Research Advisory Group — Māori

The Research Advisory Group — Māori (RAG-M) was originally established as a subcommittee of the Māori Partnership Board (MPB) of the Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) to provide a more effective engagement point for researchers requiring Māori advice and input.

The MPB was mandated by mana whenua (Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Toa and Te Ati Awa ki Whakarongotai).

With the disestablishment of district health boards in 2022, DHB committees and sub-committees such as the Research Advisory Group — Māori (RAG-M) are no longer operational.

Māori endorsement of research projects is still required for locality approval. We will contract individual providers for this service. This group is called the Interim Research Advisory Group — Māori (IRAG-M).

The purpose of IRAG-M is:

• to provide a pathway for researchers to have their research proposals considered from a Māori perspective
• to support more robust information on eliminating ethnic inequities
• to increase Māori participation in research and maintain culturally safe practices.

IRAG-M encourages Māori participation in a safe and appropriate environment to improve the health status of Māori. IRAG-M is guided by the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi: partnership, participation and protection.

Members are individually contracted providers who work as a team to review and endorse health research projects in Wellington, Hutt and Kapiti.

IRAG-M is part of the approval process for all research proposals. IRAG-M meet monthly to review and discuss research proposals as part of the locality approval process.

In order to get locality approval, you must have:

• ethics approval from the Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDEC) or university ethics panel
• endorsement from IRAG-M.

Locality process

The overall process of gaining locality approval can take at least 8 weeks.

The IRAG-M endorsement process can take a few weeks, depending on the decision from your original application.

The IRAG-M application can run in parallel to the ethics submission.

Committee members

Committee members are prominent Māori health professionals within public health in Aotearoa. Members come from various backgrounds, including:

• clinicians
• epidemiology
• academia and research.

Committee members are independent of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Required documents

The following requirements need to be submitted. There are no expedited reviews.

You must fill in the following documents:

• Research office — locality application form [DOCX, 258 KB]
• IRAG-M Māori review of research application form [DOCX, 464 KB]
• Fees payment form — external applications [PDF, 574 KB]

You also need:

• a study protocol
• an ethics application form and approval letter¹
• a patient information sheet and consent forms (if applicable)
• any other relevant documentation specific to your study
• evidence of Māori support (for example: from other staff or Whānau Care).

You will also need to provide a completed data and tissue management plan.

Data and Tissue Management Plan templates — Health and Disability Ethics Committees (external link)

This needs to state:

• how you will store Māori data or tissue
• where it will be located
• how long it will be stored for
• exactly what purposes the data or tissue will be used for at the time and in the future. 

For clinical trials, you must also state how you will consider and respect the principles of whakapapa, whanaungatanga, rangatiratanga, kotahitanga, manaakitanga, and kaitiakitanga in your daily work and communication for all study participants.

¹You can submit while your ethics approval is pending, but you cannot start study until you have sent the ethics approval to the research office and IRAG-M and locality approval has been granted. Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDEC) letters will be sent out within 4 weeks of their meetings.

Māori data sovereignty

The Māori data framework we use is Te Mana Raraunga.

Te Mana Raraunga | Māori Data Sovereignty Network (external link)

Data sovereignty typically refers to the understanding that data is subject to the laws of the nation in which it is stored.

Indigenous data sovereignty perceives data as subject to the laws of the nation from which it is collected.

Māori data sovereignty recognises that Māori data should be subject to Māori governance. Māori data sovereignty supports tribal sovereignty and the realisation of Māori and iwi aspirations.

Review the following documents when filling out your data or tissue management plans:

• Principles of Māori Data Sovereignty — Te Mana Raraunga (external link)
• Māori data sovereignty and offshoring Māori data — Te Kāhui Raraunga (external link)
• Māori data governance model — Te Kāhui Raraunga (external link)

Cost

There is a cost to having your application reviewed by the IRAG-M committee. The review cost for commercial sponsors is $1,250. For all other projects, the review cost is $350. This can be charged to your department or you can fund yourself.

To align with rising inflation and increasing operational costs, the 2025 costs have been adjusted. We remain dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service and greatly appreciate your understanding and continued partnership.

2025 dates

Below are the submission dates. The cut-off is 5pm on the submission date listed. We suggest submitting as early as possible.

Expect a response within 10 working days of IRAG-M meeting.

Priority will be given to the first 10 applications.

For general enquiries about the Research Advisory Group — Māori, email ragm@ccdhb.org.nz

For research enquiries, email res-research@ccdhb.org.nz

Visit us in the Clinical Services Block at Wellington Regional Hospital. Take the purple lifts to Level 8.

Wellington Regional Hospital maps — Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (external link)

Refer to this document for guidance on completing your application and meeting the minimum requirements for Māori consultation:

A framework for Maōri review of research in district health boards [PDF, 954 KB]

We recommend you browse through the resources on Te Kāhui Raraunga.

Te Kāhui Raraunga (external link)

Other helpful resources:

• Guidelines for Researchers on Health Research involving Māori — Health Research Council of New Zealand (external link)
• Consolidated criteria for strengthening reporting of health research involving indigenous peoples: the CONSIDER statement — Springer Nature (external link)
• Understanding Māori rights and interests in intellectual property arising from research and innovation — The University of Waikato (external link)
• Participant Information Sheet templates — Health and Disability Ethics Committees (external link)
• Kaupapa Māori-informed approaches to support data rights and self-determination 1 — University of Otago (external link)