3New Zealand health strategy applies until health strategies take effect

1. Sections 41 to 49 (which require the making of the New Zealand Health Strategy, the Hauora Māori Strategy, the Pacific Health Strategy, the Health of Disabled People Strategy, the Women’s Health Strategy, and the Rural Health Strategy) do not take effect until 12 months after the commencement date.

2. Until the date that sections 41 to 49 take effect, the New Zealand health strategy determined under section 8(1) of the former Act continues in force and applies with all necessary modifications as if it were a health strategy under this Act.

4Interim Health Plan applies until first New Zealand Health Plan takes effect

1. The first New Zealand Health Plan made under subpart 6 of Part 2 must take effect on a date no later than 2 years after the commencement date.

2. The Interim Health Plan—

3. applies on and from the commencement date until the date that the first New Zealand Health Plan takes effect; and
4. until that date, must be treated as if it were the New Zealand Health Plan.

5. In this clause, Interim Health Plan means a plan approved by the Minister for the purpose of this clause.

5Determination of localities and locality plans (Repealed)

6Initial appointment of members of Hauora Māori Advisory Committee

1. Repealed

2. On the commencement date, the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee comprises 8 members appointed—

3. by the Minister after consulting the Minister for Māori Development; and
4. for a term not exceeding 2 years.

5. The Minister must, on the recommendation of the committee, appoint a chairperson, and, if no recommendation is made, the Minister must appoint the chairperson.

6. Section 87(4) applies to the committee and the appointment of its members.

7. The Minister may, by written notice, terminate the appointment of a member.

7Continuation of New Zealand disability strategy

1. Despite the repeal of the former Act,—

2. the New Zealand disability strategy determined under section 8(2) of that Act continues in force; and
3. the Minister of the Crown who is responsible for disability issues—
   1. must continue to determine a strategy, called the New Zealand disability strategy; and
   2. may amend or replace that strategy at any time; and
   3. must continue to comply with the requirements of section 8(3) to (5) of the former Act.

4. This subpart expires and is repealed on a date determined by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister of the Crown responsible for disability issues.

5. An Order in Council made under this clause is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

8Continuation of certain committees established under former Act

1. A mortality review committee appointed under section 59 of the former Act continues as if it were a mortality review committee appointed under section 82 of this Act.

2. A committee established by the Minister under section 11 of the former Act continues as if it were established under section 87 of this Act.

3. The national advisory committee on ethics governing health and disability support services appointed under section 13 of the former Act continues as if it were appointed under section 92 of this Act.

4. The pharmacology and therapeutics advisory committee established in accordance with section 50(1)(a) of the former Act continues as if it were established in accordance with section 71(1)(a) of this Act.

5. The consumer advisory committee established in accordance with section 50(1)(b) of the former Act continues as if it were established in accordance with section 71(1)(b) of this Act.

6. A person who, immediately before the commencement date, was a member of a committee referred to in subclauses (1) to (5), continues, subject to any terms and conditions of their appointment,—

7. to be a member of the committee; and
8. to hold any office on the committee that they held immediately before the commencement date.

9District Health Boards disestablished

1. On the commencement date, all DHBs are disestablished.

10Transfers

1. On the commencement date,—

2. all assets belonging to a DHB vest in Health New Zealand; and
3. all information and documents held by a DHB are held by Health New Zealand; and
4. all money payable to or by a DHB becomes payable to or by Health New Zealand; and
5. all rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, undertakings, and engagements of a DHB become the rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, undertakings, and engagements of Health New Zealand; and
6. subject to subclause (4), every employee of a DHB becomes an employee of Health New Zealand on the same terms and conditions as applied immediately before they became an employee of Health New Zealand; and
7. anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, by or in relation to a DHB is to be treated as having been done, or having been omitted to be done, or to be done, by or in relation to Health New Zealand; and
8. proceedings, inquiries, and investigations under any enactment that may be commenced, continued, or enforced by or against a DHB (including as an interested party or intervenor) or in relation to a DHB may instead be commenced, continued, or enforced by or against or in relation to Health New Zealand without amendment to the proceedings; and
9. a matter or thing that could, but for this clause, have been done or completed by a DHB may be done or completed by Health New Zealand.

