Kia Kōrero
Let's Talk – November 2026

Kia ora koutou katoa – welcome to the Platform Mental Health and Addiction NGO and community sector update for November 2026.

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

• What's on my desk
• AI Workshop for Platform Members - Last Chance to Register
• Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Plan 2024-2027 (2026 Refresh) Launched
• Demonstrating Value and Impact
• Long Form Agreements (LFA) - Addressing Concerning Clauses
• Partnership Group Focuses on Strategy, Investment and Stronger NGO Collaboration
• Update from the MH&A Data Stewardship Group
• NGO Outcomes Measurement Literature Review Report Now Available
• Access to your Organisation's PRIMHD Data
• Whāraurau Workforce Stocktake Update
• Recognising the Contribution of Support Workers
• New Resources to Navigate Ethical Challenges
• Support Work Professional Development Grant
• National Navigate Policy Group - Policy Library Update
• Consultations
• Access to online resources
• Events
• What We're Reading 

What's on my desk

With the general election campaign now almost over with four days left, we heard no shortage of promises about increased investment in health, including mental health and addiction. Whether those commitments translate into funding, services, and tangible improvements for people and communities’ remains to be seen. As a sector, we know that delivering better outcomes requires more than announcements. It requires sustained investment, strong partnerships, and a clear understanding of what works.

In the meantime, there is plenty happening across the mental health and addiction NGO sector. In this newsletter, we share updates on the refreshed workforce plan, progress through the Mental Health and Addiction Partnership Group, work to strengthen sector data and evidence, and our ongoing advocacy to reduce unnecessary compliance pressures and improve commissioning arrangements for NGOs.

Alongside these system developments, we continue to showcase the value and impact of NGO services, share opportunities for workforce development, and promote practical resources that support organisations to thrive.

Whatever shape the next Government takes, Platform's commitment to collective advocacy on behalf of members remains unchanged. The strength of our sector comes from a shared voice and a willingness to work together on the issues that matter most. I encourage you to stay connected, engage with your regional NGO networks and leadership forums, and make the most of the opportunities to influence, contribute, and stay informed about the changes ahead.

Ngā mihi nui,

Memo

AI Workshop for Platform Members - Last Chance to Register

Following strong interest from Platform members, we are pleased to offer the Next Steps in AI workshop again this Thursday 5 November. Facilitated by Andrew Nicol of Mosaic Partners, Next Steps in AI is a practical, interactive online session focused on helping participants get more value from the AI tools they already have access to.

Duration: 2 hours

Date: Thursday 5 November, 10:00am - 12:00noon

Cost: $80 + GST per person

For more information and to register for the last few remaining spots at this workshop, click here

Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Plan 2024-2027 (2026 Refresh) Launched

A refreshed Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Plan was released by Health NZ. It includes new areas of focus for support for the NGO workforce, preparation for implementation of the Mental Health Act 2026, and building capability in digital health, telehealth and artificial intelligence. You can access a copy here.

Demonstrating Value and Impact

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

Work Counts

Work Counts provides support for organisations to develop and deliver Individual Placement and Support (IPS) programmes within their services. It is one of six IPS employment support centres globally.

Piri Pono Peer-led acute mental health service – Ember Services

Piri Pono is one of only three peer-led acute alternative mental health services operating in New Zealand. It was established by Ember Services in 2013 and is located in Rodney, Auckland. Note: since March 2025 new and expanding services have taken place. Recent developments include the addition of services such as a 12-bed peer-led acute alternative service delivered by Pathways in Te Toka Tumai (Central Auckland) and procurement for new community-based peer options in the Southern district and Te Toka Tumai. The number of peer-led acute alternative beds nationwide are set to increase from 25 to 45 following a $61.6 million over 4 years investment package for mental health crisis response.

Rātā Koura Ora The Bridge programme – Salvation Army

The Bridge programme, operated by The Salvation Army, provides a range of harm minimisation services to support individuals and families affected by alcohol and drug addiction. The Rātā Koura Ora Peer Support programme is offered in residential and community-based services at 25 centres across New Zealand.

Long Form Agreements (LFA) - Addressing Concerning Clauses

We continue to work with Health NZ to address clauses in the new long form agreement relating to data protection, information storage and sharing, and other compliance obligations, including the child safety assurance programme and information sharing schedule. Our aim is to reduce duplication and ease the compliance reporting burden on NGOs.

