The New Zealand government’s 2026 / 27 Budget has allocated $300 million to support the first three years of Health New Zealand’s 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan (HDIP), alongside a $153.6 million cybersecurity package aimed at improving protection of patient information following recent cyber incidents.
The digital health funding sits within Budget 2026’s broader health package, which provides a total of more than $5.8 billion in new Vote Health operating funding across the forecast period – including a $1.37 billion annual uplift for Health NZ.
Budget documents describe the HDIP allocation as a “capital-to-operating funding transfer,” with $300m in total operating funding for “priority projects” funded through an equity withdrawal from Health NZ.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said the investment would help deliver the first three years of the HDIP, including replacing ageing devices, modernising radiology systems and upgrading core IT platforms.
The HDIP, released late last year, set out a 10-year roadmap for Health NZ to modernise digital infrastructure, stabilise critical systems, support clinicians, improve patient outcomes and enable more data-driven decision-making.
Budget 2026 also includes a separate $153.6m cybersecurity investment for Health NZ, with the government noting that recent cyber incidents, including in primary care, had highlighted the need to strengthen safeguards around patient information.
The cyber funding is intended to expand national cyber monitoring, strengthen data security processes and deliver critical IT safety upgrades across the health system.
The cyber package also includes support for primary care, with the government saying Health NZ would use scalable tools, including AI-enabled assessments, to improve cyber security maturity across the sector.
FUNDING WELCOME
The Digital Health Association (DHA) welcomed the Budget as a “significant step toward treating digital health as the critical infrastructure it is.”
DHA Chief Executive Stella Ward said the investment in cyber security of $153.6 million – including for primary care – recognised that protecting health information was a system-wide responsibility, “not one that can sit with any single organisation.”
Ms Ward noted that smaller primary care providers needed support to meet mandated standards and welcomed “the government’s commitment to making that possible.”
Meanwhile, Ms Ward said the HDIP funding of $300m was “the kind of sustained commitment a 10-year programme actually requires.”
“A modern, connected health system can’t be built on one-year allocations – and today’s Budget acknowledges that. Replacing ageing devices, modernising systems, and upgrading core IT platforms all support the health workforce in their daily mahi supporting patients,” Ms Ward said.
“It’s encouraging to see the Government committing to digital health improvements – which directly benefit the lives of patients.
“The ambulance’s electronic patient records rollout shows the government understands digital is fundamental to patient safety.
“Similarly, investment in joined-up radiology imaging and in the everyday infrastructure clinicians rely on will be felt directly by patients – faster diagnosis, fewer repeated tests, more time with the people who need it.”
Ms Ward said “work was now in the delivery,” noting “DHA’s 170+ member organisations bring the design, integration and operational capability to make this investment count – and we look forward to partnering with government, Health New Zealand and the wider sector to get the delivery right – particularly across primary care and aged care, which must not be afterthoughts in this plan.”
She added that the Budget followed the previous day’s independent review into the Manage My Health cyber incident, “a review that set out 26 recommendations the government has committed to acting on.”
“Taken together, they are a serious signal that digital health is being treated as core infrastructure, impacting patient safety. The sector will be watching the delivery and supporting it.”
