Young Aotearoa is an important nationwide project. It will help to build a better, clearer picture of the mental health and substance use of children and young people. This is the first survey that has ever done this in New Zealand.

Taking part means being one of 8,000 people who will represent the experiences of over 1.3 million children and young people across the country. The survey will be used by the Ministry of Health and mental health service providers to understand how young people are doing today to better support them in the future.

We thank every person who takes part in the survey with a $50 Prezzy Card™

If your household has been invited to do the survey, then one of the children or young people living there is invited to represent other people in New Zealand who are like them.

Your home was randomly selected from addresses across New Zealand. If there is more than one 5–24-year-old living in your home, the child or young person who does the survey will also be selected at random. Depending on their age, you might do a survey about that child or young person to get your perspective – more about that below. [link to ‘which people in my household’ FAQ]

The random selections make sure that the survey goes to a range of different children and young people across the country.

Up to two people (one parent/caregiver and one young person) from a household can do the survey.

Your interviewer will talk to you about which people in your household will be able to take part. It will depend on how many children or young people live there, how old they are, and who knows them best.

Children and young people

• If there is more than one child or young person (aged 5–24 years) in the household, your interviewer will select one at random.
• children aged 5-11 years: We will invite you, as their parent/caregiver, to complete the survey to get your perspective. The child doesn’t do a survey themselves.
• young people aged 12-17 years: We will invite both you and your child to do separate surveys. Both of the surveys are about the young person.
• young people aged 18-24 years: Fill out their own survey. We don’t ask their parents or caregivers to do a survey about them.

Young parents or caregivers, who are 24 years or younger, may be asked to do a survey about themselves or about their child, depending on who is randomly selected.

Parents, caregivers and whānau

• Parents/caregivers of children aged 5-17 years do a survey focused on the experiences of one of their children. If there is more than one child or young person in the household, the interviewer will select one of them at random.
• The survey is for the parent, caregiver, or whānau member who knows that child or young person best. You can have a think about who this would be.
• If you choose, you can answer the survey questions with the help of other adults in your family who know your child well. For example, another caregiver, or the child’s grandparents.

Every selected household gets a letter in the mail from the Ministry of Health. The letter says the name of your interviewer from Ipsos and how to get in touch with them.

You can contact your interviewer to ask questions or arrange a time for them to come and talk in person. You can also call Ipsos, the research company, on 0800 478 783.

If you’re sure from the start that you don’t want your household to take part, you can tell your interviewer or tell Ipsos. You don’t have to give a reason.

If you haven’t gotten in touch, then your interviewer will come to visit your home to check in.

When an interviewer comes to your home, here is what you can expect.

• They will introduce themselves and ask to speak to someone 16 or older about the survey.
• They will have an ID badge. You can call Ipsos on 0800 478 783 to check their ID if you want.
• They will explain how the survey works and answer any questions you might have.
• The interviewer will help you figure out which people in your household will be able to take part. Up to two people – one caregiver, and one young person (12–24 years old) – from your home can take part if they choose.
• They will be kind and respectful. They are trained to be good at talking to children and young people about important topics.
• There will not be any pressure on you or your child to take part. You can take your time to talk over the decision with your family or whānau.

Interviewers must meet child protection and safety screening requirements, receive specialist training for this survey, and work under clear protocols and supervision.

Your interviewer is happy to answer questions. You can find their name and contact details in your invitation letter.

You don’t have to. Taking part is completely voluntary for both you and your child.

You can choose not to take part, skip questions, take a break, or stop the survey at any time. You do not need to give a reason.

If you decide after the survey that you no longer want your information included, contact Ipsos by 7 January 2028. More about this below [link to question below].

Your decision about taking part will not affect any health care or support that you or your family receive.

If you decide to take part, you and your family or whānau can choose a day and time for your interviewer to come back to your home.

Before starting the survey, your interviewer will talk you and your child through the consent process and what it means. Their job is to answer your questions and make sure you both know what you are being asked to do, what to expect, and the support that is available if you need it. There is no rush.

Your survey: Your interviewer reads most of the questions out loud to you, and you say your answers. There are some questions where the interviewer will hand you their tablet to respond on your own.

Your child’s survey: If your child is aged 12-17 years, they are also invited to do a survey. Your interviewer will bring a tablet and headphones for them to use alone if they want to, or they can do their survey with the interviewer. If they choose to do their survey alone in another room, we will ask you to check in on how they are doing partway through the survey.

