Introducing the design project

Lived Experience organisations Changing Minds, Te Kete Pounamu, Balance Aotearoa, and Thriving Madly, supported by Synergia, will collaborate with Lived Experience communities to answer the following question—

What could a Mental Health and Addiction Lived Experience National Representative Body look like?

The project has been commissioned by the Ministry of Health to design the purpose, functions, form, and features of a potential National Representative Body. It will not make final decisions about establishing the body, funding arrangements, or implementation details—it is an opportunity to strengthen how tangata whaiora and whānau voice is heard, used and answered in mental health and addiction spaces.

At its core, the design of this body will—

• Be representative of tangata whaiora and whānau experience

• Make sure that mental health and addictions systems in Aotearoa are accountable

• Clearly action and fulfil Te Tiriti o Waitangi and equity commitments

• Ensure that Lived Experience is at the forefront of decision-making

• Strengthen trust and relationships between communities and the health system.