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February 02, 2026
Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group: Calls for Equity, Dignity, and Māori Voice
Waatea Team
Posted On February 2, 2026
The establishment of the Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group is being closely watched by Māori health advocates, who say its success will depend on whether it delivers real change for kaumātua – not just advice that sits on a shelf.
The advisory group has been tasked with providing guidance to the Government on the future of aged care in Aotearoa, at a time when the system is under growing strain from an ageing population, workforce shortages, and persistent inequities in access and outcomes.
For Māori, those pressures are compounded by long-standing systemic barriers.
Māori continue to experience poorer access to aged residential care, limited culturally appropriate services, and lower life expectancy – meaning many whānau interact with aged care later, and often in crisis.
Māori health leaders say any advisory group must confront those realities directly.
“Aged care isn’t just about beds and buildings,” says one Māori provider. “It’s about mana, whakapapa, and being cared for in ways that uphold who our kaumātua are.”
There are concerns that without strong Māori representation and authority, policy advice risks reinforcing a one-size-fits-all model that does not reflect Māori realities.
The advisory group is also expected to address workforce sustainability, with aged care facilities across the country struggling to recruit and retain staff.
Māori advocates say workforce solutions must include investment in Māori and iwi-led providers, fair pay, and cultural safety training – not just short-term recruitment fixes.
“Our people shouldn’t have to choose between care and culture,” one kaumātua advocate says. “Cultural safety is not an ‘extra’ – it’s essential.”
Many see the advisory group as an opportunity to reset how aged care is designed and delivered, particularly if it takes a Te Tiriti o Waitangi-aligned approach.
That would mean Māori involvement at decision-making level, not just consultation; recognition of whānau-based models of care; and funding structures that support care in the community, not only in institutions.
“Kaumātua want to age with dignity, connected to whānau and whenua,” says a Māori health researcher. “Policy needs to support that, not work against it.”
While the advisory group’s role is to provide recommendations, Māori leaders stress that outcomes – not intentions – will be the true measure of success.
“There have been plenty of reports,” one advocate says. “What’s needed now is political courage to act.”
As Aotearoa’s population continues to age, the decisions shaped by the Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group will have long-term consequences – particularly for Māori communities already navigating inequity.
For Radio Waatea, the message from whānau is clear: aged care reform must centre dignity, equity, and Māori voice – or risk repeating the failures of the past.
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