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About the Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund

The Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund will provide $10 million over two years to support innovative time-limited projects and initiatives aimed at improving mental health outcomes in New Zealand.

It is open to any providers / organisations that may include (but is not limited to): non-government organisations (NGOs) and community mental health and addiction providers (including iwi-based and other Kaupapa Māori providers) so they are able to access Government funding for innovative approaches to improve mental health and addiction outcomes for New Zealanders.

To be eligible for the Innovation Fund, providers need to demonstrate in their proposals that the proposed time-limited initiative can meet all of the criteria listed below:

  1. increases access to mental health and addiction support  
  2. protects public specialist mental health and addiction services by reducing demand 
  3. develops capacity in the mental health and addiction workforce 
  4. uses technology to drive productivity 
  5. delivers scalable solutions for unmet need 
  6. returns positive social return on investment (with evidence) 
  7. achieves positive outcomes for target population groups that have evidence of poorer mental health outcomes than other groups 
  8. will be co-funded on a dollar-for-dollar matched funding basis (noting the matched funding allocated through the Innovation Fund cannot be used for overheads or administration costs).  

The Innovation Fund operates on a dollar-for-dollar matched funding basis with existing investment from organisations matched by Health NZ from a minimum amount of $100,000 per annum per initiative and to a maximum amount of $1 million per annum initiative.

How to apply

The third round is now open.

Applicants will note this round is being administered as a two‑stage procurement process: an initial Registration of Interest (ROI) to assess eligibility, followed by a closed Request for Proposal (RFP) for shortlisted applicants. Further information can be found on the New Zealand Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website.

GETS | Health NZ Te Whatu Ora — Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund — Round 3 (external link)

Applicants will also note that the minimum dollar-for-dollar matched funding criteria remains at $100,000 for round three applications and the Social Return on Investment (SROI) is now staged to include only a Theory of change and early SROI indications, with a full report only required by successful applicants as a contracted deliverable.

First and second round funding recipients

Round one and two funding recipients [DOCX, 16 KB]

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