Hauora support resources

We provide comprehensive support services to help learners succeed in their journey.
Learner support Services

Looking after your hinengaro

Te Mahi Ako has partnered with Puāwaitanga to provide independent and confidential counselling services, free for learners aged 18 years and over. Puāwaitanga offers phone or video-based counselling in multiple languages including te reo Māori.

Puāwaitanga is designed to support you over a brief period of time to strengthen your hinengaro | mental and emotional wellbeing. You will have the opportunity to choose the counsellor you’d like to do sessions with and book a time that works around your schedule. Puāwaitanga offers sessions seven days a week from 9am to 9pm.

To access the service, start by sending a confidential request to counselling@temahiako.org.nz.

Please be aware that we can only refer you to Puāwaitanga during our normal business hours, which are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays and our summer shutdown period). If you need support more urgently, other resources are listed on this page.

Here are some other resources to help you manage your mental health with completing your studies.

Te Mahi Ako Code of Practice 2024

Code of Pastoral Care videos

Watch short videos that explain how your wellbeing and safety, as a domestic tertiary or international learner, is supported by the Code.

The Code protects domestic tertiary and all international learners in New Zealand.

The videos on this page explain what support learners can expect for their wellbeing and safety while studying in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Click here.

Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners Code

Te Mahi Ako is bound the Pastoral Care Code for Tertiary Learners. This code sets out the requirements that tertiary education providers must meet in order to look after the wellbeing and safety of their learners.  

Click here to download the Te Mahi Ako Code of Practice document.

Workplace relationship agreement

A workplace relationship agreement is a contract between Te Mahi Ako and your workplace. It sets out how we will work together to ensure the success of the work-based learners at your organisation. You'll find a copy of the agreement on our Forms page.

To help understand the context for the workplace relationship agreement, we recommend reading this short piece of guidance from NZQA on the implementation of the Pastoral Care Code in workplace learning settings.

Handbook for ākonga | learners

The Te Mahi Ako ākonga handbook has everything you need to know to get through your programme from start to finish. 

Check it out here.

Learner portal and online learning platform

Once you have enrolled in a Te Mahi Ako qualification, you can log in to your dedicated learner portal to view information about your training, track your progress, access learner-only resources, and receive support. Just click the login button at the top right of this site.

Many of our qualifications have an online component, and if this is the case with your programme, you will also have access to our online learning platform, from inside your portal. This is where some or all of your learning and assessment will take place.

Urgent support

If you are in crisis and need immediate support, please phone 111.

If you or one of your whānau or friends need mental health support or information right now, you can contact one of the free helpline services listed on this page. These services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Literacy, language and numbers

Your literacy, language and numeracy (LLN) means your ability to understand and express information through reading, writing and numbers.

If you have any concerns about LLN, we can help with that. If you have not previously completed NCEA Level 2 or an NZQA Level 2 qualification or equivalent, we will ask you to complete an LLN assessment. Based on your results we can determine whether you need any support, and if so, tailor a plan to help you gain the skills you need to do well in your programme.

We connect eligible learners with Literacy Aotearoa, which has locations all around the country. The Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust also offers free literacy tuition for people in rural areas.

Feel free to have a chat about LLN with your learner support coordinator or your regional learner advisor, if you have any questions.

List of libraries in New Zealand

Libraries belong to every one of us; they're places for us to learn, connect and grow. To find a library near you, click on the link to a spreadsheet listing all the libraries in New Zealand or the Public libraries of New Zealand website.

Other useful links for health and wellbeing

As a work-based learner you are balancing your studies along with your job, and all your other life commitments including friends, family, hobbies, fitness and more. Below is a list of external resources that might provide some useful guidance on staying well while you complete your learning.

  • If you need help with budgeting, saving, or coping with the cost of living, check out the tools at Sorted.org.nz 
  • Parent Help NZ has an 0800 helpline, online resources, and free web-based parenting courses, and Plunket has parenting guidance in English and te reo Māori
  • If you are experiencing family or partner violence, call 111 if you are in immediate danger, and for expert advice and support visit Are You OK, 2Shine or Plunket.

Literacy Aotearoa also offer free programmes for our learners to enrol into. They offer friendly tutor support, small group classes that can help you gain confidence, independence and employment skills.