About the campaign

Hear Me See Me is a campaign designed with and for young people, to share challenges they've faced growing up in Aotearoa New Zealand and what did, or could have helped them.

The design process

Hear Me See Me was co-designed with and for young people.

Almost all the young people in the initial workshops that led to Hear Me See Me had state care experience. They stated they had many friends and family members who faced similar challenges to them and the campaign should support all young people who need it. They also stated that exclusively focusing on young people with state care experience would reinforce stigma.

Workshops in school and youth festival settings followed. This resulted in insights being gathered from over 100 other young people from various walks of life.

During the workshops we asked young people what they felt they needed most from their friends, whānau/families, communities, Government and the wider public.

They told us they wanted to be: heard; supported; understood, and accepted for who they are.

This led to the creation of Hear Me See Me.

This lines up with finding from the What makes a good life? report which highlighted the widespread need for children and young people to feel understood and accepted for who they are.

Earlier research commissioned by Oranga Tamariki indicated that many New Zealanders want to better support children and young people but don’t know how. The Hear Me See Me model will let New Zealanders know actions they can take to support young people facing significant challenges.  

Hear Me See Me campaign is led by Oranga Tamariki and supported by an advisory group comprising Government agencies, NGOs and young people. Hear Me See Me contributes to the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy through being a key action within the Ministry for Youth Development’s Youth Plan.

Campaign purpose

The purpose of the campaign is to encourage New Zealanders to listen to, understand and appropriately support young people who have faced or are facing significant challenges.

Through stories (mainly shared via podcasts), young people will let New Zealanders know what others did, or could have done, to help them overcome challenges in their lives.

Listeners can learn what they can do to support other young people facing similar challenges. Other young people experiencing similar situations can listen, then learn what they can do to get the help they need.