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About the Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund

The new 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 will offer an opportunity for organisations across New Zealand to access time-limited government funding through a contestable procurement process.

Applications for the Innovation Fund will be open to providers across the country.

To be eligible for time-limited funding, providers will need to demonstrate how their project or initiative meets the following criteria.

  • Increases access to mental health and addiction support.
  • Protects public specialist mental health and addiction services by reducing demand.
  • Develops capacity in the mental health and addiction workforce.
  • Uses technology to drive productivity.
  • Delivers scalable solutions for unmet need.
  • Returns positive social return on investment (with evidence)
  • Achieves positive outcomes for target population groups that have evidence of poorer mental health outcomes than other groups.
  • How the initiative will be co-funded on a dollar-for-dollar matched funding basis.

The Innovation Fund will operate on a dollar-for-dollar matched funding basis, with existing investment from organisations matched by the Government up to the agreed funding cap of $1 million per annum per initiative. 

More information about the Innovation Fund will be published on this page soon.

How to apply

The first round of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund is set to open for applications by the end of July 2024.

For more information about the Future Procurement Opportunity, see GETS | Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) - Mental Health & Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund.

The full submission criteria and Request for Proposal (RFP) process will be published on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) website, with contracts for round one expected to be in place later this year. Interested parties can receive notifications about funding opportunities by registering with GETS on the website.

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