Advisory groups

We support young people and all those working in youth health to have a say in what works best for them

We enable diverse voices

We established and enabled three advisory groups from 2021 to 2025 for Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora to play a key role in their School Based Health Service enhancement programme:

We also established the Rangatahi Māori Advisory Rōpū for the Interim Māori Health Authority (2022) to help ensure rangatahi were involved in all design stages of health and disability services and te ao Māori solutions for rangatahi.

If you’d like to know more about these groups and their mahi, or need help setting up an advisory group, please contact us.  We would love to share the knowledge and experience we have gained through this mahi and working with these amazing advisors.

 

Te Tatau Kitenga - Youth Health Sector Advisory Group

Te Tatau Kitenga had a wide and diverse membership of kaimahi from regions across the motu including rural areas, different youth health professions and workplaces with different models of school-based health care delivery. 

Members included well-regarded youth health experts and advocates for young people, particularly for Māori rangatahi and those from other priority groups, including Pacific young people, rainbow young people, care-experienced young people, and rangatahi whaikaha – young disabled people. Members also included leading youth health researchers. 

Our late kaumātua, Matua Rawhiri Wharemate, gifted the group their name: Te Tatau Kitenga, meaning The doorway to foresight. Their name reflects the group’s long-term vision of supporting rangatahi to lead and open doors for others.

Te Rōpū Mātanga o Rangatahi - Māori Youth Health Sector Advisory Group

Te Rōpū o Mātanga o Rangatahi provided leadership and advice to ensure Te Tiriti o Waitangi is upheld and mahi focused on achieving equitable outcomes for rangatahi Māori.

Te Rōpū o Matanga o Rangatahi members were also part of Te Tatau Kitenga – the Youth Health Sector Advisory Group, recognising the partnership needed to ensure equity and Te Tiriti was embedded in the work of all the health sector advisory groups.

Our late kaumatua, Matua Rawiri Wharemata, gifted Te Rōpū Mātanga o Rangatahi their name, which conveys the meaning The Watchmen of Rangatahi.

Māngai Whakatipu - Youth Advisory Group

The best outcomes for youth happen when young people are included as equal partners in decision-making that affects them and when they have opportunities to lead and flourish. 

From 2021 to June 2025, we established and supported groups of young people with experience of school-based health services to advise  Te Whatu Ora and their partners on what needed to change for all rangatahi. 

To ensure advice included diverse perspectives from priority groups not currently well served, members included rangatahi Māori, Pacific young people, rainbow young people, care-experienced young people and young people with disability. Members came from across Aotearoa and were unique as an advisory group of 16-18 year olds with such wide representation.

Māngai Whakatipu was involved in all aspects of the school-based health services enhancement programme and provided detailed feedback, enriched by their particular perspectives, knowledge and experience and willingness to share.

We learnt a lot from the rangatahi about what they needed to feel safe, valued and supported. We empowered them to develop as leaders giving them inceasing responsibility for decisions regarding hui and what advice to give those who wanted feedback from them.

Towards the end of their time a tuakana teina relationship developed, where more experienced members stayed on to mentor new members. 

Supporting Māngai Whakatipu was a highlight for the Youth Health Aotearoa team and we wish them well in all their future opportunities. 

If you would like to know more, please contact us.

Rangatahi Māori Advisory Rōpū

During 2022/23 we brought together and supported the rangatahi involved in the Rangatahi Māori Advisory Rōpū to contribute and influence the Māori Health Authority Plan.

This rōpū aimed to enhance youth health services and ensure Māori youth are actively involved in health planning and evaluation.