New Zealand Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy Launched

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, Te Hiringa Mahara, welcomed the release of New Zealand’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and its ten‑year implementation plan. Chief Executive Karen Orsborn said the strategy points the system toward easier access, early intervention and culturally respectful support, but emphasized that real impact will be measured by whether people and whānau experience better everyday support.

Key commitments include ending the use of seclusion, improving cross‑government coordination, strengthening the workforce, and developing a separate youth mental health and addiction plan. The commission praised the focus on recruitment, retention and peer‑worker wellbeing, while noting gaps such as the need for faster improvements for young people, a nationally consistent 24/7 crisis response, and clearer actions to address inequities affecting Māori, Pacific peoples, disabled people and other groups.