Here to stay, TheMHS NZ

HORIZON, TheMHS and the power of our learning network

As a reader of Horizon, and in my role as the Executive Director of the Themes Learning Network, I am impressed with the breadth of articles in this magazine. There is a lot of content that is creative in how it approaches ideas, and that aligns well with how TheMHS operates. We are delighted to have this relationship with Horizon, and I see it becoming a routine part of how we deliver our events.

TheMHS the movement

What we do, and what we have been doing for thirty five years, is bringing people together around rich and current content to move the dial forward on mental health reform. TheMHS should not be thought of as a conference company. It is a movement of people who want to see better mental health services.

Good to be back in Aotearoa

The last time we were in New Zealand for our main conference was in Auckland, which I think may have been 2015 or 2016. I was at that conference, although I was not working for TheMHS at the time. When I started with TheMHS a little over two years ago, the board made it clear that we had lost our presence in New Zealand and needed to re establish it. It became an early priority for me to find a way to do that.

Te Hiringa Mahara and TheMHS

Fortunately, the New Zealand Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission came along and we were able to establish an exclusive working relationship to put on a one day event, in Auckland and early November 2025.

Not just a one off

More importantly, we have created a brand and an intent to make it an annual event. From our point of view, we want to see it grow each year. We want it to have a focus that is primarily for New Zealanders.

My hope is that in a few years we will have a large multi stream conference happening in New Zealand every year, alongside the one in Australia.

Great audience

Reflecting on who attended I am pleased with the level of engagement from senior leadership. It is something I notice as a difference. The reach and connection to the most senior people seems a little bit easier here than in Australia. With one government rather than seven, things operate differently.

A TheMHS audience

What really gratifies me is that the audience felt like a TheMHS audience. It includes very senior people. It includes practitioners. It includes many people with lived experience and strong cultural diversity. That eclectic mix is what makes TheMHS unique. We bring together people from right across the mental health sector to talk, meet and hopefully take action.

When the dust has settled and we sit down as a team to ask whether it was a success, there are three things I will look for.

From a business perspective, it needs to prove itself financially viable, and this event has done that, which gives us more confidence about risk for next year.
The second thing is that the people who come have a great experience, that their voices are heard, that they meet new people and build a web of connections.
The third, and probably most important, is that there is a sense that action comes out of the day. Our intention is that next year's event will reflect back on what action has happened since today, and whether we were able to move the dial forward even a little bit.

My final thought for now is this : TheMHS is committed to building events, content and a community of people here in New Zealand that is primarily for people in New Zealand and focused on the issues that matter to them. We believe we will be able to do that with our relationship with Te Hiringa Mahara, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission and with the support of Horizon.