Eligibility Is a Ministerial Direction in the Gazette, and It Takes the Australians Back Out of the Residence Rule That Would Otherwise Cover Them
This replaces the general rule for you
A United Kingdom National Here Temporarily Is Covered by a 1982 Reciprocity Act, and Only for What That Agreement Requires
Clause B9 of the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011 adds a category that has nothing to do with a visa. A person is eligible if they are recognised by the Government of the United Kingdom as a national, are ordinarily resident in the territory of the United Kingdom as defined in the agreement scheduled to the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982, are in New Zealand on a temporary basis, and the services are ones that agreement requires to be provided. All four conditions have to hold at once, and the last is the limit: this is not general access to the health system but access to whatever the agreement covers. Health New Zealand's eligibility page spells out the territory as including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and reads 'temporary' as any stay that is not permanent, where becoming permanent would mean holding a residence class visa or New Zealand citizenship. A United Kingdom national who takes up residence here stops being covered by clause B9 and is covered by clause B3 instead, which is better: a residence class visa holder is eligible without qualification.
Who may use publicly funded health services in New Zealand is not in an Act and not in regulations. It is in the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, a direction the Minister of Health gave to every District Health Board under section 32 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, published in the New Zealand Gazette of 15 April 2011 at page 1221 as notice 2011-go2492. The Act it was made under has been repealed, but clause 30 of Schedule 1 to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 keeps such a direction in force until the Minister specifies an end date in the Gazette, and section 68(2) of that Act defines the people Pharmac exists to serve by reference to it. Clause B1(1) sets the test: a person is eligible if, at the time the services are received, they are in New Zealand and meet all the criteria of one or more of the twenty-six categories in Part B. Not a status held in the abstract - a status at the moment of treatment, and clause A4 says the direction has no retrospective effect, so treatment received before eligibility was acquired stays unfunded. The ordinary route is clause B3: a person who holds a residence class visa is eligible, full stop, with no waiting period and no contribution record. Then clause B3(2) does something that nothing else in New Zealand's immigration law does. It removes from that rule Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents who got their residence class visa by applying at the border under regulation 8 of the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010, and sends them to clauses B6 and B7 instead - where eligibility requires having been in New Zealand, or intending to stay, for at least two consecutive years counted from the first day of arrival. So the holder of a resident visa granted at Auckland airport under the trans-Tasman arrangement is a New Zealand resident for immigration purposes on day one and is not eligible for publicly funded health care on day one unless they can show an intention to stay two years. Everyone else holding the same class of visa is eligible immediately. Work visa holders are covered by clause B5 on a two-year test of a different kind: entitlement to work here for a period of at least two years from the first day as a work visa holder, or a shorter period that together with time already spent lawfully in New Zealand reaches two years. Reciprocal agreements fill two gaps: Australians who do not meet the two-year test get whatever the agreement under the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1999 requires, and United Kingdom nationals ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and here temporarily get what the 1982 reciprocity Act's agreement requires. Health New Zealand warns that the whole scheme changes on 1 December 2026.
At a glance
- The rule changes on 1 December 2026, and the instrument is now readable
- The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) (Eligibility) Regulations 2026 come into force on 1 December 2026 and set out the classes of eligibility that the 2011 Direction sets out today
Regulation 2. The explanatory note says the regulations retain the settings of the Direction with six listed changes.
- Waiting period for an Australian from 1 December 2026
- None: regulation 7 makes an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident eligible for all services, with no period of presence and no intention to stay
This removes the two-year test described below, and the explanatory note says so in terms: removed for consistency with New Zealand residence class visa holders.
- Where the rule lives
- A ministerial direction in the New Zealand Gazette, not an Act or a regulation
Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221, given under section 32 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000.
- Waiting period for a residence class visa holder
- None, under clause B3(1)
The clause says a person who holds a residence class visa is eligible, and adds no period of residence, contribution or enrolment.
- Waiting period for an Australian who got their visa at the border
- Two consecutive years in New Zealand, or an intention to stay that long, from the first day of arrival
Clauses B3(2), B6 and B7. The two-year period starts on the first day the person arrives in New Zealand.
- Work visa holders
- Eligible if entitled to work in New Zealand for 2 years or more
Clause B5. Time already spent lawfully in New Zealand before the work visa counts towards the two years.
- Number of eligibility categories
- 26, numbered B2 to B27
Counted from the contents page of the Direction as published in the Gazette.
- When eligibility is tested
- At the time the services are received, and it is never backdated
Clause B1(1) and clause A4, which says the direction does not have retrospective effect.
- Who settles a dispute
- The Ministry of Health, on written request
Clause B1(2). The Direction gives the Ministry no power to vary the criteria or to make an exception for an individual.
- Ambulance for an Australian visitor
- Not publicly funded
Health New Zealand's eligibility page states it. The Direction itself was not read for this point.
