Wai 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry

About the Wai 2575 inquiry

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Health Service and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry (Wai 2575) was initiated in 2016. The inquiry is hearing all claims concerning grievances relating to health services and outcomes of national significance.

Go to the Waitangi Tribunal website for the latest information about the Wai 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry.

About kaupapa inquiries

Kaupapa inquiries are Waitangi Tribunal inquiries that deal with nationally significant issues affecting Māori as a whole.

Kaupapa inquiry claims are allegations by Māori that the Crown has breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi and that Māori have suffered prejudice (harmful effects) as a result.

Go to the Waitangi Tribunal website to find out more about kaupapa inquiries.

Stages of the Wai 2575 inquiry

The Wai 2575 inquiry has 3 stages:

• Stage one addressed the legislative and policy framework of the primary health care system.
• Stage two covers 3 areas: Māori with lived experience of disability, mental health (including suicide and self-harm), and alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse.
• Stage three will focus on remaining themes of national significance, including eligible historical claims.

The inquiry is currently hearing claims relating to Māori with lived experience of disability.

Our role in the Wai 2575 inquiry

The Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora leads the health response to the Wai 2575 inquiry.

We coordinate health and disability agencies and provide support, expertise and advice to deliver on the Crown’s obligations to respond to Wai 2575.

Leading and responding to the recommendations of stage one of the Wai 2575 inquiry and supporting subsequent stages are priority actions in Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020­­­–25.

Stage one: primary health care

Stage one of the Wai 2575 inquiry addressed the legislative and policy framework of the primary health care system.

Stage one claimants

The claimants for stage one are:

• Māori Primary Health Organisations and Providers (Wai 1315)
• National Hauora Coalition (Wai 2687).

Another 76 other claimant groups have interested party status.

Stage one hearings and submissions

The first 11 days of hearings for stage one took place at Tūrangawaewae Marae, Ngāruawāhia, between October and November 2018.

Two more days of hearings took place at the Waitangi Tribunal Offices in Wellington on 17 and 18 December 2018. 

Closing submissions took place at the Waitangi Tribunal Offices on 12 and 13 March 2019.

The Hauora report

In July 2019 the Waitangi Tribunal released Hauora: Report on Stage One of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry.

The Hauora report found the Crown has breached the Treaty of Waitangi by:

• failing to address persistent Māori health inequities through the primary health care system
• failing to give effect to tino rangatiratanga.

The report contained the Tribunal’s interim recommendations.

In October 2021, the Tribunal released chapter 10 of the Hauora report with its final recommendations for stage one of the Wai 2575 inquiry.

Hauora: Report on Stage One of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry (PDF, 2.9 MB)

Our response to the Hauora report

The Ministry of Health represents the Crown in its response to the Hauora report.

We began engaging with stage one claimants in May 2019. In March 2020 the Crown and named stage one claimants signed a Heads of Agreement to progress the interim recommendations in the Hauora report.

Heads of Agreement March 2020 – Wai 2575, #3.2.209(a) (PDF, 370 KB)

Between July 2019 and September 2021, we updated the Waitangi Tribunal on the Crown’s progress towards implementing its interim recommendations.

Stage two: disability, mental health and substance abuse

Stage two of the Wai 2575 inquiry covers 3 priority areas: Māori with lived experience of disability, mental health (including suicide and self-harm), and alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse.

The inquiry is currently hearing claims relating to Māori with lived experience of disability (stage two, phase one).

Consolidated disability claims

The Waitangi Tribunal has consolidated claims relating to disability into 4 main issues:

• Kāpō Māori (Wai 2109)
• Tāngata Turi (Wai 2143)
• Healthcare of Disabled Māori (Wai 2672)
• Disability and Rehabilitation Support Services (Wai 2894).

The Tribunal has aggregated another 45 statements of claim that raise some disability issues. These aggregated claims may fall within the scope of later phases of the inquiry.

Stage two, phase one hearings and submissions

There have been 8 weeks of claimant hearings between early 2022 and late 2023. 

There are 2 weeks of Crown hearings for the Crown to respond to the evidence raised by claimants: from 18 and 22 March 2024 and from 5 to 9 August 2024.

Closing submissions for stage two, phase one of the Wai 2575 inquiry are in December 2024.

Wai 2575 research and resources

The Ministry of Health supports the Wai 2575 inquiry with evidence and statistics, including the Māori Health Trends Report.

Māori Health Trends Report

The Wai 2575 Māori Health Trends Report presents statistical trends in Māori health between 1990 and 2015.

Wai 2575 Māori Health Trends Report

Supporting data from the report is available on the Wai 2575 Māori Health Trends Report data and resources page.

Other resources

The Ministry of Health has compiled these resources to help inform the Wai 2575 inquiry.

Access Wai 2575 inquiry documents

Go to the Waitangi Tribunal website to search for inquiry documents.

You can find evidence from claimants, interested parties and the Crown by:

• selecting 2575 as the Wai Number
• selecting Record of Documents under Document Group.

Use the other fields to refine your search.

Watch Wai 2575 hearings

Go to the Wai 2575 YouTube channel to watch Wai 2575 hearings online.

Contact us

For more information about the Ministry of Health’s role in the Wai 2575 inquiry contact the Māori Health Directorate.

Email: [email protected]