Following discussions with Health NZ, we have worked on an approach to address the requirement for the child assurance programme for NGOs to provide a completed compliance declaration per agreement as per clause C37.5, b). We have proposed a move from a NGO/provider declaration being required for each individual contract, to a single declaration per organisation. This approach is currently being considered for approval within Health NZ.

We are taking the same approach to addressing clause B36.2 which requires NGOs/providers signing a Health NZ Information Sharing Schedule. Discussions about this are at an early stage. We will report on the outcomes of these in due course.

While supporting the intent of these changes, Platform continues to advocate through the Partnership Group for nationally consistent implementation and a reduction in unnecessary administrative burden for NGOs.

Partnership Group Focuses on Strategy, Investment and Stronger NGO Collaboration

The Mental Health & Addiction Partnership Group continue to work to strengthen collaboration between Health NZ, the Ministry of Health and Platform.

Key updates from the September meeting included:

• Overview of Budget 2026 initiatives which include significant investment across mental health and addiction services, including community-based supports, peer services, workforce initiatives and specialist services.
• Early discussions on implementation of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy highlighted the importance of maintaining meaningful NGO involvement.
• Health NZ provided updates on organisational changes and system priorities, with discussion focused on strengthening engagement with NGO and community providers.
• The Group considered progress on commissioning reform and reinforced support for a more outcomes-focused, partnership-based approach to funding and service delivery.

Work continues with a focus on strategy implementation, commissioning reform and strengthening NGO participation in system planning, design and delivery. The Group reaffirmed the value of genuine partnership in improving outcomes for people, whānau and communities accessing mental health and addiction support.

Update from the MH&A Data Stewardship Group

The MH&A Data Stewardship Group continues to progress work to improve the quality and consistency of mental health and addiction data.

Key updates from the October meeting included:

• Continued focus on improving PRIMHD data quality, completeness, and compliance reporting across Health NZ and NGO providers.
• Review of variation in PRIMHD reporting practices, with further analysis underway before any changes to collection requirements are considered.
• Completion of work on balancing measures for mental health targets, with workforce and investment measures now being explored.
• Progress on enhancing NGO PRIMHD reporting support, including onboarding, guidance, and future compliance reporting developed in partnership with NGOs.
• Consideration of proposals to strengthen reporting for Māori and Pacific Access and Choice services and improve visibility of provider activity within national reporting.

This work will help ensure data better supports service planning, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement across the MH&A sector.

NGO Outcomes Measurement Literature Review Report Now Available

How do we better understand the difference mental health and addiction NGO services make in people’s lives? A literature review conducted during 2026 explores outcome measurement approaches used in Aotearoa and internationally, highlighting what works, common challenges, and opportunities for the NGO sector. The report emphasises measuring outcomes that matter to people and whānau, building on existing data and tools, and adopting a practical, person-centred approach. This literature review helped inform the development of the report Mental health and addiction NGO outcome measurement in Aotearoa New Zealand released in July 2026. Literature review findings will continue informing future discussions about how NGOs can better demonstrate their impact while supporting service improvement and sector-wide learning. Read the report here.

Access to your Organisation's PRIMHD Data

A quick reminder that you can access the PRIMHD data set through a secure website supported by Health New Zealand called Qlik. The data available through Qlik is a visual and analytic tool that can be useful to understand your organisation’s activities that it provides and what it reports on. The dashboards include information about both NGO and Health New Zealand district mental health and addiction services.

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 MH&A NGO Data & PRIMHD Community of Practice, NGO benchmarking forums and KPI programme.

If your organisation would like access to Qlik, you can email the business intelligence team (businessintelligence@health.govt.nz) at Health NZ and request access to the National Collections PRIMHD datasets available via Qlik.

Whāraurau Workforce Stocktake Update

Whāraurau remain within the data collection phase of the 2026 Stocktake, with NGO data collection ending on 1 December 2026.

100 distinct NGOs receive Te Whatu Ora funding to provide an infant, child, adolescent, and youth mental health and/or addiction service across the motu. All have been invited to participate in the 2026 Stocktake. Whāraurau are receiving data in a steady stream, and very much appreciate the time and efforts involved within the data collection process. 

