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A new study on Hibiscus Coast youth reveals significant gaps in support, as rising demand is met with limited access to services.
The State of the Coast report, released in June 2025 by the Hibiscus Coast Youth Hauora Network is the first collective snapshot of Hibiscus Coast youth wellbeing for ages 11 to 25. It was created by the network in collaboration with local schools, health and social services, community organisations, and government agencies.
Ten youth organisations on the Coast were surveyed to identify trends, along with local schools, health and social services, community organisations and government agencies.
The report identified that most services were supporting secondary age youth, however a growing number were working in primary schools and some with children as young as five.
Support services are struggling to cope with demand, especially counselling, and waitlists could be as long as 10 weeks. Organisations noted that access to mental health support was a challenge, especially for those who couldn’t afford private care.
Schools were facing pressure to be both referral hubs and support providers, but were increasingly working with families and offering in-school mentoring and programmes.
The study also found that youth related crime reported on the Coast could be linked to behaviours such as boredom, social pressure, economic pressure and a lack of belonging.
Youth Hauroa Network community connector Olivia Huszak compares many local challenges – such as youth crime, unemployment, food bank dependency and mental distress – to the rise in “the cost of milk”.
As prices rise, families struggle, support systems strain, and the ripple effects are felt most by young people, affecting their mental health, she says.
“Young people are a lot more anxious than they used to be.”
Olivia is hoping that the community response from this report can help others.
“So many young people are able to recognize that they need help and come forward to ask. It’s one of those things that needs to be talked about.”
Salt Community Trust, StepsForward, Tuatara Counselling, The Change Place and Youth in Transition are among the services available on the Coast.
Even though the report is not a surprise for youth workers or volunteers in this field, Olivia says it’s a helpful tool for the public to read through and understand the climate.
“Most of it are things we already knew, but we wanted to bridge that connection to the community. We have the information, so how do we show it?”
The report recommended supporting early intervention and wraparound services, strengthening collaboration between services, and providing additional evidence to support funding and community initiatives that prioritised youth wellbeing and engagement on the Coast.
Olivia hopes that the government can “get the funding to the right places” so these gaps in youth support could be patched up.
However, the report also identified that collaboration across services, proactive in-school programmes and solid data gathering was making a positive impact for Coast youth.
Read the report www.youthhauoranetwork.org.nz/