If you aren’t comfortable with the interviewer being in your home, they can also do the surveys on video call – they can have separate interviews with you and your child, and read questions aloud over the call.

You and your child won’t be able to see or hear each other’s answers, unless your child asks to have you with them as a support person.

Doing the survey usually takes about an hour. Some people take longer, like 90 minutes. You can take as long as you like.

As a thank you for your time and contribution, every person who takes part in the survey will receive a digital $50 Prezzy card for doing your surveys.

The Young Aotearoa survey is about children’s and young people’s mental health and substance use.

The survey asks about your child, their experiences, and your family or whānau. The questions that are asked about your child in the parent/caregiver survey are very similar to the questions that children and young people will answer about themselves in their survey.

• Their mental health and any challenges, treatments, or support they may have had
• Their experiences with drugs and alcohol, including any challenges, treatments or support they may have had
• Their identity, family and home
• Their feelings, moods, worries, and tough times
• How they get on with others
• Being safe and being harmed, including self-harm, thoughts of suicide, bullying, abuse, and other difficult experiences
• Online activities like social media use, gaming and watching pornography
• Experiences of getting help, and what makes it easier or harder

We understand these topics can be personal. You will be in control at all times. You can skip any question you don’t want to answer, take a break, stop the survey or arrange to complete it another time. The interviewer can show you where to find help if you need it. They can talk you through the services offered by Youthline, who supports parents and caregivers as well as children and young people. We also have a list of services [link to contacts page] on this website.

Your responses are confidential. You and your child won't be able to see or hear each other's answers, unless your child has asked you to support them during the survey.

It’s fine to skip questions - You and your child won’t have to answer anything that you don’t want to.

We ask young people aged 12–24 years about themselves, covering the same topics we have listed above [link to ‘what will you ask me..’ card]. Questions are a bit different for each age group – some are only for 18-24 year olds.

These topics might be upsetting for some young people, or make them uncomfortable. We will talk to them about what they can do if this happens – for example taking a break, connecting with you, or contacting Youthline. If they are doing their survey in another room, you will be asked by the interviewer to check on them during the survey to make sure they are okay.

Our interviewers are trained to be supportive. If your child gets upset, interviewers will stop the survey and get them the support they need. This might involve connecting them with you, or with Youthline. Depending on how upset they feel, it might also include notifying other support services. A team approach to this is taken – we will talk to you about it and find a way forward together.

If your child’s survey answers show that they might be in danger of harm, Youthline will follow up with them within 24 hours to make sure they are safe and offer support.

You and your child won't be able to see or hear each other's answers.

Your answers are private and protected by the Privacy Act 2020. Our privacy policy is linked at the bottom of this webpage.

If your child does a survey too, you won’t be able to see or hear each other’s answers.

If your answers or your child’s answers suggest that you or your child are in danger, or that someone in your home is in danger of harm to themselves, harm to others, or harm from others, your interviewer or the research team may reach out to Youthline or other support services to work alongside you and make sure everyone is safe.

Only a small group of people who work at Ipsos (the research company that is doing the interviews) can look at your survey answers. Your survey will get mixed with other people’s answers, and names and other identity information will be removed.

The Ministry of Health will analyse the survey results, and will use computer tools for this. This might include AI. Any information used for this is anonymous. Your information will never be entered into public AI tools or used to train public AI models.

When the Ministry of Health publishes results from the survey, they will only talk about groups of people. No one will be able to tell who took part in the survey.

At the end of the survey, you can choose whether your survey answers can be added to Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), a secure research database. This is completely optional and requires separate consent.

In the future, researchers may also use the survey data to learn more about the mental health of children and young people. Before the data is shared with researchers, any information that could identify you is removed.

Your interviewer will talk you through how this works – it depends on a few different factors and some legal obligations.

Your role in giving consent for this survey depends on your child's age. Young Aotearoa aims to make sure children, young people, and parents/caregivers understand their choices and have a say in decisions about participation. Your interviewer will guide you through the process.

• Children aged 5-11 years: You will be asked to provide consent to be interviewed about your child. Your child will not be interviewed, so they don’t have a formal consent process themselves.
• Young people aged 12-15 years: This is a three-step process. You will be asked to give consent for your own interview, and your child will be asked if they agree to your participation. Then you will be asked to give permission for us to invite your child to participate, and your child gives their own personal agreement (this is called ‘assent’) to take part. Both your permission and their agreement are needed for their interview to happen
• Young people aged 16 and 17 years: These young people will provide their own consent. They will also provide consent for a caregiver to be interviewed. You will also be asked to provide consent to be interviewed about your child.
• Young people aged 18 to 24: These young people will provide their own consent.

