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Published: 20 April, 2026

It is one year since the Mental Health Bill was returned to Parliament for its second reading, and Te Hiringa Mahara is calling on the Government to ensure this is passed into law this year. On 17 April 2025, the Health Select Committee handed the Bill back to Parliament to be finalised. Since then

Published: January 2026

  We are advocating for change from a coercive to a choice-based mental health system. The changes we are calling for can be made now. Repeal and replace the Mental Health Act New legislation must be co-designed with people with lived experience of compulsory treatment, uphold Te Tiriti o

Published: 23 May, 2024

A new report from Te Hiringa Mahara - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission shows that more should be done to improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes of Pacific peoples. The report, Achieving equity of Pacific mental health and wellbeing outcomes , offers a snapshot of New Zealand’s Pacific

Published: 5 June, 2024

Data and insights from our 2024 mental health and addiction service monitoring report is presented in four  easy to read infographics.   You can also read the full Kua Tīmata Te Haerenga | The Journey has Begun report , accompanying Voices report or visit the updated He Ara

Published: 30 September, 2024

New Zealand is a step closer to getting accurate information about the level of mental health need in the community. Matt Doocey, Minister for Mental Health, announced on 26 September that the Government will fund the first Child and Youth Mental Health and Addiction Prevalence survey. This is in

Published: 4 July, 2024

The announcement of targets to address wait times and workforce pressures across the mental health and addiction system has been welcomed by Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. “Access to appropriate services when and where they are needed is very important to people seeking

Published: 30 June, 2022

About the framework We have created a framework called  He Ara Āwhina , which means pathways to support. He Ara Āwhina describes what an ideal mental health and addiction system looks like. This will be used to assess, monitor, and advocate for improvements to the mental health and

Published: 4 November, 2025

Te Hiringa Mahara - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, is calling for a cohesive national mental health crisis response system by June 2027. “A highly effective crisis response system is at the heart of mental health and addiction services. When people are in crisis it is often where the

Published: 1 November, 2023

A big thank you to everyone who gave us feedback on their journey accessing mental health and addiction services. We received over 300 responses through the data collection that we ran in November. This is now closed. We wanted to hear from people seeking help with mental distress or addiction: If

Published: November 2025

As an independent crown entity partner of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, we have prioritised engaging with tāngata whenua whānau, hapū and iwi.  We will be supported by Ngā Ringa Raupā (comprising the Director Māori Health, Principal Advisor Māori Health and Māori kaimahi) to build our authentic