Māori doctors tomorrow's health leaders

Māori doctors are tomorrow’s health leaders, conference told

NZ Doctor 25 September 2026

The health sector’s demographic makeup is changing, with Māori playing a greater role as clinicians, investors and patients, says Ngāti Hine Health Trust chief executive Tamati Shepherd-Wipiiti. 

Speaking at the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association’s annual conference in Auckland yesterday, Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Kahu) says Māori are among the country’s youngest and fastest-growing populations.

“By early 2040, around one in three tamariki in Aotearoa are projected to be Māori. Nationally, that tells us something about how important we are in terms of where New Zealand is heading,” he says.

“So, whether the health system is publicly funded, privately insured, supported by iwi initiatives, or self-funded by individuals, Māori will make up an increasingly important proportion, and they will want to access healthcare systems.”

Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti has held senior roles at Queensland Health and PwC New Zealand, where he advised on private hospital services, strategy and commissioning. His speech was titled Hauora Māori – Kicking Goals and Smashing Targets – Could They Be Your Future Partners? 

Changing face of the healthcare workforce

“This is not simply, and importantly, an equity issue. Ultimately, it’s a business issue”

He says Māori will play a greater role in the health workforce over the next decade. He cited the Medical Council’s 2025 New Zealand Medical Workforce Survey Report, which found 51.9 per cent of Māori doctors were house officers and registrars, compared with 27.4 per cent of European doctors.

“Māori doctors are represented in junior medical roles at roughly twice the rate of European doctors. These are tomorrow’s specialists, tomorrow’s surgeons, tomorrow’s clinical leaders. 

“The next generation of healthcare leadership is already in the system and they’re deciding where should I work; they’re deciding how will I build my career; they’re deciding which organisations have values that are consistent with mine and where do I belong,” Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti says. 

The Medical Council’s 2026 New Zealand Medical Workforce Survey Report, released in August, found half of Māori doctors were aged 34 or younger. The number of Māori doctors had risen from 1053 in 2025 to 1125 in 2026, accounting for 5.8 per cent of the medical workforce.

Workforce pressures 

Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti says health providers need to ask whether Māori clinicians will feel welcome and respected in their workplaces, and see their values reflected in how care is delivered.

“Because organisations that can attract clinicians will have competitive advantage. Those that can’t, will face increasing workforce pressures,” he says.

“This is not simply, and importantly, an equity issue. Ultimately, it’s a business issue.”

The growing Māori economy

Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti says his corporate experience taught him to follow the data and the money. He cited a 2023 report by consultants BERL for the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment that put the Māori asset base at $126 billion, up from $69 billion in 2018. The report put the Māori economy’s contribution to GDP at $32 billion, or 8.9 per cent, up from $17 billion, or 6.5 per cent, over the same period. 

“But let’s take those big figures down to a very real level and think about what that actually means on the ground,” Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti says.  

“I think you can see it right in this town. We only need to look at Ngāti Whātua and the relationship they have with nib in terms of their insured population and Tend Health...” 

Māori role in major health deals 

In 2018, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei launched a partnership with insurer nib which now provides hapū members with cover for surgery, hospital and GP visits, mental health services and dental treatment.

Mr Shepherd-Wipiiti also pointed to Tend Health’s $270 million purchase of Green Cross Health’s medical division, completed on 31 July. Ngāi Tahu helped finance the deal, increasing its stake in Tend Health Holdings from 0.8 to 24.7 per cent.

Māori will increasingly be patients, clinicians, investors and partners in the health system, and providers should engage with them, he says.

“This is the future, and it’s smart business.”