From the Frontlines at Waahi Whaanui: Mental Health and Addiction Gaps

On the frontlines of whānau support, the cracks in the system are becoming impossible to ignore.

This week, our Whānau Voice team visited Waahi Whaanui in Raahui Pookeka-Huntly that was established in 1983 by the Tainui Maori Trust Board as one of its ten Marae Cluster Management Committees that works across a vast rohe — from Mercer in the north, to Raglan in the west, Te Hoe in the east, and Kirikiriroa in the south.

They deliver an impressive range of integrated services: Whānau Ora, parenting support, family violence response, social workers in schools, rangatahi transition services, alcohol and addiction support, and more. Deeply embedded in their hapori driven by a commitment to uplift whānau. But even with all their expertise, one reality stood out: they’re doing critical mahi with our people experiencing a health system under immense strain. The need is growing significantly, particularly for our rangatahi.

Mental Health: Access Denied by Distance and Delay

For Raahui Pookeka based whānau,often access mental health assessment is to travel half an hour to Hamilton. Once seen, they’re referred back to local services in Raahui Pookeka—services that are already under immense pressure.

The latest data from Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission backs this up:

• 16,000 fewer people were seen by specialist services in the year to June 2024, compared to 2021.
• More than 10,000 of them were under 25 years old.
• The drop isn’t because fewer people need help—it’s because they can’t get it.

This is a crisis. Not just of access, but of dignity.

Addiction Support Has a Waitlist—But Pain Doesn’t Wait

There’s a four-week wait to see an addiction counsellor at Waahi Whaanui. For some whānau, that’s a tipping point. There is limited alcohol and drug support for rangatahi under 18. We heard that many rangatahi are in crisis, with no place to turn.

Kaumātua Saving Up Their Pain

Kaumātua said they “save up” their health concerns because of cost and not wanting to be hōhā or overburden already stretched services.

It is not tika that they should feel like a burden. They carry our whakapapa, our mātauranga, our mauri. They should be cherished and prioritised.

The Numbers Are Stark—But Not New to Us

Māori in Waikato are:

• 9 times more likely than non-Māori to be hospitalised for any mental or substance use disorder
• 6 times more likely for schizophrenia
• 7 times more likely for substance and alcohol-related harm
• And an average of 225 Māori (mostly wāhine) are hospitalised for intentional self-harm each year

In Hamilton, over 2,000 Māori aren’t enrolled with a GP—shut out from the most basic preventative care.

Where to From Here?

What we saw was a failure of the health system to support providers like Waahi Whaanui who are under pressure, the increased caseload of kaimahi carrying too much without the resources they need, and whānau trying to hold on without falling through the cracks.

We stand alongside them—and we raise their voices.

Last week the Government announced a $28 million investment over four years in Budget 2025 to shift the response to 111 mental distress calls from Police to mental health professionals. For frontline providers like Waahi Whaanui it will take far more to address the deep gaps in accessibility, workforce, and culturally grounded care.

Te Tiratū is calling for:

Providers to be adequately resourced to cope with the increasing demand on services

• A focus on services for rangatahi under 18 that are locally relevant and accessible
• Appropriate whanau orientated triage processes
• Culturally grounded, local solutions led by whānau, hapū and iwi

Te Tiratū will continue to amplify your voice until the system listens.