High Court ruled that the Ministry of Health reconsider its decision not to release Māori data to Te Pou Matakana for their use in their COVID-19 health response
These rulings focused on whether the Privacy Act and the Health Information Privacy Code contained provisions ‘to make sure that personal information, including health information, [was] able to be used as necessary for the pandemic response, while ensuring that people’s privacy [was] protected.’
After two consecutive High Court judicial review decisions in November and December 2021, the Director-General of Health modified his decision about the release of data of unvaccinated Māori in the North Island/ Te Ika a Māui to the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency – the data being subsequently released with clear conditions.[i]