10. The transfer of information from a DHB to Health New Zealand under subclause (1) does not constitute an action that is a breach of information privacy principle 8 or 11 within the meaning of the Privacy Act 2020.

11. The disestablishment of a DHB does not, by itself, affect any of the following matters:

12. any decision made, or anything done or omitted to be done, by a DHB in relation to the performance or exercise of its functions, powers, or duties under any enactment:
13. any proceedings commenced by or against a DHB:
14. any other matter or thing arising out of a DHB’s performance or exercise, or purported performance or exercise, of its functions, powers, or duties under any enactment.

15. Despite subclause (1)(e), a chief executive of a DHB does not become an employee of Health New Zealand under this schedule.

11Consequences of transfer for purposes of Inland Revenue Acts

1. For the purposes of the Inland Revenue Acts (as defined in section 3(1) of the Tax Administration Act 1994), a DHB and Health New Zealand are treated as the same person.

12References to DHB, DHB’s geographical area, or resident population

1. On and from the commencement date, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference in any enactment, notice, instrument, contract, or other document to—

2. a District Health Board or DHB must be read as a reference to Health New Zealand; and
3. a DHB’s geographical area must be read as a reference to the geographical area that the DHB previously represented, as set out in Schedule 1 of the former Act; and
4. a DHB’s resident population must be read as a reference to the resident population of the geographical area that the DHB previously represented, as set out in Schedule 1 of the former Act.

13References to DHB in visas granted under Immigration Act 2009

1. On and from the commencement date, a reference to a District Health Board or DHB in a condition imposed on a visa granted under the Immigration Act 2009 must be read as a reference to Health New Zealand.

14Effect of transfer of contracts and engagements of DHBs

1. To avoid doubt, the transfer of a contract or an engagement of a DHB under clause 10 does not affect the scope of the contract or engagement or the application of the terms and conditions of the contract or engagement.

15Collective agreements

1. If a collective agreement to which more than 1 DHB is a party contains terms or conditions that apply to particular DHBs only, those terms or conditions—

2. apply only to people who, immediately before the commencement date, were parties to the agreement or covered by those terms or conditions:
3. must be offered by Health New Zealand to employees who, immediately before the commencement date, would have been offered those terms or conditions—
   1. unless the parties to the agreement agree otherwise; or
   2. until the agreement expires or otherwise ceases to have effect.

4. A collective agreement that covers the employees of some but not all DHBs continues after the commencement date to cover only those employees.

16Application of section 62(4) of Employment Relations Act 2000

1. Subclause (2) applies if—

2. section 62 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (the Act) applies to an employee of Health New Zealand; and
3. a collective agreement covering that employee’s work is in force on the commencement date.

4. If this subclause applies, the number of the employer’s employees referred to in section 62(4) of the Act is taken to mean the number of the employer’s employees within the geographical region of the former DHB in which the employee’s work will be performed.

5. Subclause (2) applies—

6. unless the parties to the collective agreement agree otherwise; or
7. until the collective agreement expires or otherwise ceases to have effect.

17Final report of DHBs

1. The final report of each DHB that is required under section 45J of the Public Finance Act 1989 must, despite subsection (2)(b) of that section, be provided by the close of 31 December 2022.

18Health Promotion Agency disestablished

1. On the commencement date, the HPA is disestablished.

19Transfers

1. On the commencement date,—

2. all assets belonging to the HPA vest in Health New Zealand; and
3. all information and documents held by the HPA are held by Health New Zealand; and
4. all money payable to or by the HPA becomes payable to or by Health New Zealand; and
5. all rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, and engagements of the HPA become the rights, liabilities, contracts, entitlements, and engagements of Health New Zealand; and
6. subject to subclause (4), every employee of the HPA becomes an employee of Health New Zealand on the same terms and conditions as applied immediately before they became an employee of Health New Zealand; and
7. anything done, or omitted to be done, or that is to be done, by or in relation to the HPA is to be treated as having been done, or having been omitted to be done, or to be done, by or in relation to Health New Zealand; and
8. proceedings that may be commenced, continued, or enforced by or against the HPA (including as an interested party or intervenor) may instead be commenced, continued, or enforced by or against Health New Zealand without amendment to the proceedings; and
9. a matter or thing that could, but for this clause, have been done or completed by the HPA may be done or completed by Health New Zealand.

