Awanui Labs in New Zealand: what tests cost, where to find a collection centre and which insurers cover them
Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.
Awanui Labs is New Zealand's largest network of diagnostic laboratories, with more than 150 collection centres nationwide, and for most patients a community blood test is free at the point of care because Health New Zealand funds it on a doctor's referral (Awanui, Our story, retrieved 9 September 2026; Awanui Labs, self-requested testing, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Funding depends on a New Zealand-registered doctor requesting the test for a diagnostic reason; self-requested or non-eligible tests are paid for directly (Awanui Labs, Wellington funding eligibility, retrieved 9 September 2026). When a test is not funded, Awanui's own published Auckland price list, effective from 1 January 2026, prices individual tests from about $18 for a basic chemistry panel to $346.50 for dihydrotestosterone (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026).
What is Awanui Labs and who owns it?
Awanui Labs was formed in 2023 when eight regional New Zealand pathology brands, including Southern Community Laboratories, Medlab South, Canterbury SCL, Wellington SCL, Hawke's Bay SCL, Taranaki Pathology, Northland Pathology and Labtests, joined under one name and one ownership structure (Awanui, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Awanui says it is proudly a New Zealand business, owned by the NZ Superannuation Fund, Te Pūia Tāpapa and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Awanui, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026). If your results came from the old regional brand name, see Southern Community Laboratories is now Awanui Labs for what changed and where to go, or Medlab Central, which is a genuinely separate lab company that is not part of Awanui.
Awanui also runs Awanui Veterinary and Awanui Scientific alongside its human pathology laboratories, but this page covers only the patient-facing lab service (Awanui, homepage, retrieved 9 September 2026).
If your GP has referred you for imaging as well as bloodwork, QuoteHub's providers hub also covers New Zealand's private radiology groups, including Pacific Radiology, Auckland Radiology, Bay Radiology and Allevia Radiology, and our private hospitals directory covers where surgery and inpatient treatment happen next.
Awanui's own self-requested testing page states its network runs to more than 150 collection centres nationwide, processed in IANZ-accredited laboratories (Awanui Labs, self-requested testing, retrieved 9 September 2026).
| Detail | What is published |
|---|---|
| Trading name | Awanui Labs (formerly Southern Community Laboratories, Medlab South, Canterbury SCL, Wellington SCL, Hawke's Bay SCL, Taranaki Pathology, Northland Pathology and Labtests) (Awanui, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Owners | NZ Super Fund, Te Pūia Tāpapa, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Awanui, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Collection centres | 150+ nationwide (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Laboratory accreditation | IANZ-accredited (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Website | https://www.awanuilabs.co.nz/ (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
What does a blood test cost at Awanui Labs?
Most tests at Awanui Labs cost nothing to the patient, because Health New Zealand funds community laboratory testing for eligible people when the test is requested by a New Zealand-registered doctor for a diagnostic reason, not for screening, travel, immigration, employment or a well person with no symptoms (Awanui Labs, Wellington funding eligibility, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Awanui's Auckland region publishes a dated patient price list for tests that fall outside that public funding, effective from 1 January 2026, and the table below shows a sample of common tests from it.
| Test | Price including GST |
|---|---|
| Complete blood count | $51.00 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Cholesterol | $29.50 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) | $60.50 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| B12 and folate | $56.50 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Full iron studies | $72.50 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| C-reactive protein (CRP) | $31.00 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Cervical smear (SurePath cytology) | $145.50 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Dihydrotestosterone | $346.50 (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
Awanui also runs a separate self-requested testing service through its partner BODYiQ, where adults aged 16 or over can buy a defined range of tests online without a doctor's referral, with results kept private and not linked to the person's National Health Index number (Awanui Labs, self-requested testing, retrieved 9 September 2026). BODYiQ prices each test individually on its own store, plus a possible collection fee, and does not offer genetic, paternity, cytology or histology testing through this channel (Awanui Labs, self-requested testing, retrieved 9 September 2026).
