Ora Toa Mauriora Mental Health Team Responds to Formal Apology
MEDIA RELEASE - 15 October 2026
Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira acknowledges the recent apology from the Psychology profession for the harm caused by systemic racism within the discipline and the historic and ongoing impacts this has for Māori communities. To the relevant professional bodies and learning institutes, our wero is to ensure that deliberate and intentional change is enacted, for the benefit of not only Māori, but all marginalised groups in Aotearoa. Furthermore, there is call for consideration of what constitutes progress and action.
Ora Toa Mauriora is the Kaupapa Māori Mental Health and Addiction services of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira. Ora Toa Mauriora was developed and staffed by Ngāti Toa iwi members and overtime, this has grown, with tautoko from kaimahi across the motu. These services are comprised of various disciplines, including psychologists, and are underpinned by the understanding that - Nā te ira Atua, we all have mana, mauri and tapu and thus, everyone should be treated in a way that is tika, pono, me te aroha.
Kaimahi working within our services are guided by Te Ao Māori, Mātauranga Māori, tikanga, whakapapa and their relationship with Te Taiao, alongside their previous education. We feel that non-Western knowledge systems, which are integral to identity and hauora, have not been authentically acknowledged or widely prioritised within psychology practice and education.
As Kaupapa Māori services, we centre the whānau we are working with, which includes seeing them in the context of their past experiences. Our approach is about meeting whānau where they are and where their needs are, allowing whānau to enact their tino rangatiratanga within their hauora journey.
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