Transparency, power and culture: What the Privacy Act revealed at Pharmac

Presentation

Speaker(s): Rachel Smalley
Date: 7:00am — 9:00am, 21 April 2026
Venue: The Northern Club
Location: 19 Princes Street, Auckland
Price members: $75.00 incl GST
Price non-members: $129.00 incl GST

Overview

Join us for a candid session with Rachel Smalley MNZM, strategic communications advisor and experienced health sector advocate.

Rachel is a member of Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group and has been closely involved in calls for reform in the medicines procurement space. In this session, she will speak publicly for the first time about her use of the Privacy Act 2020 to obtain internal communications from Pharmac.

These communications shed light on organisational culture, decision-making dynamics and commentary by senior leaders.

This session will explore what directors can learn from this experience. Rachel will examine how statutory mechanisms such as the Privacy Act can surface insights into culture, accountability and stakeholder engagement, and what this means for boards overseeing powerful public institutions operating in high-trust, highly regulated environments.

You will gain:

A practical understanding of how tools such as the Privacy Act can reveal internal culture and decision-making
Insight into governance blind spots that can emerge in monopoly or quasi-monopoly public entities
Reflections on the link between board oversight, executive tone and reputational risk
Questions every director should be asking about culture, transparency and stakeholder respect – before someone else does

This is an opportunity to reflect on the responsibilities of directors and the role of transparency in strengthening governance practice.

Rachel Smalley

Rachel has been a journalist for more than 25 years working across a number of digital, television, radio, and print platforms. Much of her career has been in broadcasting where she worked as a Programme Host, Foreign Correspondent, News and Current Affairs Anchor, and Executive Producer for both international and domestic TV channels.

She was based in Europe for several years reporting on globally significant events involving terrorism, conflict, natural disasters, political elections in France and Britain, and was in Washington D.C in 2008 for Barack Obama’s historic election to the White House.

Rachel's career has taken her to Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America, including assignments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, South Sudan, Niger and South Africa.

She now works in a strategic communications and storytelling capacity, and is the founder of The Medicine Gap which profiles the impact of New Zealand’s unfunded medicines crisis and advocates for the much-needed reform of Pharmac.

Additional information

Should you have any dietary, mobility, cultural or other requirements, you can let us know on the registration form.

By registering for this event you are confirming that you agree to adhere to our event terms and conditions.

Branch event cancellation policy

Regrettably, registration fees cannot be refunded when cancellations are received within two working days prior to any branch event. See our standard terms and conditions for more information.