- Change announced
- The eligibility rules change on 1 December 2026
Health New Zealand's eligibility page says so and points at the Ministry of Health for the detail. That Ministry page could not be read - see the practical notes.
Requirements
- Being physically in New Zealand at the time the services are received
- Meeting every criterion of at least one of the twenty-six categories in Part B of the Direction
- For a residence class visa holder other than an Australian who applied at the border: nothing further
- For an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident who applied at the border: having been in New Zealand, or intending to stay, for at least two consecutive years from the first day of arrival
- For a work visa holder: entitlement to work in New Zealand for at least two years, counting time already spent lawfully here
In detail
A direction, not a statute, and its publisher is a gazette
New Zealand's health eligibility rule has an unusual shape for this corpus. It is not legislation, so it is not on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version with an 'as at' date. It is a direction the Minister gave to a set of statutory bodies, published once in the Gazette in April 2011 and never republished. The bodies it was addressed to - District Health Boards - were abolished in 2022, and what keeps the direction alive is a transitional clause in the Act that abolished them, which says a direction under section 32 of the repealed Act continues until the Minister publishes an end date in the Gazette. The practical consequence is that the authoritative text of this rule is a fifteen-year-old Gazette notice, and the way to know whether it has been replaced is to watch the Gazette rather than a statute page.
The Australian exception, why it runs the opposite way, and the date it ends
Everywhere else in New Zealand's immigration law, an Australian is treated better than other arrivals: no visa needed before travelling, no Electronic Travel Authority for a citizen, a resident visa granted at the border. In the health direction the direction of travel reverses. Clause B3 makes every residence class visa holder eligible; clause B3(2) then takes Australians who obtained that visa at the border back out of it and sends them to clauses B6 and B7, where they must have been here two consecutive years or intend to stay that long. The reason is visible in the mechanism rather than stated in the text: because the trans-Tasman arrangement makes residence available to an Australian on arrival without any assessment of settlement, the residence class visa stops being evidence that the holder is settling here, and the direction asks for that evidence separately. The test is 'has been in New Zealand or intends to stay', so it can be satisfied on day one by evidence of intention - Health New Zealand's page asks for a work contract, a long-term tenancy, or ownership or a mortgage. That is the law today and it has seven weeks to run. The Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) (Eligibility) Regulations 2026, made on 21 September 2026 and in force on 1 December 2026, move eligibility out of a ministerial direction and into secondary legislation, and regulation 7 puts an Australian citizen and an Australian permanent resident in Subpart 1 - people eligible for all services - beside regulation 6 for New Zealand citizens and residence class visa holders. No period of presence, no intention to stay, no question about how a visa was granted. The explanatory note states the reason without being asked: the requirement has been removed for consistency with New Zealand residence class visa holders. So the one place where New Zealand treated an Australian worse than everyone else closes on 1 December 2026, and after that date the regulation 8 border grant stops mattering to health eligibility at all.
Two different two-year tests
Both the Australian clauses and the work visa clause use two years, and they measure different things. B6 and B7 measure presence or intended presence, from the first day of arrival in New Zealand. B5 measures entitlement to work, from the first day in New Zealand as a holder of the work visa, and it allows time already spent lawfully in the country before the work visa to be added in. A work visa holder with an eighteen-month visa who has already been here nine months on a student visa is inside B5; the same person judged by B6's test would not be.
What eligibility is tested against
Clause B1(1) fixes eligibility to the moment of treatment and to physical presence in New Zealand. A person who becomes eligible later does not acquire funding for what was done earlier, because clause A4 denies the direction retrospective effect. The direction also contains its own dispute route and nothing else: clause B1(2) obliges the Ministry of Health to determine a question of eligibility if asked in writing, and gives it no power to waive a criterion.
Two instruments, and what has not been published
The regulations do not revoke the 2011 Direction. Nothing in their twenty-five regulations mentions it except the explanatory note, which says only that eligibility was previously specified in it. What ends the Direction is clause 30 of Schedule 1 to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, under which a ministerial direction given under the repealed Act continues in force and ceases to have effect on a date specified by the Minister in writing and published in the Gazette. No such notice was read for this record. So on the evidence read here the Direction is in force until the Minister gazettes an end date, the regulations are in force from 1 December 2026, and whether the two overlap is a question the instruments themselves do not answer.
