Earlier this year, we sent all the main political parties our evidence-based policy guide, What works. Months later, we asked them what concrete actions they will take to improve mental health and wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Expand the drop downs below to see how the parties answered our nine questions.
Key
Yes | 
Undecided | 
No | 
Did not respond | 
Party’s explanation either did not include an explicit future commitment to implement the policy OR did not fully align with the question.
Will your party ...
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Why this matters: Over a quarter of New Zealanders experience poor mental wellbeing. Creating supportive environments and equipping communities with tools to look after their mental wellbeing will improve lives, prevent crises, relieve pressure on services and save money.
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Why this matters: Young people experience the most mental health challenges of any age group, more barriers to support, and longer service wait times. Freely available health and wellbeing services in schools and other education settings can prevent, identify and address emerging challenges before they escalate.
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Why this matters: The number of young people experiencing high levels of distress has tripled since 2012, yet they face the longest wait times and the steepest barriers to care. Free youth-specific services such as “one-stop shops” align closely with what young people ask for in mental health care, and they work.
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Why this matters: Māori experience some of the poorest mental health outcomes, due to the ongoing impacts of racism and colonisation, and inequitable access to culturally appropriate care. Kaupapa Māori services deliver better outcomes for Māori while offering holistic care options for non-Māori.
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Why this matters: People are being told they don’t qualify for specialist support, allowing their distress to escalate. This is unacceptable. Expanding specialist service capacity will help meet demand and ensure people receive timely, expert care when they need it.
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Why this matters: You cannot focus on recovery or healing if you don’t know where you will sleep tonight or how you will feed your whānau tomorrow. Providing basic needs like housing and employment alongside mental health services leads to better outcomes and long-term cost savings.
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Why this matters: With hundreds of New Zealanders lost to suicide each year, the ripple effect of grief impacts thousands of whānau and people in our communities. Community-led prevention and postvention initiatives that are safe, effective, culturally responsive, and reflect lived experience can reduce distress, support bereaved whānau and prevent further harm.
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Why this matters: Whether a person experiencing a mental health crisis receives a timely, coordinated and appropriate health response depends on where they live, and who they are. A nationally cohesive crisis response system that offers timely access to a range of coordinated options, including peer-led, kaupapa Māori and youth-specific responses, is needed.
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Why this matters: Workforce shortages are limiting access to care, particularly in specialist services. It’s a strain on Aotearoa’s mental healthcare system and staff. Expanding training pathways, improving staff wellbeing and retention, and building a diverse workforce reflecting our multicultural communities will support a world-class mental healthcare system.
Want to see the parties’ full written responses?
Parties completed a self-assessment
The responses presented on this scorecard were collected via a nine-question survey that we sent to the following political parties in June 2026: ACT, The Green Party, New Zealand First, Labour, Te Pāti Māori, National and Opportunity Party.
Parties were given the option to answer ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘undecided’ to each question and were asked to explain their position and future commitment.
We reviewed the parties' responses and introduced an asterisk
If a party answered 'yes' but their explanation did not include an explicit future commitment to implement the policy, or did not fully align with the question, we gave their response an asterisk.
We have edited the written responses for grammatical correctness but have otherwise not changed them.
This information is accurate as of 17 September 2026 and may be updated if parties publish any relevant policy commitments.
We encourage you to read all the political parties’ election policies in full on their websites. Relevant links to health or mental health policies are listed below (up to date as of 17 September 2026):
The Green Party’s 2026 manifesto (mental health policy on page 29)
Labour’s 2026 election policies (can filter by subject including health)
National’s 2026 election policies (can filter by subject including health)
Te Pāti Māori’s policies (can filter by subject including health)
Authorised by Shaun Robinson, Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, Eden 3, Ground Floor, 16 Normanby Road, Mt Eden, Auckland 1024.
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