If you are not the parent or legal guardian of the 5 to 15-year-old selected for the survey, you will need the parent or legal guardian’s permission before you and the young person can take part. We will help you with this step.

If you have concerns about your child’s ability to consent, please talk to your interviewer.

If you change your mind after you’ve done the survey, you can withdraw your responses, or your child’s answers (12-15 year olds) by contacting Ipsos by 7 January 2028.

Similarly, all young people can withdraw their own responses. 16-17 year olds can also withdraw their caregiver’s responses.

We have a range of ways to make sure people who take part are fully informed about what to expect and their rights - no matter their age.

At the end of the survey, you and your child can choose to put your survey answers into the Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI). The IDI is a large research database containing information about people and households. Linking your survey answers to the IDI means researchers can learn even more about how mental health connects to other parts of life – like education, healthcare use, or family circumstances. This helps build a fuller picture and leads to better decisions about services and support for young people.

It is your choice whether to link your survey responses to the IDI. If your child is under 16, you and your child both need to provide consent to have their answers added to the IDI.

Before approved researchers can access your responses, Stats NZ removes names, addresses, and other direct identifying details, and replaces identification numbers with encrypted codes.

Researchers can only access IDI information for an approved public-interest project. These researchers are carefully checked and trained, must follow strict information privacy rules, and can only use the data in a secure Stats NZ environment. Stats NZ checks all research results before they leave that environment and will not release results that could identify an individual.

If you say yes, but then change your mind, you can withdraw your data from the IDI by contacting Ipsos by 7 January 2028.

For more information on the IDI you can visit this page or watch this YouTube video.

Your privacy is strongly protected in the IDI.

We can arrange a professional interpreter to support you or your child through the survey. Just ask your interviewer - they will make the arrangements and work with you and the interpreter to find a good time.

We also have translated information about the survey available in Te Reo Māori, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi, Samoan, and Tongan – click here.

There are a range of ways the survey can be completed - talk to your interviewer to come up with a plan that works for you. For example, doing the survey with a support person or with a sign language interpreter.

If your child is aged 16-24 and not able to understand what Young Aotearoa is about and what the interviewer will be asking them, your child can ask for your support to help them understand. Interviewers will work with you and your child to make sure they know what the survey is about and what it means to take part. However, if your child is unable to understand, they will not be able to take part in the survey.

This survey is about understanding the mental health and substance use of all of New Zealand’s children and young people – including those who haven’t had any mental health or substance use challenges.

If you choose to, you can answer the parent/caregiver survey questions alongside other caregivers or adults in your family who know your child well. For example, another caregiver or the child’s grandparents. You can talk to your interviewer about this.

Young people (24 years or younger) who are parents or caregivers themselves may be asked to do a survey about themselves or their child, depending on who is selected at random.

No - Young people aged 18-24 years old will complete their own survey, as long as they are able to understand the survey and what it is about.

If your 18-24 year old child wants to take part, but needs support, you may be asked to help them to take part.

If you would like support during or after the survey, help is available and easy to access for everyone.

During the survey, our interviewers are trained to be supportive and can help connect you to Youthline straightaway if you’d like. Their helpline service is available for anyone who is supporting a young person, including parents and caregivers.

After the survey, your interviewer will leave you with phone numbers and links for different types of support services which you can contact any time.

If you want support now, Youthline has free text, webchat, WhatsApp and callback services available 24/7 for parents, whānau, and caregivers of young people. We also have a list of support helplines and services here. [link to support services page]

“We are happy to chat with parents, grandparents, friends, whānau, teachers, coaches and more. Being supported as the support person is incredibly important.” - Youthline

Sorry – only households that have received an invitation letter in the mail can take part in the survey. This is because we need to make sure that we hear from a range of people across the New Zealand population.

Absolutely! The results from Young Aotearoa will be published on the Ministry of Health website in 2028. There will also be a question in the survey that asks if you want to have the results sent directly to your email.

The published results will talk about patterns for different groups, for example groups of young people who have similar challenges. The results won’t talk about individual people, and no one will be able to tell who took part in the survey.