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Published: 4 July, 2024

help and their whānau. These targets will help focus effort on making sure services are available,” says Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Board chair Hayden Wano. “In our briefing to incoming Ministers we made a strong case for mental health and addiction targets to be developed, so it is

Published: February 2026

Peer support workforce paper 2023 Read and download our Peer support workforce paper 2023 about the critical role of the peer workforce in enabling recovery, improving hope and in transforming the landscape of mental health and addiction services. Report This paper shows the critical role of 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: March 2026

A think tank convened by Te Hiringa Mahara created space for ‘blue sky’ thinking about the future role primary and community care can play in supporting people with mental health and substance use needs. To share the outcome of the think tank workshop held in August 2025, we have published a short

Published: February 2026

co-define phase beginning in October 2020, the co-development phase, and the methods and measurement phase. Guide to language in He Ara Āwhina Read more about our guide to language in He Ara Āwhina. We created a framework called He Ara Āwhina, which means pathways to support. He Ara Āwhina was

Published: 29 October, 2024

passed into law with unanimous support from MPs. When the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill was introduced in October 2021, we advocated for the inclusion of a mental health and addiction strategy under the legislation. While six other strategies were specified, mental health and addiction was not included

Published: 9 April, 2025

statement in response to planned changes. People in acute mental health distress need access to the services and help they need in a timely way. Strengthening the health led crisis responses is the right direction to head. We are keeping a close eye on the implementation of changes being made by NZ

Published: 18 February, 2025

Data released today by Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission shows that fewer people accessed specialist mental health and addiction services in the year from July 2023 to June 2024 than in previous years. Recently available data shows a decrease of over 3,000 fewer people than

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: 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