Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) is in the process of rolling out a new Master Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) between Health NZ and all Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) across the motu.
Health NZ are making this change to modernise how data is shared between Health NZ and the primary care sector.
Currently data sharing arrangements are fragmented and based on older documentation. They may not meet current legal and privacy standards, including the Government Chief Digital Officer’s Information Sharing Standard (GCO ISS), which came into effect on 1 July 2025.
To address this, Health NZ has developed a new legally binding ISA template for sharing data with PHOs. This will help ensure our data sharing is safe, consistent, and compliant with best practice. The new Information Sharing Agreement has been carefully designed to meet current legal and privacy standards. It has been reviewed and approved by Health NZ’s Head of Privacy and Principal Legal Counsel and includes clear responsibilities for both Health NZ and PHOs.
It also supports safe subcontracting arrangements and requires appropriate privacy and security assessments for any third-party providers. These steps help ensure that personal health information is protected and used responsibly, while enabling better data sharing to support care and system improvement.
The new Information Sharing Agreement includes clear schedules that outline what data is being shared for what purposes, how the data will be shared, and the agreements on how the data will be used.
We’ve been working closely with South Island | Te Waipounamu PHO to develop the first version of this agreement. They’ll be the first to sign, and we’re starting that process now.
Over the next few months, we will roll out the ISA to all PHOs across the motu. We’ll be in touch soon to begin discussions with PHOs outside of South Island |Te Waipounamu. Once the Information Sharing Agreements are signed, Health NZ will be able to share a consistent set of data with PHOs.
We also want to acknowledge other important work happening in the data space, including the development of the Shared Digital Health Record (SDHR), the National Primary Care Dataset (NPCDS), and ongoing work with the Primary Care Health Target (PCHT).
These initiatives serve different purposes, and while there may be some overlap in these projects, overtime we will establish clear boundaries in term of the type of data collected, for what reason and align these projects to best practice data sharing standards. the data collected, we plan to work with you to develop the Information Sharing Agreement further to help manage this. That could include using tailored approaches schedules for each type of data use, whether for service delivery, performance monitoring, or system improvement.
The first step for requesting new information sharing schedules under an existing Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) is to make a request by email to data- enquiries@tewhatuora.govt.nz.
The Data Services team, who manage the data enquiries mailbox, will send you a form to complete outlining the data you would like, the purpose(s) for which you intend to use the data, and other details.
The request form will be reviewed by the relevant data stewards and business units, and by our legal, privacy, and data governance teams. We may come back to you with further questions as needed.
Once approved, we will draft an additional Schedule to the Information Sharing Agreement we have with your organisation, and the Data Services team will work with you to agree the details and logistics of the data to be shared. Questions If you have any questions, please email our team on primary.care@tewhatuora.govt.nz.
If you have any questions, please email our team on primary.care@tewhatuora.govt.nz.