Of the completed surveys, the proportion completed by each region is as per the graph below:

The more data Whāraurau receives, the better able they are to provide an accurate representation of the Te Whatu Ora funded NGO ICAMHS/AOD workforce. For reference, there was an 85% data completion rate across NGO and PHO services within the 2024 Stocktake.

Naomi Miller, Workforce Delivery Lead (naomi.miller@wharaurau.org.nz) remains very happy to kōrero or meet with individual services to assist with completion of their datasheet, and/or to run through any pātai, should this be useful.

Recognising the contribution of support workers

Mental health and addiction support workers are at the heart of services across Aotearoa. They work alongside tāngata whai ora and whānau, building trusted relationships, promoting hauora, and supporting people to achieve their goals.

A new webpage on the Te Pou website brings together workforce insights, evidence, videos, podcasts, and career information to showcase the diversity, skills, values, and impact of support work. Whether you're a support worker, manager, educator, or sector leader, this resource provides valuable insights into the largest workforce group in mental health and addiction services.

Explore the page to learn more about this essential workforce and share it with your networks.

New resources to navigate ethical challenges

A new suite of learning resources supports mental health and addiction support workers to strengthen ethical decision-making and maintain professional boundaries in practice.

The resources include an Ethics and Boundaries e-learning that explores real-world scenarios and provides practical approaches to navigating complex situations, a downloadable ethical decision-making tool and a handy lanyard card to support decision-making in day-to-day mahi.

The resources are designed to help support workers build confidence and strengthen practice to make ethical decisions.

Learn more about the Ethics and boundaries resources on the Te Pou website.

Support work professional development grant

The Te Pou support worker professional development grant is still open and closes soon on Friday 6 November. The Support work professional development grant is specifically for people providing mental health and addiction support who are employed as support workers, including peer support workers, in a publicly funded non-government organisation (NGO).

The grant will cover costs of taking part in a learning activity (course or training programme), to develop professional knowledge and skills that enhance applicants’ support work role or career. The Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika Real Skills Online assessment tool may be useful in providing some ideas around possible areas of professional development.

The Te Pou support worker professional development grant is still open and closes soon on Friday 6 November. The Support work professional development grant is specifically for people providing mental health and addiction support who are employed as support workers, including peer support workers, in a publicly funded non-government organisation (NGO).

The grant will cover costs of taking part in a learning activity (course or training programme), to develop professional knowledge and skills that enhance applicants’ support work role or career. The Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika Real Skills Online assessment tool may be useful in providing some ideas around possible areas of professional development.

Applications for the grant close midday Friday 6 November 2026.

Navigate Policy Group - Policy Library Update

During October, no policies were reviewed by the National Navigate Policy Group. However, there are scheduled policy reviews for the month of November. We will continue to keep members updated on the developments to the Policy Library. In the meantime, updated policy templates can still be accessed here.

Consultations

During October, we participated and contributed submissions on the following consultations and matters of concern:

• Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention: Survey
• Ministry of Social Development: Review of Social Housing (on-going)
• Crown Office: Targeted consultation: Targeted engagement on Care safety framework and workforce assurance.
• Parliament: The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2026-27, FBT Simplification, Foreign Investment Funds, and Remedial Measures) Bill
• Tertiary Education Commission: Future Delivery of Work-Based Learning (on going).

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:

Measuring impact, A guide for community organisations: Across NGO and community organisations, proving impact is a crucial but often challenging task. Many organisations feel pressured to invest in costly consultant reports to demonstrate their impact.

Communicating with Central Government: One of the roles of community groups is to bring issues to the attention of government so they can be addressed at a national or local level through legislation. Community participation is a vital part of democracy, and community organisations represent people and opinions that might not otherwise be heard.

Evaluating digital inclusion initiatives: This toolkit has been developed by Standard of Proof in collaboration with InternetNZ to encourage charitable, non-government organisations to evaluate funded projects aimed at combating the digital divide.

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

·         Community Net Aotearoa

·         NZ Navigator

·         Digital Stuff We Love

Events 

The 2026 Hauora Hinengaro Hui Taumata Mental Health Conference programme is now live and online registrations close on 8 November 2026.

When: Wednesday 11 November 2026

Where: Pullman Hotel, Tāmaki Makaurau

Program Link

Registration Link

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
Louise Hill (Membership Engagement Coordinator): louise@platform.org.nz