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Helen Lockett

Strategic Lead

E te tī, e te tā, tēnā tātou katoa

Nō Ingarangi ahau

Kei Whakaoriori ahau e noho ana

Ko Helen Lockett tōku ingoa

He Kairautaki Matua ahau ki Te Pou

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

I've been seconded from the Wise Group to Te Pou in a strategic leadership role to build a collaborative which raises the funds for, designs, and implements the next Te Rau Hinengaro national population mental health and substance use survey or series of surveys.

I am an experienced director, researcher, and manager with over 25 years of experience supporting change in the mental health and addiction sector in Aotearoa and the UK.

I am grounded in values and beliefs and strive to honour lived experience and cultural knowledge, alongside published evidence to inform policy and practice change. I seek to ensure the best quality pathways of support are available and accessible and support equitable outcomes for tāngata whai ora and whānau.

Helen has a deep and extensive understanding of the workings of the Aotearoa mental health and addiction system, across specialist, primary and community services, combined with being acknowledged as an expert in areas of employment and physical health equity.

I started my career as a support worker in a small day service in England where she saw the positive impact getting a job had on peoples’ lives and learned how intensive and tailored support could be offered to enable people to fulfil their employment aspirations. Helen then became interested in service improvement, systems change, and getting research into practice and specialised in understanding the evidence base for implementing effective employment support programmes.

In 2019, I completed my doctorate with the University of Auckland in improving evidence-based practices in employment support for people who experience mental health and addiction issues and also worked as an advisor with the OECD to publish the Aotearoa New Zealand mental health and work report, alongside He Ara Oranga.

Since 2013, I have been working alongside Te Pou and Platform Trust to initiate and develop the Aotearoa New Zealand Equally Well collaborative, and whilst I no longer sit on the backbone team, am still actively involved in research on physical health equity, particularly the Tupuānuku research - Tupuānuku project, Our research interests, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.