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Published: 29 May, 2025

years there has been a drop in the number of people accessing treatment and support. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is concerned that people may not be able to access support when they need it,” said Sonya Russell, Director Mental Health and Addiction System Leadership.   In 2023

Published: 24 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: July 2025

Connecting with lived experience communities and tāngata whaiora is crucial if we are going to do our job well – monitoring the mental health and addiction system, contributing to equitable wellbeing for all, and advocating for the changes needed. We are growing our connections with lived

Published: 15 December, 2025

we acknowledge the complexity of this challenge, there is an opportunity to follow through on the work and insights from Te Aka Whai Ora to improve access and responsiveness of mental health and addiction services for Māori and whānau. The recommendations Te Hiringa Mahara made in Kua Tīmata Te

Published: 22 August, 2024

acute services Current picture of service access Visions for acute care Evidence of what works Examples that demonstrate the success and benefits of alternative models to acute inpatient care. Downloads Acute options for mental health care insights paper pdf, 1.1 MB Download Acute options for mental health care insights paper docx, 5.8 MB Download

Published: 29 May, 2025

key monitoring findings for specialist addiction services, and access to mental health and addiction services. Data reported on includes the number of people accessing addiction specialist services, wait times, workforce, and investment over the five-year period to June 2024. In most cases, they cover

Published: 5 November, 2025

Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission welcomes investment in crisis response services announced today by Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey. The substantial funding package will improve access to support for people in mental health and substance use crisis. The announcement

Published: January 2026

Briefing to the Incoming Minister February 2025 Following the changes to the Minister for Health and Minister for Youth in February 2025, Te Hiringa Mahara -- Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission provided the following briefings to the incoming Ministers. Read and download our Briefing to the

Published: 14 November, 2019

  Chair of the Initial Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission presents at the Ministry of Health's forum on 'Enabling Wellbeing'. Check out the full presentation on the  Ministry's YouTube channel .

Published: 30 April, 2026

Zealand Health Survey found 1 in 5 of 15–24-year-olds experienced high to very high psychological distress. Primary and specialist mental health and addiction services cannot meet need at this scale.  “We know that without easy-to-access support, early distress can lead to long lasting negative