Kia Kōrero
Let's Talk – December 2025

Kia ora koutou katoa – welcome to the Platform Mental Health and Addiction NGO and community sector update for December 2025.

In this month's update, let's talk about...

• What's on my desk? 
• Save the Date - Platform Members' Leadership Day 2026
• Demonstrating value and impact
• Platform Member Portal 
• Contract renewals 2025/26
• Te Hiringa Mahara Crisis Response Report
• Police Mental Health Change Programme
• Digital Mental Health: Our position statement
• Mental health and addiction NGO workforce data project
• Mental health and addiction NGO outcomes data collection
• Reregistering under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022
• National Navigate Policy Group Update
• Access to online resources
• What we're reading 

What's on my desk?

2025 has been a big year for Platform members and the wider mental health and addiction NGO and community sector.

Hard as it is to believe, we are racing towards the end of the year. This is our final newsletter for 2025. It has been another dynamic year, the unrelenting government attention to achieve the 5 health targets for the health system and the 5 mental health and addiction targets ramped up a notch. Alongside a bruising legislative programme which including the passing of the Equal Pay Amendment Act under urgency, affecting the biggest workforce in our sector, support workers and completely annulling all the work done by many of you throughout the pay equity process. The year 2026 is likely to feature a similar government approach of fast-tracking significant policies, changes to legislation and priorities for services. After all this will be an election year.

We must take the opportunity to reflect on all things the mental health and addiction NGO and community sector have collectively achieved, the value we add to the system and the impact we have on people and communities we support. We also reflect on what Platform has lobbied on, and advocated for, on behalf of your organisations, and the tāngata whai ora and whānau you support. As members you will hopefully have seen the effect of collective action and impact as we are on this journey together.

During 2026 let us continue to support one another with a view to demonstrating collective action to show that our sector is the backbone of the mental health and addiction system supporting 41% of tāngata whai ora across the system, with 27% of total mental health and addiction funding. In the new year, we will set out some key messages to further highlight and profile to key stakeholders, that the mental health and addiction NGO and community sector is a key part of the solution to challenges being experienced in the system. With the right policies and better use of resources our sector can achieve collective impact to help the government deliver better outcomes and provide value.

With summer on our doorstep, I wish you all a good one, and a great break for those taking summer holidays.

Ngā mihi nui,

Memo

Save the Date - Platform Members' Leadership Day 2026

Together We Lead: Insight, Impact, Value

Optimising resources to build on the capability of the MH&A NGO and community sector

Save the date for Platform Members’ Day 2026 on Thursday 19 March 2026, at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington.

This year’s focus is on collective leadership and collaboration - transforming knowledge, capability, and experience into visible system improvements.

Why join us?

• Learn to turn disruption into your advantage – lead with vision, clarity, and bold integrity.
• Connect with ambitious leaders shaping the future with the resources they have.
• Leave inspired to act collectively, create change, and deliver impact and value.
• Learn about shared leadership and the power of collaboration.

What we’ll explore together:

From optimising resources and investment and funding to contracting, service innovation, workforce development, outcomes measurement and leadership – plus exciting enablers like Artificial Intelligence.

We look forward to coming together to lead with purpose and create meaningful impact for our sector.

We are aiming to have Minister Doocey speak at this event and a good line out of other speakers.  A good time to mingle and connect built on an exhilarating programme. 

Take a moment to explore Wellington which is a compact and connected city with a powerful mix of culture, nature and cuisine. Immerse yourself in acclaimed nature experiences — all on the doorstep of your venue and hotel.

Save the date for now – more details and registration information coming soon!

Demonstrating value and impact

This month we are showcasing two practice examples featured in our resource A Sound Investment: A Spotlight on the Impact and Value of Mental Health and Addiction NGO Services in New Zealand. We published this resource in March 2025.

The Nelson Marlborough Te Tauihu Youth Wellbeing Service

An example of extensive, successful innovation and collaboration in our sector, this service was co-designed with input from rangatahi, whānau and community organisations to resemble kaupapa Māori services provided elsewhere in New Zealand. It is jointly delivered by Nelson Bays Primary Health, Kimi Hauora Wairau, Health Action Trust and Te Whare Mahana. It delivers early intervention and support to youth aged 12–24 (and their whānau) who are experiencing mild to moderate mental distress. It serves over 17,000 youth within the Nelson Marlborough health district with a focus on Māori, Pacific peoples and underserved populations. You can read about this practice example here.