What applies to you
A United Kingdom National Here Temporarily Is Covered by a 1982 Reciprocity Act, and Only for What That Agreement Requires
Clause B9 of the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011 adds a category that has nothing to do with a visa. A person is eligible if they are recognised by the Government of the United Kingdom as a national, are ordinarily resident in the territory of the United Kingdom as defined in the agreement scheduled to the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982, are in New Zealand on a temporary basis, and the services are ones that agreement requires to be provided. All four conditions have to hold at once, and the last is the limit: this is not general access to the health system but access to whatever the agreement covers. Health New Zealand's eligibility page spells out the territory as including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and reads 'temporary' as any stay that is not permanent, where becoming permanent would mean holding a residence class visa or New Zealand citizenship. A United Kingdom national who takes up residence here stops being covered by clause B9 and is covered by clause B3 instead, which is better: a residence class visa holder is eligible without qualification.
- Recognition by the Government of the United Kingdom as a national
- Being ordinarily resident in the territory of the United Kingdom as the 1982 agreement defines it
- Being in New Zealand on a temporary basis
- The services being ones the agreement requires to be provided
What the law says
«Pursuant to section 32 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 ("the Act"), the Minister of Health gives the following direction to every District Health Board.»District Health Boards were abolished by the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 and their functions passed to Health New Zealand. The direction is addressed to bodies that no longer exist and is kept alive by clause 30 of Schedule 1 to that Act.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«A person is eligible to receive services funded under the Act if, at the time the services are received, the person is in New Zealand and meets all applicable criteria of 1 or more categories of eligible persons specified in this Part.»About this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«A person who holds a residence class visa is eligible to receive services funded under the Act.»No waiting period, no contribution record and no enrolment condition appears in the clause.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Subclause (1) does not apply to Australian citizens and persons who hold a current permanent residence visa (including a resident return visa) issued by the Government of Australia who are granted a residence class visa as a result of an application under regulation 8 of the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010»This is the only instrument read for New Zealand that names regulation 8 expressly, and it names it in order to take the people it covers out of the rule the rest of the residence class is in.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«has been in New Zealand or intends to stay in New Zealand for at least 2 consecutive years.»The same words appear in clause B7(1)(b) for a holder of an Australian permanent residence or resident return visa. 'Intends' means the test can be met on arrival by evidence of intention rather than by waiting.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The 2-year period referred to in subclause (1)(b) starts on the first day that the person arrives in New Zealand.»About this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«the person is entitled to work in New Zealand for a period that equals or exceeds 2 years commencing on the person's first day in New Zealand as a holder of the work visa; or»The alternative in (b)(ii) adds time already spent lawfully in New Zealand before the work visa to the period the visa itself allows.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«the person is ordinarily resident in the territory of the United Kingdom as defined in the agreement set out in the Schedule of the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982; and»The other conditions are recognition as a national by the Government of the United Kingdom, being in New Zealand on a temporary basis, and the services being ones the agreement requires. The agreement itself was not read.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«This direction does not have retrospective effect.»About this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The Ministry of Health must, if requested in writing to do so, determine any question or dispute concerning whether a person is eligible to receive services funded under the Act.»About this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«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—»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
The two limbs are that it continues in force on and after the commencement date, and that it ceases to have effect on a date the Minister specifies in writing and publishes in the Gazette. Nothing was found stating such a date.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Changes to who can get publicly funded health services in New Zealand will take effect from 1 December 2026.»The page links to the Ministry of Health for the detail. That address returns 403 to every tool available here, so what changes is not recorded in this record.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Crown entity that funds and provides public health services in New Zealand, successor to the District Health Boards the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011 is addressed to. Its eligibility pages state which clause of the Direction each category comes from, which makes them unusually easy to check against the instrument, and they also state the documentary proof a provider will ask for - which the Direction does not.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It administers the eligibility rule and does not make it. Where its pages and the Direction differ, the Direction is the instrument. It must not be cited for the content of the reciprocal health agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom: its summaries of those are an agency's reading of treaties scheduled to the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1999 and the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982, and neither agreement is published here. The address matters here too. https://www.health.govt.nz/ returns HTTP 403 to Firecrawl and to a direct request alike, including the Ministry of Health page that Health New Zealand points at for the 1 December 2026 changes. The readable page is https://tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services/eligibility-explained, which serves content from healthnz.govt.nz; the similarly-named https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/health-services-and-programmes/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services redirects to a programmes index and is the wrong page.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«If you are visiting Aotearoa from Australia, you are not entitled to publicly funded emergency transport by ambulance.»An agency statement about how the reciprocal agreement is applied. The agreement under the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1999 was not read, so this is not traced to the instrument.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Crown entity that funds and provides public health services in New Zealand, successor to the District Health Boards the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011 is addressed to. Its eligibility pages state which clause of the Direction each category comes from, which makes them unusually easy to check against the instrument, and they also state the documentary proof a provider will ask for - which the Direction does not.