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National Telehealth Service (NTS) - Mental Health Digital Transformation Partnership

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Key Details

Organisation Name

Whakarongorau Aotearoa

Location

25 College Hill, Freemans Bay, Auckland
New Zealand

Website

Social

eMHIC Member Status

Strategic Partner

At a Glance

Description

New Zealand’s National Telehealth and Crisis Support Service delivers equity-first, 24/7 digital mental health care nationwide through a decade-long funder–provider partnership.

Implementation Status

Routine service delivery

Fully embedded as 24/7 routine national telehealth delivery, integrating mental health, addiction, crisis and emergency support with clinical governance, AI-enabled workflows, and coordinated pathways across police, ambulance, and primary care.

Target Population

Individuals

80,000 people annually; all ages

Communities

Māori; Pacific Island; rural and remote

Professionals

Mental health clinicians; GPs

System

Emergency services: police; ambulance; emergency departments

Impact & Outcomes

FY 2025
272,012
total mental health contacts
80,000
unique people supported
61%
digital channel adoption
75%
first-contact resolution rate
87%
diversion from 111 emergency services
11%
high-risk contacts managed safely
77
Net promotor score - Māori pathway
$12.6M
annual ED cost avoidance
272,012
total mental health contacts
80,000
unique people supported
61%
digital channel adoption
75%
first-contact resolution rate
87%
diversion from 111 emergency services
11%
high-risk contacts managed safely
77
Net promotor score - Māori pathway
$12.6M
annual ED cost avoidance
It's such a blessing that there's the ability to message someone and just chat

Service User

I like the option to text as I was too upset to talk

Service User

Having someone to chat to has greatly reduced my risk of attempting suicide

Service User

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Knowledge Bank images-2025 - 2025-12-16T220155.071
Whakarongorau, New Zealand’s National Telehealth Provider, Advances Mental Health Access With AI Concierge Platform
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Initiative Overview

The Current Gap

This initiative addresses three critical challenges: increasing mental health demand across all age groups (272,012 contacts in FY25), the need for 24/7 culturally responsive care, and ensuring AI deployment serves people rather than just systems.

Our approach embeds equity from the start through Te Korowai, our indigenous-led UX framework honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in the technology architecture itself. We achieved 61% digital channel adoption by removing barriers and letting service users shape the technology, resulting in 75% first-contact resolution and 87% diversion from emergency services.

The governance-first AI implementation achieved 97% staff adoption because trust was built through transparent Clinical Governance Committee oversight before deployment. This partnership model enables rapid, evidence-based adaptation without waiting for contract renegotiations, proving that funders and providers working together from day one produces better outcomes for diverse populations spanning teenagers to older adults.

Our Solution

The National Telehealth Service (NTS) represents a decade-long funder-provider partnership between Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and Whakarongorau Aotearoa that has transformed how digital mental health support is delivered at scale. Rather than traditional procurement where funders and providers operate separately, we co-design solutions together with genuine service user involvement.

Key Features

1

Funder-provider co-design model

Health NZ and Whakarongorau teams work alongside each other from the beginning, jointly owning innovations and adapting based on evidence without contract renegotiation delays.

2

Te Korowai UX framework

Indigenous-led equity-first service provision framework that embeds Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in technology architecture for cultural, clinical, and digital safety.

3

Governance-first AI implementation

Clinical Governance Committee provided AI ethics oversight before deployment, enabling 97% staff adoption through trust-building rather than top-down mandates

4

Service user co-design with genuine power

People with lived experience across the age spectrum shape technology decisions, not just provide feedback, transforming tools from "robotic" to "actually helpful"

5

Ahurea Tuakiri cultural capability programme

Organization-wide cultural identity training (2022-2024) combining eLearning and in-person wānanga, creating workforce capability for culturally responsive digital care

6

Integrated, Scalable 24/7 Mental Health Response

A multi-channel, clinically governed platform delivering therapeutic support at first contact, integrated with emergency services, and operating at national scale.

Collaboration in Action

Main Collaborators

  • Collaborator Logos (4)
  • Collaborator Logos (3)
  • Collaborator Logos (2)
  • Collaborator Logos (14)
Te Taki o Autahi – a Māori partnership collective of iwi organisations
Whakarongorau Clinical Governance Committee
Changing Minds (lived experience partner)

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Key Learnings

Unregulated digital landscape: Navigating a rapidly expanding digital mental health and AI ecosystem without clear frameworks to ensure safety, quality, and effectiveness.
Equity and access barriers: Redesigning services to remove cost, digital, and engagement barriers while avoiding efficiency-led models that risk excluding underserved groups.
Trust, governance, and culture: Embedding clinical governance, ethics, and cultural safety from the outset while shifting decision-making power toward lived-experience co-design and cross-system collaboration.
Effective digital mental health implementation centres equity over efficiency. Removing cost and access barriers and meeting people in familiar digital spaces supported strong uptake and early resolution. Genuine co-design gave people with lived experience real decision-making power, shaping technology that feels respectful and human. Embedded clinical governance and AI ethics frameworks built trust and enabled safe innovation at scale, while partnership-based funding supported shared ownership and rapid learning. Cultural safety was treated as structural, requiring sustained workforce investment and genuine partnership with Māori communities
International collaboration was critical in shaping this initiative. Global evidence on digital mental health and AI implementation informed early design choices, helping avoid known pitfalls and replicate proven approaches. International frameworks for governance, ethics, and user experience were adapted to local cultural and system contexts. Collaboration also addressed shared challenges across mental health systems, including rising demand, workforce shortages, and the risk of AI reinforcing inequities. In turn, this work contributes to the global field by demonstrating equity-first, governance-led AI deployment at scale.

Looking Ahead

Future plans include:
Publishing governance frameworks and equity tools as open resources
Presenting at international conferences on funder-provider partnership models
Collaborating with other countries on AI ethics in healthcare
Demonstrating that equity-first design and system efficiency can work together
Please contact Sonja de Friez (details below) for current opportunities.
To scale equity-first, governance-led digital mental health care; share open governance tools globally; strengthen funder–provider partnerships; and collaborate internationally to advance ethical, effective AI that improves access and outcomes.
eMHIC Directory_Key Contacts (1)

Key Contact

Sonja de Friez
Stakeholder Engagement
Whakarongorau Aotearoa

Email

[email protected]

Website

Media

Digital and AI Transformation at Scale: A Case Study of Aotearoa NZ’s Largest Primary Mental Healthcare Service

Resources

Virtual Care in Aotearoa: Evidence from services reaching over 700,000 people
698255c68e6a9.pdf
Weaving Equity into Digital Care
698255c68f5a2.pdf
Beyond the call – the social return on investment of 1737 Need to Talk?
698255c68faf2.pdf

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