If you want New Zealand-wide cost context for other diagnostics and specialist visits alongside your lab results, QuoteHub's specialist consultation cost page, CT scan cost page, ultrasound cost page and health insurance cost by age guide cover the adjoining costs a lab result often leads to, and the treatment costs and waiting times research covers what happens after an abnormal result if you are referred onward.
Which health insurers cover tests at Awanui Labs?
This is the section most readers searching for "Awanui Labs" and health insurance actually need, and the honest answer is that standalone community pathology mostly sits outside how New Zealand's private health insurers structure cover, because the public system already funds the GP-referred test.
Southern Cross's General Practitioner Services benefit, where it is included on a member's plan, covers "diagnostic tests (when there is no specialist referral required)" ordered by a GP, alongside phlebotomy and blood-sample collection, subject to the plan's GP benefit maximum, but this is a GP-visit benefit rather than an Affiliated Provider arrangement specific to a laboratory brand (Southern Cross Health Society, GP and Nurse services factsheet, effective 1 April 2026, retrieved 9 September 2026).
nib's Premium Everyday and Standard Everyday cover documents list a GP and Prescriptions benefit covering GP and nurse practitioner consultations and pharmaceutical prescriptions, but neither document reviewed for this page lists a separate laboratory or pathology benefit, so a standalone blood test at Awanui Labs is not a benefit nib itemises on Everyday-tier cover (nib, Premium Everyday Cover Policy Document, retrieved 9 September 2026).
On nib's hospital-tier Ultimate Health cover, the Diagnostic Investigations Benefit pays for a named list of investigations when a GP or specialist refers you, but that list is imaging and endoscopy procedures (CT, MRI, PET, colonoscopy, gastroscopy, cystoscopy and similar), not routine blood or pathology tests, so nib's own hospital cover does not itemise a standalone lab test either (nib, Ultimate Health Base Policy Document, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Southern Cross does not list laboratory or pathology testing among its Affiliated Provider-only healthcare services, which instead cover diagnostic imaging, cardiac tests, allergy services, skin lesion services and specialist consultations, so Awanui Labs is not the kind of provider where Southern Cross's Affiliated Provider status applies (Southern Cross, Affiliated Provider-only healthcare services, effective 20 May 2026, retrieved 9 September 2026).
| Insurer or route | What is published for lab tests |
|---|---|
| Public funding (all insurers sit outside this) | Free on a New Zealand-registered doctor's referral for a diagnostic reason, subject to Ministry of Health eligibility rules (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Southern Cross | GP Services benefit (where included on the plan) can cover a GP-ordered diagnostic test needing no specialist referral, subject to the plan's benefit maximum; laboratory testing is not on the Affiliated Provider-only list (Southern Cross, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| nib Everyday cover | GP and Prescriptions benefit covers consultations and prescriptions; no separate lab-test line item in the policy documents reviewed (nib, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| nib Ultimate Health | Diagnostic Investigations benefit lists imaging and endoscopy procedures, not routine blood tests (nib, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| AIA, Partners Life, UniMed | No named laboratory-specific benefit confirmed in the source pack for this page; treatment-related tests are typically bundled into the surgical, hospital or specialist claim rather than claimed on their own |
QuoteHub's read is that if you are choosing a health insurance company partly on how it treats routine bloodwork, the more useful comparison is the GP-visit and diagnostic-test benefit wording on each insurer's health insurance plan, not a specific lab brand, and our health insurance guide walks through those benefit categories. See Southern Cross health insurance, nib health insurance, AIA health insurance, Partners Life and UniMed health insurance for each insurer's own plan pages, and is health insurance worth it if you are weighing up whether a policy is worth carrying mainly for GP and diagnostic-test cover.
How do you get tested at Awanui Labs?
Almost everyone reaches Awanui Labs the same way: a GP, midwife, nurse practitioner or specialist writes a request form, and the patient takes it to any collection centre.
