With special thanks to the team at Āti Awa Toa FM.”
“Too often, Māori communities carry the blame for conditions we never created. These resources we launch today will help raise our whānau voices, allowing us to tell our own stories through our own data. It’s about tino rangatiratanga and our right to self-determination and meaningful change.”
To launch Whaitua, Āti Awa Toa Hauora Iwi Māori Partnership Board has launched a ‘Flip the Facts’ social media campaign, inviting all whānau from their takiwā as well as whānau from across Aotearoa to jump online, see the data story of their own neighbourhood and challenge those things that need to change.
Social Investment Fund
Last month, the Social Investment Agency (SIA) held two webinars about the new Social Investment Fund to be launched next month.
The fund will invest in early interventions and support services that enable children, young people, and families to achieve a range of outcomes.
The fund is due to open in August. Funded outcomes are expected to align with the Government’s targets and existing strategies, including the Child and Youth Strategy and the Family Violence and Sexual Violence Strategy and Action Plan.
To stay updated about the fund, register here.
Kia tūpato
The National Public Health Service in Nelson-Marlborough (part of Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand) is carrying out enhanced surveillance for cases of illness that may be associated with the recent flooding events.
There has been an increase in cases notified to the Nelson-Marlborough public health service of gastrointestinal illnesses, though numbers overall are small. Case investigations show a variety of flood-associated exposures, but it cannot be confirmed if the increase is directly related to contaminated drinking water from the flood events, contact with contaminated water or land, or from other sources such as food.
The Tasman District Council’s reticulated schemes have been tested, and there are no concerns about the quality of water from those sources.
However:
- All bore water owners have been advised to boil their water as a precaution.
- If you have received a ‘boil water notice’, instructions are here.
- People on council rural water supplies should check the council website for advice.