Committees and Reference Groups
The Mental Health Commission's Advisory Group
The Commission's work incorporates a wide variety of perspectives on mental health and addiction. This year the Mental Health Commission was pleased to annouce it's new advisory group, they provide us with valuable insights and advice from the perspectives of service users, families/whanau, Maori, Pacific peoples, and practitioners.
Te Kani Kingi
Chair
Te Kani Kingi is Director of Te Mata o te Tau, The Academy for Maori Research and Scholarship at Massey University in Wellington. He has a specialist interest in mental health research, psychometrics, and Maori health. He was responsible for the development of Hua Oranga, a Maori measure of mental health outcome, and was part of the New Zealand Psychiatric Epidemiology research team. He has formally been an executive member of the New Zealand Public Health Association and currently sits on the National Health Committee and the National Ethics Advisory Committee.
Te Kani was born and raised in Poroporo, near Whakatane, and has tribal affiliations to both Ngati Awa and Ngati Pukeko. He attended St Stephen’s School in Bombay, and later studied at Waikato University, Waiariki Institute of Technology, and Massey University.
Graham Roper
Graham has developed an in-depth understanding of the Mental Health sector over many years. This understanding has grown through both the lived experience of mental Illness and a leadership role. Graham has been the Consumer Advisor to a DHB Mental Health Service for the past four years.
Graham also currently chairs the National Association of Mental Health Consumer Advisors.
Other participation and collaboration involvement includes the Mental Health Commissions’ ‘Service User Reference Group’, the National Personality Disorder Advisory Group and a number of less formal collaboration projects.
A recent key role was as co-chair of an ‘online orientation’ project with The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.
Graham’s background includes 18 years as an advanced paramedic, adult educator and aero medical specialist. He was awarded “fellow” of the Institute of Ambulance Officers for his services to Ambulance Officers.
Current initiatives include development and patent holder for the utilisation of cell phone text messaging for emergency use/information.
Claire Moore
Claire leads a team of mental health service evaluators, who have experience of using the services themselves, at Counties Manukau DHB. One of the unique aspects of the evaluation framework used by the team is a multi-perspective approach. When evaluating the services the team hear the perspectives from clients, family, staff, NGO’s and other agencies. This places Claire in a unique position to understand the wide range views of all stakeholders and to understand issues relating to the collaboration between the Provider and NGO sectors. As evaluators of mental health services the team make recommendations for improvements to the services incorporating the concepts of recovery whilst drawing on supporting leading mental health documents.
Claire was the recipient of the Blueprint Centre for Learning Advanced Executive Leadership and Management (AELMP) Award for 2007.
Lealofi Sio
Lealofi is New Zealand born Samoan and he began working for Matua Raki, a national addictions workforce development organisation. Lealofi’s knowledge base consists of lived experiences, clinical practice and funding & planning experience. He has made significant contributions locally and regionally for Pacific mental health & addictions. Lealofi has an understanding of Pacific health issues, in particularly mental health & addictions in New Zealand. He is committed and acknowledges the importance of continuing education. He has just completed a post graduate diploma in Health Science and is now undertaking masters in Business Administration.
Leo McIntyre
Leo McIntyre was born in Nelson, raised in Upper Hutt, near Wellington, and was educated at St Patrick's College Silverstream. Leo worked as an apprentice painter and decorator for the NZPO and Telecom before a back injury ended his career shortly after qualifying. Leo experienced a period of depression but then retrained to work at the Police National Video Unit in Porirua. As a result of overexposure to extremely explicit forensic video material Leo developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which forced him to resign. He returned to the paint industry, working for Resene Paints, and began studying NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), after which he decided to pursue a career in mental health. Leo completed his undergraduate degree in 2002. He worked part-time from December 2003 as the manager of Temp Solutions; an award-winning Wellington-based employment agency that specialises in placing people with experience of mental illness in short-term employment. He also studied part-time for a BA (Hons) Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating in May 2006. Leo worked for Temp Solutions full time until October 2009, and has served as Chairperson for Balance NZ since 2005. He currently works for as a Services Manager for Wellink Trust, and lives in Wellington with his partner Sally Kopp.
Chris Taua
Chris’ professional career is centred within mental health and disability nursing and education. She currently works as a Lecturer at CPIT (Christchurch), is Chair of the Mental Health Education and Resource Centre and Editor of Te Ao Maramatanga: NZ College of Mental Health Nurses E newsletter. Chris has a sound knowledge and understanding of governance, leadership, Government policies and strategic directions within NZ’s mental health and social services. The core values (dignity, equality, justice and autonomy) which guide her work are underpinned by her simple but critical belief that every human being is an individual who must be protected against the abuse of power. She views incidents of discrimination as “teachable moments” taking advantage of the opportunity to help individuals reflect upon their beliefs in order to value others beliefs.
