The Foundation of Future Wellbeing

Healthy Families NZ responds to the Public Health Advisory Committee's vision for future wellbeing. We're not just planting trees, we are designing the forest.

The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) has released a new report ‘Determining our future health and wellbeing’ which looks ahead to 2040 and examines how we can best improve health and wellbeing outcomes for everyone in New Zealand.

Twenty-five years on from the last major report on social, cultural, and economic determinants of health in New Zealand, this report brings together new and updated evidence on the health and wellbeing of our country, and what influences it.

Across the motu, Healthy Families NZ is already addressing and responding to many of the report's recommendations. The initiative is the embodiment of systems change, equity in action and community-led transformation.

Healthy Families NZ are not just planting trees. We are designing the forest.

Building Wellbeing from the Ground Up

• Healthy Families South Auckland led the creation of the Papatoetoe Food Hub, a cross-sector partnership and community-based approach to providing access to healthy and affordable food.

• Healthy Families Rotorua in collaboration with partners, are leading ‘Nau Mai e Ngā Hua: Kai system’ Reconnecting whānau to whenua, whakapapa, and wellbeing.

• Healthy Families Waitākere are backboning Kai Villages which weaves together mātauranga Māori and community action to build food sovereignty.

• Healthy Families Far North led the establishment of He Manuao, a Rangatahi Leadership Group, launched under the Taikorihi Locality in partnership with Native Sports Performance to design local solutions that increase physical activity and improve mental health.

• Healthy Families Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Ruapehu collaborated with Iwi, whānau and communities to understand lived experience, professional challenges and systemic issues on the prevention of suicide. ‘Growing Collective Wellbeing’ shares this knowledge and a pathway to preventing suicide in New Zealand.

Healthy Families NZ Response and Alignment

1. Community Empowerment

   1. Whānau-led design: supporting communities to co-design solutions that reflect local aspirations and cultural values.

   2. Place-based leadership: Local leadership is central, aligning with PHAC’s call for devolved decision-making.

2. Intersectoral Collaboration

   1. Cross-sector engagement and collaboration (education, housing, transport, food systems) to address root causes of poor health.

   2. Facilitate partnerships between iwi, hapū, local councils, partners and community champions.

3. Equity & Te Tiriti o Waitangi

   1. Embeds Te Tiriti principles in the design and delivery of initiatives.

   2. Supports Māori-led initiatives and champions Indigenous knowledge systems.

      
      

4. Systems Innovation

   1. Uses tools like systems mapping and prototyping to shift entrenched patterns.

   2. Focuses on long-term change rather than short-term fixes — echoing PHAC’s call to “block the leak, not just mop the floor.

5. Food Systems

   1. Initiatives include Kai Villages, Papatoetoe Food Hub, the Good Food Roadmap and Kai Rotorua which promote food sovereignty, climate resilience, and community wellbeing.

   2. Supports regenerative practices and local food systems that nourish both people and planet.

6. Youth Engagement

   1. Collaborates with rangatahi to elevate youth voice in shaping healthier environments, aligning with PHAC’s emphasis on intergenerational equity and youth leadership

Healthy Families NZ offers a powerful and practical response to the PHAC report’s call for transformative change.

Through our place-based, equity-driven approach, we are actively addressing the social, cultural, economic, and environmental determinants of health that shape wellbeing in Aotearoa, reflecting the “win-win” solutions the PHAC report advocates.

By supporting whānau, iwi, and communities to lead systems change, Healthy Families NZ is helping to build a more inclusive, resilient, and equitable society. In doing so, it is not only aligned with the PHAC recommendations — it is helping to realise them.