{"id":519355,"date":"2026-07-10T14:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/519355\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T14:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:33:17","slug":"9m-invested-in-fetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder-hubs-for-gisborne-rotorua-and-hawkes-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/519355\/","title":{"rendered":"$9m invested in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder hubs for Gisborne, Rotorua and Hawke\u2019s Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doocey said he wanted to ensure that when people reach out in a time of need, they get timely support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re getting more money out of Wellington to grassroots NGO, community and iwi providers, ones who have already worked in the FASD space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The initiative is funded from the alcohol levy, a charge applied to alcohol producers and importers<\/a> in New Zealand. It is set at $17.135m for 2026\/27. An earlier increase to $16.62m for the 2025\/26 period was the first increase since 2009.<\/p>\n

It is a ring-fenced fund <\/a>that can only be used for alcohol-harm-reduction measures.<\/p>\n

Tania Rauna, project lead at the Gisborne site, said they are very grateful for the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the culmination of a 10-year dream that we have had as a community, that was led by Sarah Goldsbury,\u201d Rauna said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not here but I always have to acknowledge Sarah because without Sarah I wouldn\u2019t have learnt that I\u2019ve got FASD.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired educational psychologist Grant Dargie said, looking around communities on the coast, \u201cthere has never been as many young mokopuna that have got developmental issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dargie said the reason for that is not easily put into a box.<\/p>\n

\u201cA diagnosis of FASD doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you get any funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, the issue, minister, is not just about a diagnosis, but it\u2019s about education and it\u2019s about the Government coming forth with money to employ our support workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Segina Te Ahuahu, representing Manaaki Ora Trust<\/a> based in Rotorua, said it\u2019s a privilege to help provide support for wh\u0101nau who she said have been underserved for many years. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn my own experience, there used to be waitlists of at least a year for people to be diagnosed, and I estimate at the moment there are probably longer waitlists that are operating across the motu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie James-Sadler, the chief executive officer of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Care Action Network (FASD-CAN), said they want to ensure they can support and serve their wh\u0101nau and communities better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working for 15 to 20 years on getting more access to assessment and diagnostic support for wh\u0101nau, so this is an exciting day for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gisborne service will be delivered by Te R\u016bnanga o T\u016branganui a Kiwa in partnership with Turanga Health.<\/p>\n

Manaaki Ora Trust and T\u016bwharetoa ki Kawerau Hauora will deliver the Rotorua\/Kawerau service.<\/p>\n

Te Kupenga Hauora-Ahuriri, FASD-CAN and Health New Zealand\u2019s Child Development Services will serve Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doocey said he wanted to ensure that when people reach out in a time of need, they get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[138647,20784,95,696,1561,1558,1595,49041,2082,12506,1976,115727,78,296,137609,1426,1132,111,43,139,69,247315,1327,257628,51212,5441,1529],"class_list":["post-519355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-9m","tag-alcohol","tag-and","tag-announced","tag-bay","tag-been","tag-disorder","tag-fetal","tag-for","tag-gisborne","tag-hawkes","tag-hubs","tag-in","tag-into","tag-invested","tag-investment","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-onestop","tag-rotorua","tag-rotoruakawerau","tag-shops","tag-spectrum","tag-three"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}