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Published: 8 April, 2026

Consultation by the Ministry of Health on the first, national Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy began on 8 April 2026. We would like everyone to share their views and make their voices heard. Te Hiringa Mahara has provided independent advice to the Minister for Mental Health on the development

Published: 8 June, 2023

;[PDF, 9.5 MB] .   This report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.   “Specifically, it focuses on connectedness, a core aspect of wellbeing for Pacific peoples, and how connectedness was both impacted by the pandemic and a

Published: 15 April, 2026

A once‑in‑a‑decade Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy has been released for public consultation, and Te Hiringa Mahara is calling on New Zealanders to help shape the final document. The strategy will set the direction for mental health and wellbeing across Aotearoa for more than a decade, making

Published: 4 November, 2025

shows that current crisis services are hard to navigate, fragmented and patchy, and people don’t always get the help they need.  A robust crisis response approach is at the heart of an effective mental health and addiction system and getting that right, will have ripple effects on other parts of the

Published: February 2026

health and addiction system He Ara Āwhina has a goal of a whānau-dynamic mental health and addiction system, which means to realise the potential of whānau. We have published two versions of the framework – a summary version that is focused on the system aspirations, and the full framework that

Published: 14 February, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has added additional stress to the rural community, which itself faces different wellbeing challenges to those of urban Aotearoa. This is according to today’s Te Hiringa Mahara – the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission report,  The impact of COVID-19 on the wellbeing

Published: March 2026

paper. The paper documents the discussion which answered two provocative questions: What does the primary care landscape need to look like? How do we get there? This discussion followed the release in April 2025 of our final monitoring report on the Access and Choice programme. During development of

Published: 27 January, 2022

As New Zealand faces community transmission of the Omicron variant, too many people who experience mental distress or addictions remain unvaccinated. The total New Zealand vaccination rates are now very high, with over one million people boosted and 93% of the eligible population double vaccinated

Published: 20 May, 2022

addressing pressures on specialist services, particularly for young people.  In its report the Commission emphasised the importance of continuing investment in youth services as well as in kaupapa Māori services, peer services, and other community-based specialist services.  "However, with $1.8

Published: 1 October, 2020

Work on He Ara Āwhina began with the Initial Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (Initial Commission) in October 2020. Find more information about the He Ara Āwhina framework here . Co-define phase October 2020 – February 2021 The Initial Commission sought feedback on why we should monitor