Auckland, New Zealand – March 06 2017: The University of Aucklan

RANZCOG Calls for Release of MAPAS Review

Tuesday 15 September 2026

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG; the College) is calling on the Aotearoa New Zealand Government to release the independent review into the University of Auckland’s Māori and Pacific Admissions Scheme (MAPAS) and the University of Otago’s equivalent program, to ensure that decisions about their future are evidence-based.

Equity programs have been offered at the University of Auckland and University of Otago since the 1970s and 1950s respectively, aimed at supporting Māori and Pacific medical students and addressing severe shortages of Māori and Pacific clinicians in Aotearoa’s medical workforce.

A review into the MAPAS was launched as part of the New Zealand National-ACT coalition agreement commitments and has now been completed by the Ministry of Health. Findings are intended to guide campaigns for the future of the university programs. However, the review’s findings and final report have not been publicly released.

“These schemes exist because our medical workforce has never reflected the population it serves, and that gap has real consequences for patients,” says Dr Sarah Corbett, Chair of RANZCOG’s He Hono Wāhine committee. “If an independent review has findings on whether MAPAS is working, the public and the profession deserve to see them. Decisions of this importance shouldn’t be made in the absence of the evidence that’s already been gathered.”

MAPAS at the University of Auckland and the University of Otago admissions program have helped grow the number of Māori and Pacific doctors, however registration data shows that they remain significantly under-represented in the medical workforce. Only 4.3 percent of O&G consultants are Māori and 1.3 percent are Pacific, despite Māori making up 18.1 percent of the Aotearoa New Zealand population and Pacific peoples 9.4 percent.

“We know that having a medical workforce that reflects the population it serves is important for patient care and health outcomes,” Dr Corbett says. “That’s the whole point of pathways like MAPAS – and it’s why RANZCOG has made growing the Māori workforce a specific goal in Te Rautaki Māori me te Ara Whakamua, our Māori Strategy and Action Plan.”

RANZCOG’s own efforts to grow the Māori and Pacific O&G workforce build directly on the foundations laid by the work of the medical schools, and continued investment in these pathways, alongside the College’s ongoing work to support Māori and Pacific trainees and specialists, remains essential.

“There’s still more to do,” Dr Corbett says. “The progress made so far shows these schemes work. Releasing the review would let everyone see the evidence and have an informed conversation about how we keep growing a medical workforce that will best meet the needs of our population.”