Awanui's Canterbury and Auckland patient pages both confirm that most collection centres are walk-in for standard blood tests, while certain tests, including glucose tolerance tests, paternity tests, fine needle aspiration (FNA) requests, DNA diagnostics and Mantoux tests, need a booked appointment (Awanui Labs, Canterbury, retrieved 9 September 2026; Awanui Labs, Auckland, retrieved 9 September 2026).
If you do not have a referral and still want a test, the self-requested testing route through BODYiQ is the published alternative, open to people aged 16 and over for a limited range of tests, paid for at the time of ordering (Awanui Labs, self-requested testing, retrieved 9 September 2026).
| Access route | What is published |
|---|---|
| GP, midwife or specialist referral | Standard route, publicly funded if you meet Ministry of Health eligibility criteria (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Walk-in at a collection centre | Available for most standard blood tests, no appointment needed (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Booked appointment | Required for glucose tolerance tests, paternity tests, FNA, DNA diagnostics and Mantoux tests (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Self-requested (BODYiQ) | No referral needed, aged 16+, limited test range, paid online at time of order (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Payment | EFTPOS and Visa/Mastercard accepted at collection centres; cash not accepted for self-request orders (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
If your test is for a health insurance claim rather than a GP diagnosis, for example a medical certificate or an insurance-related test, Awanui's own funding table excludes that category from public funding, so check with your insurer first: see Southern Cross claims, Southern Cross prior approval, nib claims, nib prior approval, UniMed claims or UniMed prior approval for how each insurer wants a claim or approval submitted.
Who is NOT eligible for a free test at Awanui Labs?
New Zealand's public laboratory funding excludes several categories of testing even when a doctor requests them, and Wellington's 3DHB-derived funding table is explicit about who falls outside free testing.
Excluded categories include tests for immigration or emigration purposes, screening tests on a well person with no symptoms, research trial testing, pre-travel screening, employment or pre-employment screening, and tests required for a medical certificate, insurance policy or superannuation application (Awanui Labs, Wellington funding eligibility, retrieved 9 September 2026).
| Category | Publicly funded? |
|---|---|
| New Zealand citizen or resident, doctor-referred, diagnostic reason | Yes (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Immigration or emigration testing | No (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Screening on a well person with no symptoms | No (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Pre-travel screening | No (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Employment or pre-employment testing | No (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
| Insurance, superannuation or medical certificate testing | No (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026) |
Common questions about Awanui Labs
What does a blood test cost at Awanui Labs without a GP referral?
Without an eligible GP referral, you pay Awanui's own published price, which on the 2026 Auckland patient price list ranges from about $18 for a basic chemistry test to $346.50 for dihydrotestosterone, or you can use the BODYiQ self-request service for a limited test range with its own online pricing (Awanui Labs, patient price list, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Do I need a referral to get blood tests done at Awanui Labs?
Most standard blood tests need a request form from a GP, midwife, nurse practitioner or specialist to be free under public funding, but a limited range of tests can be bought directly through Awanui's BODYiQ self-request service without any referral, for people aged 16 and over (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Where can I find an Awanui Labs collection centre near me?
Awanui operates more than 150 collection centres nationwide, organised into regional websites for the North, Central and South of New Zealand, each with its own collection-centre locator page (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Does health insurance cover lab tests at Awanui Labs?
Mostly no, because community pathology in New Zealand is normally funded publicly on a GP referral rather than claimed on a health insurance policy; where an insurer does cover a diagnostic test, it is usually bundled into a GP-visit or specialist benefit with its own annual maximum, not a lab-specific arrangement (see the insurer table above).
Is Awanui Labs the same company as Southern Community Laboratories?
Yes, Southern Community Laboratories was one of eight regional pathology brands that became Awanui Labs in the 2023 rebrand, so it is the same organisation under a new name, not a separate company (Awanui, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026). See Southern Community Laboratories is now Awanui Labs for what changed.
Is Awanui Labs the same as Medlab Central?