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It administers the eligibility rule and does not make it. Where its pages and the Direction differ, the Direction is the instrument. It must not be cited for the content of the reciprocal health agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom: its summaries of those are an agency's reading of treaties scheduled to the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1999 and the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982, and neither agreement is published here. The address matters here too. https://www.health.govt.nz/ returns HTTP 403 to Firecrawl and to a direct request alike, including the Ministry of Health page that Health New Zealand points at for the 1 December 2026 changes. The readable page is https://tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services/eligibility-explained, which serves content from healthnz.govt.nz; the similarly-named https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/health-services-and-programmes/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services redirects to a programmes index and is the wrong page.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«These regulations come into force on 1 December 2026.»About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«7 Australian citizens and permanent residents A person is eligible to receive services funded under the Act if the person is—»It sits in Subpart 1, People eligible for all services, beside regulation 6 for New Zealand citizens and residence class visa holders. The two paragraphs that follow are an Australian citizen as defined in section 4 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 and a permanent resident as defined in section 5 of it. Nothing in the regulation asks how long the person has been here, how long they intend to stay, or how any New Zealand visa they hold was granted.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
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«the requirement for Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents to have been in, or intend to stay in, New Zealand for at least 2 consecutive years has been removed for consistency with New Zealand residence class visa holders:»The note says of itself that it is not part of the regulations but is intended to indicate their general effect.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
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«ceases to have effect on a date specified by the Minister in writing and published in the Gazette.»Quoted here for what ends the 2011 Direction. The Regulations 2026 contain no revocation of it; on their face the Direction ends only by a notice in the Gazette, and no such notice was read.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
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Practical notes
The Ministry of Health's own eligibility page at https://www.health.govt.nz/regulation-legislation/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services returns HTTP 403 to the extraction service and to a direct request, and opens in a browser after a challenge. It was read that way on 11 October 2026 and is not quoted here, because what it names - the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) (Eligibility) Regulations 2026 - is published as an instrument and is quoted from the instrument instead. The page also offers the Ministry's guidance on the new categories as a DOCX and a PDF; neither was read.
The Direction is quoted from the New Zealand Gazette's HTML of notice 2011-go2492. A PDF of the same notice is offered at the same address and was not separately stored. No amendment to the 2011 Direction was searched for in the Gazette, so an amending notice between 2011 and 2026 would not have been seen - this is the most likely way the text quoted here could be out of date.
The agreements under the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1999 and the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982 were not read. What they actually cover, as against what the eligibility clauses say about them, is therefore not stated here.
Clauses B10 to B27 - refugees, protected persons, trafficking victims, scholarship students, children, pregnant women, infectious disease, emergencies, personal injury and prisoners - were read in the contents list but not in full, except where quoted.
Nothing here states what services are funded or what they cost. The Direction says who is eligible, not what eligibility buys, and the pharmaceutical schedule, hospital charges and primary care subsidies were not read.
- issuesHealth and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, New Zealand Gazette notice 2011-go2492
New Zealand Gazette, Department of Internal Affairs
About this source
The official newspaper of the New Zealand Government, and for this corpus the only publisher of an instrument that decides a core topic: the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011, notice 2011-go2492, Gazette issue 52 of 15 April 2011, page 1221. A ministerial direction is not legislation, so it does not appear on legislation.govt.nz and has no consolidated version; the Gazette notice is the text. Each notice carries its notice number, issue number, page number and publication date, and offers the same document as a PDF at the same address.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A Gazette notice is published once and never revised. It carries no 'as at' date and no amendment notes, so a notice read today looks identical to the day it was gazetted even if a later notice has amended or revoked it. Finding that later notice is a separate search, and failing to do it is the main way a quotation from here goes stale. It is evidence of what was gazetted on a date, not evidence of what is in force now.
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- consolidatesPae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, version as at 10 July 2026
New Zealand Legislation, Parliamentary Counsel Office · consolidated to 2026-07-10
Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersEligibility for publicly funded health and disability services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
About this source
The Crown entity that funds and provides public health services in New Zealand, successor to the District Health Boards the Health and Disability Services Eligibility Direction 2011 is addressed to. Its eligibility pages state which clause of the Direction each category comes from, which makes them unusually easy to check against the instrument, and they also state the documentary proof a provider will ask for - which the Direction does not.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It administers the eligibility rule and does not make it. Where its pages and the Direction differ, the Direction is the instrument. It must not be cited for the content of the reciprocal health agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom: its summaries of those are an agency's reading of treaties scheduled to the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1999 and the Health Benefits (Reciprocity with the United Kingdom) Act 1982, and neither agreement is published here. The address matters here too. https://www.health.govt.nz/ returns HTTP 403 to Firecrawl and to a direct request alike, including the Ministry of Health page that Health New Zealand points at for the 1 December 2026 changes. The readable page is https://tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services/eligibility-explained, which serves content from healthnz.govt.nz; the similarly-named https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/health-services-and-programmes/eligibility-for-publicly-funded-health-services redirects to a programmes index and is the wrong page.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source