10. The transfer of information from the HPA to Health New Zealand under subclause (1) does not constitute an action that is a breach of information privacy principle 8 or 11 within the meaning of the Privacy Act 2020.

11. The disestablishment of the HPA does not, by itself, affect any of the following matters:

12. any decision made, or anything done or omitted to be done, by the HPA in relation to the performance or exercise of its functions, powers, or duties under any enactment:
13. any proceedings commenced by or against the HPA:
14. any other matter or thing arising out of the HPA’s performance or exercise, or purported performance or exercise, of its functions, powers, or duties under any enactment.

15. Despite subclause (1)(e), the chief executive of the HPA does not become an employee of Health New Zealand under this schedule.

20Final report of HPA

1. The final report of the HPA that is required under section 45J of the Public Finance Act 1989 must, despite subsection (2)(b) of that section, be provided by the close of 31 December 2022.

21Consequences of transfer for purposes of Inland Revenue Acts

1. For the purposes of the Inland Revenue Acts (as defined in section 3(1) of the Tax Administration Act 1994), the HPA and Health New Zealand are treated as the same person.

22Transfer of certain employees of Ministry of Health

1. This clause applies to an employee of the Ministry of Health if, before the commencement date,—

2. the employee performed the functions or duties, or exercised the powers, of a specified departmental agency; and
3. the employee is notified in writing by the chief executive of that departmental agency and the Director-General that—
   1. this clause applies to the employee; and
   2. on the commencement date, the employee will become an employee of Health New Zealand or the Māori Health Authority, as the case may be.

4. On the commencement date, the employee becomes an employee of Health New Zealand or the Māori Health Authority, as the case may be, on the same terms and conditions that applied to the employee immediately before the commencement date.

5. The following applies if, immediately before the commencement date, the employee was covered by a collective agreement (the earlier agreement) between the chief executive of the Ministry of Health and a union of which the employee was a member (the union):

6. on the commencement date, Health New Zealand or the Māori Health Authority, as the case may be, and the union are parties to a new collective agreement:
7. the terms and conditions of the new collective agreement are the same as the earlier agreement, subject to any necessary modifications:
8. the employee is covered by the new collective agreement as long as they remain a member of the union.

9. To avoid doubt, subclause (3)—

10. does not entitle an employee who was not covered by the earlier agreement to be covered by the new collective agreement; and
11. does not prevent the parties to the new collective agreement from varying or terminating the agreement in accordance with the terms of the agreement and other applicable law.

12. Clause 24(b) does not apply to this clause.

23Interpretation

1. In this subpart, unless the context otherwise requires,—

   entity A means one of the following, as the case may be:

   1. a DHB:
   2. the HPA:
   3. in relation to an employee to whom clause 22 applies, the Ministry of Health

   entity B means Health New Zealand or the Māori Health Authority, as the case may be

   redundancy payment includes any payment or other benefit provided on the ground of a person’s position being disestablished or changed.

24Restriction on redundancy payments and continuation of collective employment agreements

1. If the rights and obligations of entity A under a contract of service between entity A and its employee are transferred to entity B by operation of clause 10, 19, or 22,—

2. an employee who is to be transferred by operation of clause 10, 19, or 22 is not entitled to a redundancy payment; and
3. if those rights and obligations arise by virtue of a collective employment agreement, the collective employment agreement continues, on and from the commencement date, to apply on the same terms (including any terms relating to new employees) as if it were an agreement made between entity B, any union that is a party to it, and the employee.

25Employment continuous for purpose of certain entitlements

1. If an employee of entity A is moving by operation of clause 10, 19, or 22 to be an employee of entity B, their employment is to be treated as continuous for the purposes of—

2. entitlements under the following provisions in Part 2 of the Holidays Act 2003:
   1. subpart 1 (annual holidays); and
   2. subpart 3 (public holidays); and
   3. subpart 4 (sick leave and bereavement leave); and
   4. subpart 5 (family violence leave); and
3. entitlements to leave under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987; and
4. the KiwiSaver Act 2006; and
5. entitlements under the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956; and
6. entitlements or obligations that—
   1. are under any other enactment or under a contract; and
   2. relate to employment.

