10366 (2026). Camilla Belich to the Minister of Health

10366 (2026). Camilla Belich to the Minister of Health: What new artificial intelligence or machine learning systems, tools, or platforms, if any, have been commissioned, contracted, or deployed by any department or entity for which the Minister is responsible since 27 November 2023, listed by system name, supplier, purpose, contract value, and date of commissioning?

Hon Simeon Brown: I am advised the Ministry of Health’s information systems operate in a controlled technology environment, and the use of any new tool or software needs to be approved. To date, the Ministry has approved and purchased subscriptions for one AI tool, M365 Copilot from Microsoft to increase staff productivity and support content review and drafting. They were purchased via the Ministry-wide Microsoft software agreement with a total annual cost of $178,321.50 plus GST. Each subscription is valid for 12 months, renewable from 1 October annually. The Proof of Concept commenced in October 2024 with a phased production release from March 2025. I refer the Member to the attached table for Health New Zealand's information.