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Published: 20 May, 2025

In this article Sonya Russell, Director Mental Health and Addiction Sector Leadership, outlines progress by Parliament to repeal and replace the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.  With its 17 April report on the Mental Health Bill, the Health Select Committee has

Published: February 2026

16 April 2025 we hosted a webinar to discuss the Access and Choice programme report findings. Panel members were: Carole Koha, Leilani and Genevieve Obbeek. Watch the recording. Webinar Earlier monitoring This is the third and final monitoring report that Te Hiringa Mahara - Mental Health and

Published: 4 November, 2025

system either supports someone or fails them. It’s that important.”  “We need to build a system that supports people when and where they need it. The current system doesn’t always work well for Māori, young people or those living rurally in particular,” said Karen Orsborn, Chief Executive of Te

Published: 14 June, 2021

Commission set to move forward on advancing Aotearoa’s wellbeing agenda The Chair of the Commission Board, Hayden Wano, has today announced the appointment of its new Tumu Whakarae - Chief Executive for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. Karen Orsborn steps into the Chief Executive role

Published: March 2024

  Watch our first recording in the Te Huringa Tuarua webinar series - 28 September 2023. Find out what changes we want to see happen with Compulsory Community Treatment Orders in Aotearoa New Zealand.  In June of this year, we released a report on lived experiences of Compulsory Community

Published: 1 October, 2020

and Pacific communities. People told us: Support starts and continues with people and communities, not services. The former Mental Health Commissioner’s framework was viewed as being too narrow but was something that could be refined and built upon. The voices of Māori and tāngata whaiora are crucial

Published: 23 October, 2024

the following overview of the paper. There is huge potential for more peer-led, community-based and Kaupapa Māori, services to support people experiencing acute distress.  Te Hiringa Mahara has brought much needed attention to a wide range of options that haven’t always got the limelight they

Published: 13 December, 2023

, kaupapa Māori services, compulsory community treatment orders and the peer support workforce. A dashboard has been developed to ensure data is more easily accessible See: www.mwhc.govt.nz/dashboard    Taking stock of the lessons we can take from the COVID-19 pandemic response was a focus

Published: February 2026

Download Mental Health Bill submission pdf, 284 KB Since our formation Te Hiringa Mahara - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has contributed to policy development to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand has mental health law based on human rights and eliminates coercive practices or reduces them to the

Published: 20 May, 2025

are failing to address well-established high rates of suicide and mental distress among our young people as a nation. There is overwhelming evidence to show that psychological distress and mental wellbeing for young people is declining over time. New Zealand’s high suicide rates was one of the