7. For the purpose of subclause (1)(a),—

8. the period of employment of the employee in entity A that ends with the date on which the employee moved to entity B must be treated as a period of employment with entity B for the purpose of determining the employee’s entitlement to annual holidays, sick leave, bereavement leave, and family violence leave; and
9. the chief executive of entity A must not pay the employee for annual holidays or alternative holidays not taken before the date on which the employee moved to the position in entity B; and
10. the chief executive of entity B must recognise the employee’s entitlement to—
    1. any sick leave, including any sick leave carried over under section 66 of the Holidays Act 2003, not taken before the date on which the employee moved to the position in entity B; and
    2. any annual holidays not taken before the date on which the employee moved to the position in entity B; and
    3. any alternative holidays not taken or exchanged for payment under section 61 of that Act before the date on which the employee moved to the position in entity B; and
    4. any holidays not taken before the date on which the employee moved to the position in entity B in relation to which there was an agreement between the employee and entity A under section 44A or 44B of that Act.

11. For the purpose of subclause (1)(b),—

12. the period of employment of the employee in entity A that ends with the date on which the employee moved to entity B must be treated as a period of employment with entity B; and
13. the chief executive of entity B must treat any notice given to or by the chief executive of entity A under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 as if it had been given to or by the chief executive of entity B.

14. For the purpose of subclause (1)(c), the employment of the employee in the position with entity B is not new employment within the meaning of that term in the KiwiSaver Act 2006.

15. For the purpose of subclause (1)(d), in the definition of Government service in section 2(1) of the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956, a health service includes, for the avoidance of doubt, Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority.

26Application of sections 14 and 15 of Health Sector Transfers Act 1993

1. Section 14 of the Health Sector Transfers Act 1993—

2. applies with all necessary modifications to a person who becomes an employee of entity B by operation of clause 10, 19, or 22; and
3. must be read as if the contract of service were transferred under clause 10, 19, or 22 of this schedule.

4. Section 15 of the Health Sector Transfers Act 1993 applies to an employee who becomes an employee of entity B by operation of clause 10, 19, or 22.

27Employment policies

1. The employment policies of entity A—

2. continue to apply after the commencement date—
   1. in relation to an employee who becomes an employee of entity B by operation of clause 10, 19, or 22; and
   2. with all necessary modifications; and
3. may be replaced by entity B by written notice to that employee.

4. Entity B must undertake a reasonable consultation process before introducing any employment policy that is reasonably likely to have a material effect on that employee.

28Effect of subparts 4 to 7 and other provisions

1. Nothing effected or authorised by subparts 4 to 7 or any other provision of this Act—

2. places the Crown, a health entity, or any other person in breach of contract or confidence, or makes any of them liable for a civil wrong; or
3. places any of those persons or any other person in breach of an enactment, a rule of law, or a provision of a contract that prohibits, restricts, or regulates the assignment or transfer of property or the disclosure of information; or
4. entitles a person to terminate or cancel a contract or an arrangement, or to accelerate the performance of an obligation, or to impose a penalty or an increased charge; or
5. releases a surety from an obligation; or
6. invalidates or discharges a contract or surety.

29Effect of provisions in subparts 4 to 7

1. A provision in subparts 4 to 7 (a relevant provision) has effect despite any restriction, prohibition, or other provision in any enactment, rule of law, or agreement that would otherwise apply.

2. However, an Order in Council may—

3. apply a provision in any enactment or rule of law that, but for subclause (1), would apply in relation to a relevant provision; and
4. specify how the provision is to apply.

5. An Order in Council under subclause (2) may be made only on the recommendation of the Minister after being satisfied that applying the provision—

6. is necessary or desirable for the purpose of any transfer or other matter to which the relevant provision relates; and
7. is no broader than is reasonably necessary to address the matter giving rise to it.

8. An Order in Council under subclause (2) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

30Ministerial directions

1. Despite the repeal of the former Act, a ministerial direction given under section 32 of that Act or section 103 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 in relation to an entity established under the former Act—

2. continues in force on and after the commencement date; and
3. ceases to have effect on a date specified by the Minister in writing and published in the Gazette.

31Notices relating to payment arrangements

1. Despite the repeal of the former Act, a notice given under section 88 of that Act—

2. continues in force on and after the commencement date; and
3. is deemed to have been made under section 94 of this Act.