Rob Warriner
After working in the textile, building, and daily farming industries, the mental health sector is Rob’s fourth career. After 11 years with AMHS based in Takapuna, latterly as Community and Business Development Manager, Rob was appointed Chief Executive of WALSH Trust in 2003. He is a determined advocate for the continued development and growth of community-based mental health services. He was instrumental in researching and developing a supported employment service designed to meet the needs of people who experience a mental illness, and was a founding member of ASENZ. Rob is a Trustee of Platform Trust, co-chair of Waitemata DHB Provider Executive Group, and is also a member of the Mental Health Advocacy Coalition (MHAC) and Waitemata DHB Combined Stakeholder Network.
Simone Molenaar
Simone hails from the shores of Lake Rotorua and the tulip fields of the Netherlands. Her mother is from the King Country, Mt Ruapehu and her father is from Zuid Scharwoude in Langedijk, North Holland. She has a big family on both sides that keep her fires stoked. She lives in Hamilton and works within the health and social service sector.
She has a passion for effecting positive change in society especially in the area of primary mental health. Her aim is to always view the cup half full and to practice strength based approaches to change. Believing in people and their abilities is fundamental in her approach to life and learning. She values the importance of reflective practice in both the professional and personal spheres of her life in order to keep working toward being the best that she can possibly be.
Simone’s qualifications include BSocSc, ELMP and HLAP. She has 15 years experience working within the education, health and social service sector (disability and mental health) including previous roles at Linkage Trust - Case Manager and Project Manager; Project Manager NPE (Progress to Health); Student Disability Advisor & Tutor in Psychology - University of Waikato.
She has been involved in various community groups over the years in a voluntary capacity that have also assisted with her growth and learning’s.
Hayley Theyers
Hayley is currently employed by CADS (Community Alcohol and Drug services) in Auckland with the consumer team, acting as a conduit for consumer feedback. She has worked in different parts of the service including Pregnancy and Parental, in counselling units, and in Inpatient and Community Detox as well as the Methadone Service. She has strong links in both nationwide Addiction and Mental Health consumer networks. She would like to see more integration between Addiction and Mental Health services, especially as it has been suggested that 87% of people living with addiction issues also have mental health concerns.
Her interests other than work are collecting vinyl (especially late 60’s psychedelia), she reads voraciously, and chases sunsets with her children.
Dr Monique Faleafa (DClinPsy)
Monique is the National Manager of Le Va, the Pacific Mental Health workforce development programme for New Zealand that sits within Te Pou. She brings with her a background in clinical psychology, mental health and Pacific research, DHB service experience, and 10 years serving in a Pacific NGO. She is passionate about enhancing responsiveness of services and strategies to meet the needs of Pasifika families. Monique is of Samoan descent with connections hailing from Lano village on Savaii and Fusi village at Safata on Upolu, Samoa.
Taone O’Regan
Taone O’Regan is the Manager of Atareira, a Wellington Mental Health organisation providing services to people who have experience of mental health difficulties and their family and whanau . As well as a transitional housing service and computer based training centre they offer an education programme for schools and community groups about mental illness and stigma. Atareira is an affiliated branch of Schizophrenia Fellowship NZ and has a specific role in providing information, support and advocacy to family and whanau affected by mental illness.
Taone worked as a nurse in Carrington and Wellington Hospitals before broadening her experience overseas in a range of mental health services. Settling in East London for 13 years she developed an interest in Service User led organisations and housing which she is has continued since her return to New Zealand.
Elliot Bell
Elliot is a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of Otago, Wellington. In addition to his research and teaching background at the University, he has worked clinically across both the public and private sectors in mental health since 1995. Prior to being appointed to the Advisory Group, Elliot had been the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP) representative on the Commission’s Practitioners Reference Group. Elliot is passionate about client centred collaborative approaches to treatment and rehabilitation in mental health, and the importance of consumers having choices in their care, including access to evidence-based talking therapies.
Lynda Thoumine
Lynda has been involved in the area of mental health from a service user perspective for eight years. Having been part of the following groups in some capacity she lists them more for reference to her wide experience: Like Minds Like Mine, Wellington, Kapiti Choices, Journey Forwards, Leadership and Acute services work streams, Parents Advisory Group, Buddies Advisory Group, Streetbeat project, and various other mental health groups.
Lynda is currently the Consumer Advisor, to the Operations Director, at Te Korowai – Whariki. She leads the Consumer Advisory Council and the Consumer Team at TKW. Lynda has been a service user herself for 41 years and she is also a family member of other service users.
Lynda lists amongst her hobbies, reading, writing (she is a published writer) and breeding her Bichon Dogs.
Gavin Pilkington
Gavin has a deep commitment to improve services for, and the lot of, older adults, and their family’s, living with mental health issues – especially those living with the psychiatric complications of dementia and other major medical and neurological issues.
Gavin has worked exclusively with older adults and their families, mainly in community settings, since 1990. His work has been as a full time clinician (Specialist in Psychiatry of Old Age) in the public health system. He has been the Older Adult representative on the Waitemata District Health Board Mental Health Stakeholder Network since its inception; and is also the Older Adult Representative and Work stream co-chairperson on the Network North Coalition. He is a member of the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age, the International Psycho Geriatric Society.
His goal in serving on the Commission Advisory group is to advocate for an increased voice and improved services for Older Adults.
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