10 December 2025: Te Moana a Toi Iwi Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) is proud to stand alongside its Te Manawa Taki partners as part of a major kaupapa that will reshape how Māori understand and respond to the hauora needs of their communities.

The IMPBs — Te Moana a Toi, Te Taura Ora o Waiariki, Tūwharetoa, and Te Pūnanga Ora — have been working collectively to develop a world-class Māori data sharing and analysis platform.

The platform will allow the IMPBs to analyse health and community information through a Māori worldview, helping them understand:

• what whānau are experiencing

• where the system is working or failing

• what aspirations our communities hold

• where positive change can be made

• and how wider social factors — like housing, income, transport, and access to services — are impacting hauora

Instead of relying solely on government-held data, this initiative strengthens Māori rangatiratanga by giving the Boards a clearer, more accurate picture of the realities whānau face every day.

Hone Te Rire, Chair of Te Moana a Toi IMPB, says the platform gives Boards a stronger foundation to support whānau aspirations.

“Our region holds many unique challenges, and just as many strengths. This platform helps us understand both. It gives us a clearer line of sight to the needs of our whānau, and the confidence to drive changes that genuinely improve their hauora.”

With this platform, the IMPBs will be able to advocate more effectively with Te Whatu Ora and Primary Health Organisations, backed by region-specific insights into whānau needs and experiences.

The shared approach also brings long-term stability for the Boards, ensuring continuity of data and decision-making for future generations across Te Manawa Taki.

Hurricane Hunia, Project Lead and Designer, acknowledges the depth of collaboration behind the initiative.

“This has been a major piece of technical development. We’ve built a system that brings together data from multiple sources, cleans it, protects it, and presents it in a way that makes sense for Māori decision-makers. It’s designed to give our Boards real-time visibility of what’s happening for whānau across the rohe, and the tools to analyse trends, gaps, and opportunities. This platform is purpose-built for Māori — secure, scalable, and designed so the system finally serves our people, not the other way around.”

The project is well underway, with full implementation expected by mid-next year, when all Te Manawa Taki IMPBs will be able to use the system to guide their planning and advocacy in key hauora initiatives.

Hone says the kaupapa represents not just a new tool, but a new way of working together to uplift whānau across the rohe.

About Te Moana a Toi IMPB

Te Moana a Toi is the Iwi Māori Partnership Board for the rohe Mai i Ngā Kuri a Whārei ki Tihirau, representing the iwi and whānau of the Bay of Plenty. Our name connects us to our tūpuna Toi, a tohunga, navigator and explorer whose legacy lives on through Ngā Tini o Toi. His wisdom guides our commitment to Toi Ora — a strengths-based approach to wellbeing grounded in tangata whenua values. We work to understand the needs and aspirations of our communities and to shift the health system from crisis-driven responses to prevention, wellness and long-term prosperity for whānau. Our rohe is home to over 255,000 people, including a strong Māori population and one of the youngest demographics in Aotearoa.

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