The Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency's chairwoman, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, has criticised Oranga Tamariki following a report that revealed the agency failed to ensure its children got regular checkups - calling it a basic necessity that "nobody bothered" to do.

The National Care Standards require Oranga Tamariki to annually check medical and dental needs when a child comes into care. However, a new report has found Oranga Tamariki has failed to properly keep track - and not all children had regular checkups.

Independent Children’s Monitor chief executive Arran Jones told Newstalk ZB yesterday that checkups are vital for improving long-term health outcomes.

"It's of utmost importance that the state, acting as the parent, does everything that they can to look after them," he said.

"And that includes making sure that they're healthy, that they're connected up to the health services that they need."

For Raukawa-Tait, the agency's neglectful care had come as both a surprise and disappointment.

"We do know that children in care, particularly children with Oranga Tamariki, the health outcomes are never there, [they're] not good," she told The Mike Hosking Breakfast with Tim Dower.

"Basically, it's two checks - have they had their health check, have they had their annual check and their annual dental care check? That's all it requires and if they haven't ... they really should get on with it. I'm absolutely disappointed, I can't see why they haven't got onto it."

Raukawa-Tait was asked why something as important as checkups would slip through the cracks, a question the chairwoman was unable to answer as she again expressed her surprise at the news.

She said every child has a file and it wasn't a complicated process to determine whether a checkup had been performed. The fact that GPs and dental technicians might be hard to secure appointments with "wasn't an excuse", in her view.

"It just means that somebody hasn't bothered to do the basics," said Raukawa-Tait.

"It's the basics, an annual health and dental check. And somebody hasn't bothered to pick up the phone and say 'get those children in to get the checks done'. It's something basic that nobody has bothered about."

This is the latest damning revelation involving Oranga Tamariki to make headlines in the past year, following stories of poor staff performance within its youth justice facilities and staff members being stood down amid allegations of misconduct.

It was suggested to Raukawa-Tait that the missed checkups appeared as another red flag among a wealth of problems in the agency, she was asked whether Oranga Tamariki was dysfunctional.

"Well it is, they're trying to up their game - but when this comes through, which is one of the basic things you do, then it does suggest, well, what else might they not be doing?" she said.

"I've always said it shouldn't be around Oranga Tamariki, we need to bring the emphasis back to the family and strengthen the family, and let them do the job they have to do, which is ultimately we're responsible for our children."

In other Oranga Tamariki news, an investigation revealed a highly confidential Cabinet paper relating to the repeal of fair pay agreements was leaked by accident to a union representative by one of the agency's staff members.

The investigation, led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), found the document - which included a fairly scathing assessment of what repeal would mean for people on low incomes, women, Māori, Pacific people and young people - was sent to Oranga Tamariki and 19 other agencies as part of the standard Cabinet process.

This was confirmed by Minister for Children Karen Chhour, who said in a statement the staffer had emailed the document “in error” to an “outside source”.

“I have been assured by Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani that the person responsible has been spoken to,” Chhour said.

“While mistakes do happen, this is disappointing. I understand Oranga Tamariki staff will be reminded about the importance of information security.”