Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora Women’s Health Strategy
Share a written submission on the Women’s Health Strategy
Kōrero mai | tell us your views
One way you can share your thoughts with us is as a written submission.
Your views will ensure that the Women’s Health Strategy is informed by a wide and diverse range of voices, experiences and knowledge and aspirations.
You can submit on behalf of organisation or collective, as a community group, marae or iwi, or as an individual or whānau. We are keen to hear from people within the health sector and people who support women in wider settings such as education, workplaces, and communities. The closing date for submissions is 17 March 2023.
How to share your submission
We have outlined key questions which you can use to guide your submission if you wish. Please also feel free to share your views in a way that suits you.
You can share your submission with us:
- by email
- by mail.
Email: Written submissions can be emailed into strategies@health.govt.nz. Submissions must be in Microsoft Word, pdf format, or in the body of an email.
Mail: Hard copies can be sent to:
Women’s Health Strategy
Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health
133 Molesworth Street
Thorndon 6012
Wellington
Use of your information and getting in touch
If you provide contact details, the Ministry may contact you to:
- hear more about the information you have provided in your submission
- ask for your agreement to use words from your submission in the Strategy and related documents.
If you do not want to be contacted by the Ministry, please say this in your submission.
Requests under the Official Information Act
Please note a summary of your submission may be published by the Ministry of Health. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
Any submission you make becomes public information. Anyone can ask for copies of all submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the information available, unless we have a good reason for withholding it. You can find those grounds in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
Reasons might include, it's commercially sensitive or it's personal information. However, any decision the Ministry makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may require the information be released. This may include personal details such as names and emails.
Topics to guide your submission
You may wish to discuss some of the following topics in your submission. You may also provide other information that relates to the scope of the women’s health strategy.
If you have experience and/or knowledge relating to specific groups of women, we invite you to reflect this in your submission.
About you and your vision
- About you/your group.
- Your vision for women’s health.
Wellbeing
- Things that contribute to, or influence the health and wellbeing of women.
- What health means to women and/or specific groups of women.[1]
Wellbeing needs
- Women’s health and wellbeing needs, aspirations and experiences.
- Differences between genders, and/or between specific groups of women.
Patterns and trends
- Medium to long-term patterns or trends in women’s health and wellbeing.
- Factors underlying medium to long-term trends or patterns.
The health system’s performance for women
- Women’s experiences of health system services.
- System strengths.
- Challenges and barriers in the system.
- How the health system responds to the needs of women and/or specific groups of women (using numerical data, experiences, and/or what you see and hear).
- Differences in experiences of the health system between genders and/or between groups of women.
Priorities for system change
- Existing initiatives, programmes or services (including ones outside of the health system) that the health system could learn from or better support to improve the health and wellbeing of women.
- Areas for the health system to prioritise efforts to improve health and wellbeing for women and/or groups of women.
- Ways for the health system to better work with communities and wider system supports (eg, local government, social services, education or housing) to improve the health and wellbeing of women and/or specific groups of women.
Health workforce
- Supporting the health workforce to meet the health workforce to meet the health and wellbeing needs of women, and/or specific groups of women.
[1] “Groups of women” may include different age groups, disability status, ethnicities and cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic demographics, or living circumstances (eg, experiencing homelessness/housing instability, sole parents, and women at risk of violence).