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Published: April 2026

services, along with increased pressure on specialist services due to workforce challenges.  The report calls for urgent action by Government and health agencies to accelerate improvement in a range of critical areas. The report makes five recommendations: Health NZ develops a mental health and

Published: 13 December, 2023

on policy proposals and bills, such as the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill, Therapeutic Products Bill and Manatū Hauora policy proposal to repeal and replace the Mental Health Act.   We generated good coverage of the issues we’re working on in a variety of media outlets. Over the

Published: February 2026

people’s rights, will and preferences, to make decisions about their care. Shifting to supported decision making The Bill does not go far enough to enable the shifts in practice we want to see lead to better outcomes for people. The Bill’s second half retains substituted decision-making roles and

Published: 20 May, 2025

Prevention Action Plan .   Work underway to understand the prevalence of mental health needs for children and youth is a good start to designing more effective services. Our 2024 mental health and addiction service monitoring report showed that investment in services for children and young

Published: 10 March, 2026

blanket age-based bans are too simplistic, impractical, easy to get around, hard to enforce, and can push young people to more dangerous corners of the internet. It also does not address the factors that are driving increasing distress. Instead, real solutions require that we go upstream to where the

Published: 16 June, 2022

significant distress. The Commission urges the Government to be bold in work under way to transform mental health law, and to invest in culturally appropriate, community-based acute services to provide genuine choice for people and whānau, alongside the option of inpatient care. People with personal

Published: January 2026

Wellbeing System Leadership and Insights Dr Ella Cullen is the Director Wellbeing System Leadership and Insights, with a focus on cross-government system leadership, monitoring, and advocacy to address determinants of improved individual and whānau mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Ella will lead

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: 12 September, 2019

The Government announced appointments to the Initial Commission on 12 September 2019. Read the press release on the Beehive website .

Published: March 2024

together and synthesises evidence from academic research, New Zealand data, and the voices of people with lived experience on the value of the peer support workforce in mental health and alcohol and drug services. While the peer support workforce in Aotearoa is growing, it remains a small proportion of our