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Published: November 2023

Te Hiringa Mahara is part of the New Zealand public sector and must meet its obligations under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA). OIA requests can be addressed to us via kiaora@mhwc.govt.nz . Our policy is to proactively publish OIA responses that may be of interest to the wider public

Published: 22 May, 2026

around uncertain futures (which included distress relating to climate change), racism and discrimination, social media and online harms, and challenges to whānau wellbeing and intergenerational connections. The release of the Climate Change Commission’s latest risk assessment recently gives us another

Published: 22 September, 2021

upholds people’s human rights and meets New Zealand’s obligations under international conventions and treaties maintaining a holistic view of wellbeing that acknowledges the impact of social and economic factors on people’s wellbeing, such as poverty, poor housing, discrimination, and other forms

Published: 8 December, 2021

their communities are not. “As a country, we need to address this. The He Ara Oranga report from the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction highlighted that mental wellbeing is deeply connected to wider wellbeing in our society. People called for this understanding to be embedded

Published: 14 June, 2021

understanding of how the health system works, Karen will bring fresh eyes to this part of the sector. Her leadership expertise and strategic insight will be invaluable as the Commission sets about advancing the transformation of mental health and addiction services,” says Hayden Wano. Hayden Wano

Published: 25 June, 2020

1992 is underway and there is hope that this can take a rights-based approach built in partnership with people. New legislation won’t be transformative by itself, and must be supported by other changes, such as expanding access and increasing choice for mental health and addiction services

Published: 11 June, 2025

of people being seen by specialist mental health and addiction services over the last few years”. “There continues to be significant unmet need for professional help for mental health among young people, Māori, Pacific peoples and disabled adults.” “As the independent monitor of mental health and

Published: 28 October, 2021

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (the Commission) has today released its independent report into the progress of the  Access and Choice Programme  being developed and implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Health. The programme, developed in response to

Published: 5 June, 2024

complex cases. For example, vacancies rates sit at 22% for psychologists and 19% for psychiatrists. “What we’re seeing is that under-pressure services have constraints on how many people they can see, with some people not meeting the threshold to access specialist services. Some people can get

Published: January 2026

address this. We are particularly concerned that: Rangatahi Māori and young people experience the highest rates of mental distress of any age group – and report the highest rate of unmet need for health services and barriers to access services.  Young people continue to experience longer wait