No, Medlab Central is a separate company covering Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Palmerston North and Whanganui, owned by the international pathology group Sonic Healthcare, and it did not become part of Awanui in the 2023 rebrand (Medlab Central, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026).
How long do Awanui Labs results take to come back?
Awanui does not publish a single nationwide turnaround time in the source pack for this page; the practical route is to ask your referrer, since most GPs receive results directly and can explain the timing for your specific test, and Awanui's self-requested testing service says most BODYiQ results are available within a few working days (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Can I order my own tests without seeing a doctor?
Yes, for a limited range of tests, through Awanui's BODYiQ self-request service if you are 16 or older, though genetic testing, paternity testing, cytology and histology are excluded from that channel (Awanui Labs, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Will my GP get a copy of my self-requested BODYiQ results?
No, BODYiQ results are private to you and are not automatically shared with a healthcare provider or linked to your National Health Index number, but you can choose to download and share them with your GP yourself (Awanui Labs, self-requested testing, retrieved 9 September 2026).
What other regional lab brands became Awanui Labs?
The 2023 rebrand brought together Southern Community Laboratories, Medlab South, Canterbury SCL, Wellington SCL, Hawke's Bay SCL, Taranaki Pathology, Northland Pathology and Labtests under the single Awanui Labs name (Awanui, about us, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Are Awanui Labs collection centres open on weekends?
Not universally; Awanui's Canterbury patient page states that its collection centres are closed on Sundays and public holidays, and Saturday hours vary by centre, so check your local collection centre's listed hours before visiting (Awanui Labs, Canterbury, retrieved 9 September 2026).
What should I bring to an Awanui Labs appointment?
Bring the pathology request form signed by your doctor, and for tests that require fasting, such as cholesterol, lipids or fasting glucose, fast for 10 to 16 hours beforehand while continuing to drink water and take regular medication unless your doctor advises otherwise (Medlab Central, frequently asked questions, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Verdict
QuoteHub's read is that Awanui Labs is easy to evaluate on access and easy to evaluate on self-pay cost, with a 2026-dated price list and a network of more than 150 collection centres, but hard to evaluate on insurance, because standalone community pathology sits outside how Southern Cross, nib, AIA, Partners Life and UniMed structure their published benefits. If a blood test is part of a wider specialist or surgical claim, check the claims process for your own insurer: Southern Cross claims, nib claims or UniMed claims, and compare health insurance companies on their GP and diagnostic-test benefits rather than on lab-specific cover. For related private providers, see Medlab Central, the private hospitals directory and the providers hub.
Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.
Adviser's view
QuoteHub's read is that Awanui Labs answers the two questions that matter with real numbers: 150+ collection centres nationwide, and a dated 2026 price list for anyone paying their own way. What it cannot answer is an insurer question, because community pathology in New Zealand runs on public funding and a GP referral, not on a Southern Cross Affiliated Provider list or an nib First Choice network, so most readers who came here to check their health insurance will not find a policy answer, only a funding-eligibility one.
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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Awanui Labs NZ: Cost, Locations, Insurer Cover. www.quotehub.co.nz/providers/awanui-labs. Updated 2026-09-09.
References
- Awanui, About us
- Awanui, Our story
- Awanui Labs, homepage
- Awanui Labs, Self-requested testing (Canterbury)
- Awanui Labs, Do I have to pay for my tests? (Wellington)
- Awanui Labs, Patient paid price list (Auckland), PDF effective 1 January 2026
- Awanui Labs, Get a blood test (Canterbury)
- Awanui Labs, Contact us (Auckland)
- Medlab Central, About Medlab Central
- Medlab Central, Frequently asked questions
- Southern Cross Health Society, GP and Nurse services factsheet, PDF effective 1 April 2026
- Southern Cross Health Society, Affiliated Provider-only healthcare services, effective 20 May 2026
- nib, Premium Everyday Cover Policy Document
- nib, Ultimate Health Base Policy Document
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