News & Events
Pink Shirt Day: Speak up and stop bullying
Join the Pink Shirt Day movement on Friday 16th May 2025 to stop bullying. Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying – Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora!
Pink Shirt Day is an anti-bullying campaign committed to creating a kinder, more inclusive Aotearoa where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected – regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, religion or cultural background. By taking part you’re showing your aroha and will help stamp out bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting kindness and inclusion.
Each year workplaces, schools, organisations and individuals join the movement to make a stand against bullying.
The Mental Health Foundation is committed to upskilling everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand to be Everyday Upstanders – people who call bullying out when they see it and support those who are being bullied.
Bullying is a serious issue in New Zealand. Every year, one in five workers report they have been bullied at work, and Aotearoa has the third-highest rate of school bullying out of 36 OECD countries. People who identify as part of the rainbow community experience higher rates of bullying, and studies show people who are bullied are more likely to experience mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts.
That’s why it’s so important to be equipped to deal with bullying – no matter who we are. To know how to identify it and do something about it.
How you can get involved with Pink Shirt Day
Learn how to join the Pink Shirt movement as an individual or for your school or workplace.
The Pink Shirt Day website has lots of great ideas and ways you can show your support including:
- posters or email signatures you can download; and
- resources and merchandise that you can order.
Some facts about bullying
It isn’t rare to hear someone say something insensitive or mean to someone else. These comments or actions are not okay. However bullying has some specific features that make it more serious and harmful:
- It is deliberate – harming another person intentionally;
- It involves a misuse of power in a relationship;
- It is usually repeated, or has the potential to be repeated over time; and
- It involves behaviour that can cause harm – it is not a normal part of growing up.
Bullying can be:
- physical – hitting, tripping up;
- verbal – insults, threats;
- social – spreading gossip or excluding people; or
- cyberbullying – bullying online, via the internet, mobile phones and social media. It’s a common form of bullying, especially amongst young people.
Bullying harms the person being bullied, the person doing the bullying and can also harm those who witness it (bystanders).
People are more likely to be bullied if they seem different from others. This can include being clever or popular, differences in race, sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, disabilities and abilities, weight or height.
It’s really important to remind people that it’s okay to be different from others and it’s not okay to bully people because they are not the same as you.
Source: Pink Shirt Day website.
World Smokefree May: That’s us
World Smokefree May will lead up to the celebration of World Smokefree Day (31st May).
Join the many people across the motu who are choosing to stop smoking this World Smokefree May. Every step forward counts. Every attempt brings you closer to a Smokefree future. Let’s keep moving together – That’s Us.
This campaign for World Smokefree May 2025 in New Zealand encourages whānau, hāpori, and individuals to unite and commit to a smokefree future.
Key messages are:
- It’s always the right time to Start Again: It’s never too late to try quitting again. Research shows that people typically need an average of seven attempts before successfully quitting for good, and that every attempt counts.
- Stronger Together: The power of community support is central to success. By signing up together, we can help each other stay motivated and reach our Smokefree goals.
- Our Choice, Our Future – Smokefree Aotearoa: The choices we make today will create a healthier and Smokefree future for our whānau, our hāpori, and Aotearoa.
The majority of New Zealanders are smokefree and want smokefree environments. Having smokefree whānau, homes, workplaces and public spaces is worth celebrating!
Sign up now to quit this World Smokefree May and be part of something bigger. Together, we can achieve our Smokefree 2025 goal.
- Find out more about World Smokefree May, including links to promotional materials.
- Find out where to get help and support to quit smoking.
Become a smokefree role model for your children, tamariki and mokopuna
If young people see less smoking around them, then they are less likely to become smokers themselves. It’s crucial to see younger people choosing not to smoke. 98 percent of 15 to 17 year olds are smokefree now, which a marked increase from 84 percent 10 years earlier. It’s critical we keep encouraging young New Zealanders to stay smokefree.
World Smokefree Day is also about creating environments where our children are free from exposure to tobacco. Parents feel very strongly about not exposing children to smoking, whether they are smokers or not. Children see their parents smoke and this has a strong effect on what they perceive as normal.
Parents, whānau and caregivers can make positive changes to the environment children are growing up in, even if they smoke. Talking to your children about smoking and establishing smokefree rules like not smoking around children, keeping the house and car smokefree is a fantastic start and a step in the right direction to protecting your children.
You can also be a vapefree role model as vaping is not for children and young people, and people who don’t smoke should not vape. Vaping is less harmful than smoking but is unlikely to be totally harm free. Smokers who are vaping to quit should ideally look to eventually stop vaping too.
The best thing you can do for your health is to be smokefree and vapefree.
Workplaces and community spaces are also going smokefree
Many councils and employers are showing good manaakitanga (respect, support and care) by providing smokefree public spaces and support for smokefree workforces.
More and more businesses are going totally smokefree and getting help to support employees to become smokefree. Stopping smoking is really tough, but we know that doing it with support helps. Some local stop smoking services can provide face-to-face coaching at work, along with subsidised or free nicotine replacement therapy.
- Get information creating a smokefree work environment including how to develop a workplace smokefree policy.
Increasing numbers of councils are declaring public places, spaces and events to be smokefree, including playgrounds, sports grounds and outdoor eating spaces.
- Find out about smokefree community spaces in Canterbury, South Canterbury and West Coast.
- Learn about the Fresh Air Project encouraging smokefree outdoor dining in Canterbury.
Source: World Smokefree May and Hāpai Te Hauora websites.