Te Whare Mahana

Located in Golden Bay, Te Whare Mahana offers New Zealand’s only national residential dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) programme. This renowned service supports individuals aged 18 years and older who frequently experience high levels of emotional distress that is often linked to complex disorders such as borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Te Whare Mahana’s commitment to intensive trauma-focused care makes it a lifeline for people who have not experienced success in any other mental health service. Te Whare Mahana provides them with the skills and the support that they need to reclaim their life. Participants report significant improvements, as measured by a range of clinical assessment tools. You can read about it here.  

Platform Member Portal - LIVE

In November we launched the Platform Member Portal – a secure, members-only space accessed via the Members Login button on the Platform website - designed to support collaboration, resource sharing, and communication among Platform Members.

Members can view a library of documents that Platform has drafted – Submissions, Communications, Updates, Meeting Summaries, Reports and Publications.

An online Noticeboard allows members to add and publish notices, such as non-confidential proposals, stakeholder meeting notes and letters for other Platform member organisations to view.

If you have any questions about the Member Portal or would like to know more about becoming a Platform member, please contact louise@platform.org.nz.

Contract renewals 2025/26

Our work with Health NZ officials to address clauses of concern in the proposed new long form contracts remains a priority. We have been advised that the Health NZ leadership team has confirmed the approach to be taken to resolve the clauses of concern. The next step involves standing up a joint working group consisting of a Health NZ/Platform representative group. This group will address the clauses of concern by going through Health NZ responses to the concerns raised, understand the extent to which the concerns are addressed and the extent to which they meet the interests of all parties, and agree a way forward. It is our desire to avoid the contract renewal delays experienced this year, and that our discussions with Health NZ will guide a timely approach to renewing contracts that expire on 30 June 2026. You will hear from us as soon as the joint working group has concluded discussions and agreed on a way forward.

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Te Hiringa Mahara Crisis Response Report

Te Hiringa Mahara | the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has published its latest monitoring report, Urupare mōrearea: Crisis responses monitoring report. Covering the period from 2020 to 2024, the report examines how the current crisis response system is functioning and what could be done to improve it. It finds that crisis services are often fragmented, hard to navigate, and regionally inconsistent, leaving many tāngata whai ora without the urgent help they need. It also finds there has been a decrease in access to specialist MH&A services, including longer crisis phone line wait times. Monitoring indicates this is not due to a decrease in demand, but to other reasons such as system constraints and increased complexity of distress and needs, particularly for Māori, young people, and those experiencing substance-related crises.

The report calls for a nationally cohesive, person- and whānau-centred crisis response system by 2027, including 24/7 telehealth support in every region, culturally safe options, and stronger coordination. Immediate actions, such as expanding proven models and addressing workforce shortages, are also recommended.

You can read the full report and summary on Te Hiringa Mahara’s website here.

Police Mental Health Change Programme 

At our October members online-forum, Health NZ and NZ Police representatives gave a presentation on the Police Mental Health Change Programme’s Phase 3, which was implemented on Monday 17 November. The presentation covered updated categories for requests for assistance from health practitioners and missing persons from health facilities and services. Platform members received some resources which they can adapt for their organisation to help work through the updated processes and to access online forms for Missing persons. A useful poster, How to talk with Police, has been shared widely to support teams communicating situations when Police support is required.

We continue to meet every two weeks at a forum of MH&A NGO leaders, Platform and Health NZ to ensure impact on MH&A NGO providers is minimised. If you come across an issue which needs to be raised with Health NZ, please contact your local mental health / police liaison or governance group or e-mail MHPolicechanges@tewhatuora.govt.nz (This inbox is monitored regularly).

Digital Mental Health: Our position statement

We are pleased to announce that our sector position statement on Digital Mental Health (DMH) Digital Mental Health: Where to from here? Has been released and shared with key stakeholders.

This position statement sets out our sector’s views of the key challenges and opportunities relating to DMH in the mental health sector and puts forward recommendations for an improved collective approach for Government and for NGOs.

The key takeaway is that DMH presents an exciting opportunity to alleviate some of the burden on the system by improving access and outcomes. However, its potential is limited by a lack of strategic alignment, inconsistent evaluation and visibility, and insufficient interoperability and inclusivity. To address this, we recommend the Government develop a National DMH Strategy, alongside safety and quality standards, an accreditation framework, and a DMH Navigation tool. We believe these steps, along with an upskilled workforce and dedicated and long-term funding, would allow for a safer and more effective approach to DMH in Aotearoa.

A huge thank you to all of you who were involved in this process and who helped to shape our position and recommendations. You can view the position statement here.

Mental health and addiction NGO workforce data project

Since our last update, the project team has been meeting with various stakeholders to explore creating a process that enables MH&A NGOs to consistently collect and report workforce information which is accessible to a wider audience and can be used to better inform workforce planning and decision-making.

