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Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy is a positive step, but people need to see real change
Thursday 6 August 2026, 03:10 PM
1 minute to Read
Te Hiringa Mahara welcomes today’s release of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and its implementation plan. The Strategy is an important step toward a mental health and addiction system that is easier for people to access and better able to support them when they need help
“This Strategy points us in the right direction, but the real test will be whether people and whānau see better support in their everyday lives,” says Te Hiringa Mahara Chief Executive, Karen Orsborn
“People should be able to get help early, close to home, and in a way that respects who they are, their culture, their community, and their whānau. When someone is in crisis, support must be quick, safe, and easy to find. This includes young people as we are seeing increasing numbers who need more support
“The Strategy sets the direction for the next 10 years. We are pleased to see commitments to end the use of seclusion, improve cross-government action, and give people with lived experience a stronger voice in leadership and support
“We welcome the focus on recruitment, retention and the wellbeing of our workforce including the peer workforce. This is a critical element for improving the effectiveness of our services
“But there are still important gaps. The plan misses a chance to make faster, clearer improvements for young people’s mental health over the next three years
“We welcome the commitment to develop a separate youth mental health and addiction plan. We would like to see this plan prioritise increased access to early intervention and specialist services for young people, and more positive young people appropriate options when there is a crisis. Young people and their whānau have been calling for this for a long time so the youth plan must respond
“We have called for a nationally consistent crisis response system that is available everywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The focus needs to on ensuring these are available for irrespective of where people live
“It is also not clear enough how the Strategy will tackle the reasons some groups continue to experience poorer mental health and wellbeing outcomes. This particularly affects Māori, Pacific peoples, young people and people who are disabled. The implementation plan would be stronger if it named these inequities clearly and set out direct action to reduce them
“Te Hiringa Mahara will monitor how the Strategy is put into practice and whether it is improving people’s lives. We will continue to speak up for action that puts people with lived experience, and their whānau, at the centre of the system,” says Ms Orsborn
