Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2026 - 2036

Kathryn Ross - Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive Skylight Trust

I was privileged to be invited to the launch of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2026-2036 and its associated Implementation Plan on Thursday the 6th of August at Parliament.

It was great to see the commitment to a youth mental health and addiction plan.

For too long we’ve advocated for a greater focus on youth and mental health. With nearly 50% of young people experiencing moderate to high levels of psychological distress and nearly half of all mental health challenges emerging before a young person is 18 – the time for action is now. I hope that we don’t need to wait until June 2027 for the plan or for progress on implementation.

The Strategy paints a vision of the future that Skylight supports. In getting to that future, more focus and detail on reducing inequity, strengthening services for Māori (and other priority population groups with greater needs and poorer outcomes), and funding will be required. While there is more investment now than before, we know there is not enough to keep up with need and demand.

The priorities of the Strategy – and in particular the need to focus on prevention and early intervention – are sound.

The challenge to focus on creating “the social, economic, physical, cultural, and environmental conditions that help people and communities to thrive”, can not be underestimated, but it must be tackled.

Our tamariki and rangatahi must be empowered to thrive