The Matua Collective is a Pacific-led body charged with enhancing mental health, addiction and disability outcomes for Pasifika peoples across Auckland and Northland.
The Collective exists to provide cultural leadership and strategic guidance to ensure that Pasifika families and workforce receive services that are both respectful and responsive to their identities, values and aspirations.
Our purpose
The Matua Collective was established to provide strategic oversight, cultural leadership and expert guidance for the improvement of mental health, addiction and disability outcomes for Pasifika peoples and their families across Auckland and Northland.
Its formation recognised the vital need for Pasifika-led leadership and advice within the structures of Te Whatu Ora and the wider health and social service ecosystem. The group’s membership is composed of Matua (elders and cultural leaders), community sector representatives, and people with lived experience, creating a bridge between community voices and health system decision-makers.
The founding intent of the Collective was to ensure that Pacific worldviews, values and protocols are not peripheral but central to planning, delivery and evaluation in the mental health and disability sectors. In practice, this means the Matua Collective serves as both guardian and navigator, protecting cultural integrity while guiding system change.
Our strategy
In June 2026, the refreshed Matua Collective (formerly known as the Matua Advisory Regional Group or MARG) was relaunched to the sector with a new name and a new look.
The launch event also introduced the Matua Collective’s 2025–2030 Strategic Action Plan, grounded in Te Mana Ola | Pacific Health Strategy and centred on the Three W Framework: Wellness, Wait Time and Workforce. These three priorities reflect the aspirations of Pacific communities and our shared responsibility to improve outcomes.
The launch reaffirmed the value of Pacific-led leadership, where lived experience, cultural wisdom and strategic insight come together to shape better decisions for our communities. It was also a reminder that leadership is grounded in aroa (love), expressed through genuine care, service and an unwavering commitment to the wellbeing of Pacific peoples.
MARG Chairs
Contact
For regular updates and further information on the Matua Collective’s work across the workforce and communities, please contact: Jasmine.Leota@leva.co.nz
