PHANZ CALLS FOR STRONGER PREVENTION FOCUS IN DRAFT MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING STRATEGY

The Public Health Association of New Zealand (PHANZ) has welcomed the Government’s draft Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2026–2036 (the Strategy), while calling for a stronger focus on primary prevention, equity, and action on the broader drivers of mental health and wellbeing.

In its submission to the Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora, the PHANZ said the Strategy represents a positive step toward improving mental health outcomes across Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly through its emphasis on prevention and early intervention. However, the PHANZ noted that the Strategy remains too heavily focused on service-based responses within the health system and does not go far enough in addressing the underlying social, economic, cultural, environmental, and commercial factors that shape mental wellbeing.

PHANZ Chief Executive Dr Cadence Kaumoana said improving mental health outcomes requires coordinated action well beyond the health sector.“Mental health is shaped by far more than access to services alone. Housing, poverty, discrimination, employment, education, and exposure to harmful industries, all play a major role in wellbeing outcomes,” said Dr Kaumoana.

The PHANZ supports broader wellbeing factors being more explicitly prioritised within the Strategy, as failure to address them will limit the impact and sustainability of prevention efforts. In addition, the PHANZ is calling for the development of a complementary cross-government mental health and addiction primary prevention plan, alongside the Strategy, to ensure long-term investment in, and action on, the upstream factors that influence mental health.

The submission highlights the importance of embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi throughout the Strategy and enabling Māori leadership in governance, policy design, and implementation. The PHANZ noted that Māori continue to experience significant inequities in mental health outcomes due to the ongoing impacts of colonisation, systemic racism, and broader social inequities.

The PHANZ also called for a stronger equity focus across the Strategy to ensure responses are culturally grounded and responsive to the needs of Māori, Pacific peoples, rainbow communities, disabled people, ethnic communities, and other groups experiencing disproportionate mental health challenges.

The PHANZ submission is available here.