As you know, the quality of NGO workforce data is variable due to issues of timeliness, completeness, and accuracy. To address these issues, we are discussing the following possibilities with various stakeholders:

1.    Agreeing with NGOs and other data stakeholders a minimum dataset and representative data definitions for the MH&A NGO workforce.

2.    Exploring different mechanisms for regular reporting of the minimum data set.

3.    Exploring the development of a public-facing interactive dashboard (like the one developed by Whāraurau) so that adult MH&A NGO workforce data is also more accessible and useful to a wider audience. 

4.    Developing a new NGO data ownership and governance model to oversee the above developments.

The project is quickly reaching the end of phase one after which we will produce a report that summarises progress and outlines the opportunities for change. We will make this available to you before Christmas.

Mental health and addiction NGO outcomes data collection 

Following the release of A Sound Investment, Platform Trust and Te Pou have partnered with NGO services to explore the feasibility of implementing consistent outcome measures in mental health services. This work is about showing the real difference NGOs make for tāngata whai ora and whānau.

We know many NGOs already use outcome measures, while others face barriers. There’s a lot we can learn from community addiction services that have successfully implemented ADOM (Alcohol and Drug Outcome Measure) in their mahi. Our goal is to build on what’s working well and identify ways to reduce challenges for those who aren’t yet collecting outcomes data.

So far, we’ve set up a collaborative project group and reviewed existing research. The next stage will focus on feasibility: engaging with services to understand what supports outcome measurement and what gets in the way. Implementation of any measure is outside the scope of this project, however opportunities for NGOs to share their views will be available in the coming months. We look forward to hearing from services about their experiences and ideas.

Access to PRIMHD data

A timely reminder that you can access the PRIMHD data set through a secure website supported by Health New Zealand called Qlik.

So how could accessing this data be useful for you? It can help to understand why reporting data accurately is important. It can also support service improvements and better understanding of service journeys for tāngata whai ora and whānau, outcomes reporting and your participation in the NGO benchmarking forums.

Reregistering under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022

If your organisation is an incorporated society still registered under the Incorporated Societies 1908 Act, you will need to reregister under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 before 5 April 2026 to remain on the register. If your organisation does not reregister, it may cease to exist and lose access to bank accounts, ownership to assets, other entity names, amongst other consequences. To learn more about how to reregister read here.

Consultations

We are currently working on these consultations:

• External Reporting Board: Proposed accounting standard for revenue – ED PBE IPSAS 47 Revenue.
• External Reporting Board: Proposed accounting standard for transfer expenses – ED PBE IPSAS 48 Transfer Expenses.

During November we participated and contributed submissions on:

• Tertiary Education Commission: Industry Skills Board Order in Council.
• People’s Select Committee: Equal Pay (oral hearing submission).
• Medsafe’s consultation: Proposed changes to blood monitoring and prescribing requirements for Clozapine.
• Health NZ: Mental Health Missing Person (incl AWOL) draft procedure.
• Health NZ: Regional Planning, Funding and Outcome organisational structure specifically mental health and addictions. 

National Navigate Policy Group Update

We’re pleased to announce that another two policies have been reviewed and uploaded to the Policy Library on our website:

• Whistleblowing Protected Disclosure Policy, and Report of Wrongdoing and Request for Protected Disclosure Form
• Smokefree Environment Policy and Procedure

We will continue to keep members updated on the developments to the Policy Library, which can be found here.

Access to online resources

Navigator Trust New Zealand recently shared new resources which could help support the work of your organisations. You can check out the new resources below:

• Strengthening your presence online: These resources from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) help you check how well you are using online platforms to make your organisation run better and improve online presence. An online presence makes your organisational look more professional and helps people in need of your services find you.
• Pitching for funds – making the story count as much as the numbers: This resource provides information on what small charities should consider when preparing their annual reports to help communicate funding needs. Also, to help communicate a complete story about the work covered by the organisation.  
• Grant Application Writing Examples: The Lottery Community Fund is open for grant applications until Wednesday 3 December.  This free resource has examples of both good and bad grant applications, guiding you through the dos and don'ts of grant writing.  

You can also find more resources that support NGO and community providers to thrive here:

• CommunityNet Aotearoa
• NZ Navigator
• Digital Stuff We Love

What we're reading

Get in touch with the Platform team!

The Platform team is always available to interact with members on mental health and addiction NGO and community sector matters should you have any queries, concerns, or ideas. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of being a Platform member and joining our collective voice, please don't hesitate to get in touch. 

Memo Musa (Chief Executive): memo@platform.org.nz                                              Simon Katz (Policy Analyst): simon@platform.org.nz
Louise Hill (Membership Engagement Coordinator): louise@platform.org.nz