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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: June 2026

commitment to ground our work in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes for Māori and whānau. This is front and centre of who we are and what we do.  We are committed to prioritising the voices of people who experience mental distress, substance harm, gambling harm or

Published: 10 March, 2026

media, this idea is quickly being implemented in many countries. A similar ban is now being considered here in Aotearoa New Zealand - without a lot of evidence of its effectiveness to back this action. So what can be done to make online life safer? It's inescapable that young people live in an online

Published: January 2026

Our leadership team provides strategic guidance for Te Hiringa Mahara -- Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. The team includes Chief Executive, Karen Orsborn, and four directors who are responsible for our core workstreams.  Karen Orsborn, Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive Karen is the Chief

Published: 24 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: 18 August, 2022

Transforming the mental health and addiction system must remain a priority as Aotearoa New Zealand continues to deal with the fallout from the pandemic, writes Karen Orsborn. COVID-19 is one of the most significant societal events many of us will experience in our lives. It is not over yet

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

Published: 7 August, 2025

and what we will deliver.  We held an an office hours session with our Board chair Hayden Wano, and Chief Executive, Karen Orsborn. The lunch-time session was a chance to hear about the refreshed organisational strategy, and priorities for the coming years. We answered as many as we could get through at the time. Find out more about our refreshed strategy Date: 1pm Wednesday 20 August 2025.

Published: 5 June, 2024

; We hosted a webinar to walk people through key findings from this report alongside the data behind these findings. We also shared the changes we want to see happen.    The report shows that service access has increased in some parts of the system but decreased in others. The new Access

Published: February 2026

, anywhere, and at any time. It provides clear pathways to culturally appropriate assessment, treatment, and social support, in line with people’s needs and preferences. There is an ongoing need to expand acute options to ensure acute mental health services are accessible, acceptable, and effective. This