Mānawatia a Matariki 2025 – remembering, celebrating, and looking to the future

This year we wanted to take the opportunity to think about the three major principles of Matariki – remembrance, celebrating the present, and looking to the future – and how this is reflected in Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa’s mahi. 

Matariki is a time to honour those that have passed away over the past year. If you have lost a loved one this year, we hope that you can take the time to remember them.

Colleen King was a member of our organisation for many years, working in her community in South Auckland and helping to establish our Otara Clinic. Her daughter told us of coming into the K’Road Clinic where her mum worked part-time following the death of her husband. Her mum would enlist her support to collate and distribute staff newsletters. Colleen wrote each year to our chief executive with her views on events in sexual and reproductive health and rights. Colleen passed away in September 2024 at the age of 93.

Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, the seventh Māori king, passed away at age 69 in August 2024. An advocate for Te Reo Māori, Kīngi Tuheitia was focused on a strong future for Māori and Aotearoa New Zealand. He was a positive voice calling for unity across the motu.  

Kīngi Tuheitia’s vision aligns well with Matariki mā Puanga, that reminds us that regardless of our different backgrounds, origins, and practices, we use this celebration to come together and share the many unique elements that shape our identity. With this in mind, let’s talk about how we’re coming together and celebrating at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa. 

The principle of celebrating the present is about gathering with whānau and friends. The Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa whānau will be coming together for shared morning teas. We’re also inviting nominations for our newly launched Matariki mā Puanga award to recognise kaimahi who have demonstrated sustained excellence in putting our organisational values into action.

Now let’s take the time to celebrate where we are today as an organisation.  

Our new brand and our new website were a year old in February 2025. Both the website and the brand were nominated for awards, with the Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa brand identity winning a bronze award at the BEST awards. These awards are a showcase of excellence in graphic, spatial, product, digital and motion design. 

In March we launched our online booking system, making it easier for clients to book, change, and cancel their appointments. The booking widget features an AI avatar, Tai, who speaks both Te Reo Māori and English. We hope this will make it easier for all clients to access the services they need.

In May we launched Menopause Wellbeing – a private clinic offering tailored, inclusive menopause care. Opening a private clinic is a new direction for us an organisation. We’re excited to meet a growing need for more dedicated menopause providers, while also using the proceeds from the clinic will be used to fund our other essential work across the motu.

Also in May, Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa Director Hauora Māori and Equity Tania Huria was named one of 100 Māori health leaders. The 100-strong list recognises the current and emerging Māori leaders who are actively influencing and creating change across the health system. Though she’d prefer to be “out the back peeling the spuds”, Tania was celebrated for exemplifying mana wahine through her relentless pursuit of equity and transformational change in Māori healthcare.  

In very recent days, Family Planning stalwart Dame Margaret Sparrow was given an honorary doctorate from Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago. Her citation noted that she has made extraordinary contributions to sexual and reproductive health throughout her career as a family planning educator and reproductive rights advocate. Her work has had a profound impact on the health of women and families around the motu.

On an international level, we’ve continued our work in the Pacific. In May we launched a report that identified future priorities for sexual and reproductive health in Kiribati. And in June we launched a research report that explored knowledge, access, and barriers to sexual and reproductive health for young people in Vanuatu. 

As we look to the year ahead, we’re acutely aware of the importance of our mahi. The UNFPA State of the World Population report launched in June revealed how significant reproductive decisions – when, whether, and with whom to have a child – are being undermined by economic and social barriers. These findings reinforce the need for accessible, inclusive, and sexual and reproductive health services across the globe.

Closer to home, a consortium of informed voices, including Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, recently sent a joint open letter to Minister of Education, Hon. Erica Stanford about the relationships and sexuality education (RSE) draft framework. The open letter called for the draft guidelines to be amended to include information about gender diversity. We will watch with interest as the new guidelines develop and will continue to advocate for comprehensive relationship and sexuality education and guidance for teachers.  

We’re looking forward to the promise of a new year. We know it will present opportunities, as well as challenges. And if we draw on the unique elements that make Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa what it is – our kaimahi and all the strands of our work and expertise – we'll be well placed to overcome the obstacles and make the most of the opportunities.