About the Royal Commission of Inquiry Mō te Uiui a te Kōmihana Rōera

Te Tira Ārai Urutā the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry COVID-19 Lessons Learned was established by the Government in December 2022 to help strengthen Aotearoa New Zealand’s preparedness for, and response to, future pandemics by capturing the lessons learned from our COVID-19 experience.

The Royal Commission is an independent inquiry. Phase One of the Inquiry was led by three Commissioners: Professor Tony Blakely (Chair), John Whitehead CNZM KStJ and (from August 2024) Grant Illingworth KC. Hon Hekia Parata (Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tahu) also served as a Commissioner from December 2022 to November 2023.

During Phase One, we were tasked with looking at and considering for the future:

• The public health response and delivery of health services – this includes things like border closures and MIQ arrangements; the approval and mandating of vaccines; lockdowns and isolation arrangements; as well as vaccine passes, gathering limits and personal protective equipment.
  
  
• The provision of goods and services – this includes things like how people’s everyday needs were met during the pandemic, such as the provision of lifeline utilities and services, e.g. water and electricity; how education and childcare services were delivered; and other essential services that the Government provides, like regular superannuation payments or housing.
  
  
• The economic response – this includes things like how financial support was provided to individuals and businesses; exemptions that were put in place for specific industries like farming, for example; and the Government’s economic response more generally.
  
  
• Government communication, engagement and decision-making – this includes things like how people and communities were communicated and engaged with during the pandemic, in order to limit the spread of the virus and ensure people were kept safe; and what sort of decision-making structures and arrangements might be used or put in place during a pandemic that continues for a long time.

The Inquiry was directed to look at what kinds of legislative and policy settings and delivery approaches could improve Aotearoa New Zealand’s preparedness and response to a future pandemic, and the interests of Māori in the context of the pandemic consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi relationships.

The Inquiry was also tasked with considering how to best support the wellbeing of essential workers, and communities and population groups who are likely to be most impacted by a pandemic.

Note: From 29 November 2024, Phase Two of the Inquiry will commence. It will investigate and assess key decisions taken by Government in response to COVID-19 between February 2021 and October 2022 regarding the use of vaccines, lockdowns and the procurement, development and distribution of testing and tracing technologies and non-pharmaceutical public health materials. You can read more about Phase Two in the ‘What happens next’ section.

While the Inquiry was directed to consider many aspects of the pandemic response, certain topics were excluded from the scope of Phase One of the Inquiry’s work. These included:

• Particular clinical decisions made by clinicians or by public health authorities during the pandemic;
  
  
• How and when the strategies and other measures devised in response to COVID-19 were implemented or applied in particular situations or in individual cases;
  
  
• The specific epidemiology of the COVID-19 virus and its variants;
  
  
• Vaccine efficacy;
  
  
• Recent reforms to Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system, including the organisational arrangements for public health services;
  
  
• The judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals and independent agencies such as the Ombudsman, the Privacy Commissioner, or the Independent Police Conduct Authority relating to the pandemic;
  
  
• The operation of the private sector, except where the private sector delivers services integral to a pandemic response;
  
  
• Particular decisions taken by the Reserve Bank’s independent monetary policy committee during the pandemic;
  
  
• Any adaptation of court procedures by the judiciary during the pandemic;
  
  
• Any adaptation of parliamentary processes during the pandemic;
  
  
• The conduct of the general election during the pandemic.