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Ō Mātou Reo: Our Voices 2025

Consumer hub Partners in Care
10 November 2025

Ō Mātou Reo: Our Voices 2025 was held on Thursday, 30 October. This annual event places consumers, their whānau and communities at the heart of conversations about our health sector in New Zealand.

Held at Tākina Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wellington, this full-day event brought together over 250 consumers, whānau, communities, health providers and leaders to share experiences, insights and aspirations for the health system. 

Rae Lamb, Board Chair of the Health Quality and Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora opened the day by saying: “When we centre our health system on the needs and voices of our communities, we create a safer, higher quality and culturally responsive environment for all”.

A series of speakers, panels and workshops explored the many different voices and experiences of consumers and whānau from across New Zealand. 

The stories were rich and insightful, and covered a wide range of areas including rongoā Māori; youth voices; good practice for engaging with tangata whaikaha and their whānau and implementation of the Code of expectations for health entities engagement with consumers and whānau.

Throughout the day attendees shared their thoughts and questions, spurring on discussions. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Wellington. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insights around how the sector can better engage with consumers, whānau and communities. 
 You’ll hear more from us about the experiences, thoughts and kōrero collected over the coming months.

Check out some photo highlights from the day below.

A woman and man stand smiling beside a banner. The banner reads: Ō Mātou Reo Our Voices. It is navy blue, and has an orange and purple tohu design on the bottom. The woman stands on the left. She has long dark hair and wears a black top and skirt, with a rainbow lanyard. The man is on the right of the banner, he has short dark hair and a beard and wears a blue checkered shirt with grey pants.

A photo from the mihi whakatau. A wahine Māori with medium length dark hair is wearing black clothing and a hei tiki. She is waving a poi. A tane stands beside her dressed in a navy blue suit. He has short, dark hair. They both wear ceremonial kakahu and are singing.

Two people sit at a promotional table, looking at information in front of them and smiling. A woman sits on the left of the table. She has pink and black hair, a stripy top and blue jeans on. She also wears red glasses. A man sits across from her with short, dark hair, a dark moustache, red t-shirt and light blue gloves on.

Two men pose for the camera. The man on the left has short hair and wears glasses, a dark green shirt, rainbow lanyard and hei tiki around his neck. The man on the right has no hair, he wears glasses, a black shirt, green blazer with rainbow lanyard and carving around his neck. Both men are smiling at the camera.

Two women pose for a photo. They are looking straight at the camera and smiling. The woman on the left wears a blue rimmed hat with a feather in the top. She has a bright pink top on under a blue dress, with a patterned blue cardigan. The woman on the right has short blonde hair and a blue top with a purple jacket and multicoloured scarf.

Three people are talking and laughing. The woman on the left has long hair and wears a purple top. The woman in the middle wears a colourful dress, with long hair and glasses. She has her finger raised in the air and is smiling. The main on the right is holding a cup of tea or coffee. He is wearing a scarf and has sunglasses on his head.

Two women are sitting at a table, talking. The woman on the left has grey hair with glasses on her head. She is wearing a blue shirt. The woman on the right has dark hair, glasses, a moko kaue and she is wearing a grey scarf and beige top. They are deep in conversation, with focussed looks on their faces. They are sitting in a busy room, behind them are many other people sitting and talking.

Three people are sitting at a table during a group activity. In front of them, the table is covered in post it notes, notepads, pens and waterbottles. The person on the left is looking at his phone. He has short hair and a dark top on. The woman in the middle has long hair and a white top on. She is also looking at the man’s phone. The third man on the right is wearing glasses and a dark top. He is looking in the other direction, talking to someone out of frame.

Two men are giving a presentation from behind a podium. The man on the left has short, grey hair. He wears glasses, a black shirt and grey pants. He is speaking and gesturing with his hands. The man on the right has short, dark hair. He wears a blue shirt and rainbow lanyard. He is listening, with a focussed look on his face.

Four members of the Youth Voices panel sit on stage. From left to right, there is a woman wearing a colourful, checkered dress with short red hair, the man to the right is speaking into the microphone, he wears dark clothing and has short hair. The next to the right is a young man who is sitting listening. He wears a light shirt, dark cardigan and glasses. Next to him is a young woman with long hair tied in a pony tail. She wears a dark top and black jeans.

Four speakers sit on stage against a black background. They are all listening to someone from the audience speak. From left to right, there is a woman with dark hair pulled into a pony tail. She wears glasses and dark clothing. She is sitting in a motorised chair. Next to her is a young woman with dark hair and flowers on her top. Next to her is a woman with grey hair and glasses. She is looking down at her lap and wears dark clothing. The last in the line is a woman with short, dark hair and a long blue dress. She is also looking at the person speaking in the audience.

A photo of a sign language interpreter translating for deaf participants at a table. She has dark hair pulled up into a bun, and a horizontal fringe. She wears a black top.

Relevant pages

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