Aoake te Rā

What Aoake te Rā does

Aoake te Rā is a free, government-funded brief therapeutic support service for individuals and whānau bereaved by suicide in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The service is open to anyone impacted by suicide loss, regardless of when the loss occurred, and provides up to 6 hours of sessions (with additional hours available under certain circumstances) delivered by a nationwide network of registered health professionals — social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, and nurses — all with specific training in suicide bereavement support. Sessions are offered face-to-face, online, or via phone across all 16 regions of New Zealand, with online and phone providers available nationally for regions without local face-to-face capacity. The service is culturally responsive, weaving together lived experience, mātauranga Māori, and clinical expertise, and was co-designed with bereaved individuals, whānau, communities, and stakeholders.

The underlying technology is intentionally light: there is no proprietary clinical platform. The service operates through a Joomla-based public website, a login-gated Provider Portal for clinical resources, a self-referral online form, a third-party provider referral system, a searchable 'Find a Provider' directory, and SurveyMonkey-based service feedback surveys at multiple touchpoints (pre-session, post-session, end-of-service, and general feedback). Contact is initiated within 3 working days of referral confirmation. The name 'Aoake te Rā' (a new sun rises) was gifted by Hon. Peeni Henare as a symbol of hope for whānau adapting to loss.

The business model is a non-commercial public health model: the service is fully funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Health and provided at no cost to users. Aoake te Rā operates within Te Aho, a parent organization that supports Aotearoa-wide suicide prevention and postvention. Access is via self-referral or referral from healthcare providers, schools, NGOs, Victim Support, PHOs/GPs, Te Whatu Ora, or other community organizations. With 17 staff, the organization is small and clinically specialized, with no commercial revenue stream, no private capital, and no equity ownership structure; it functions as a government-funded postvention initiative rather than a market-facing business.

Name

Aoake te Rā

Legal name

Aoake te Rā

Website

https://aoaketera.org.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aoake te Rā is a free, Ministry of Health-funded brief therapeutic support service in Aotearoa New Zealand that delivers up to 6 hours of culturally responsive suicide bereavement counseling to individuals and whānau via a nationwide network of trained clinical providers operating face-to-face, online, or by phone across all regions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Suicide Bereavement Counseling

NAICS

Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers (621420)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Peer Support, Recovery Coaching & Sober Living Services (HLAFACAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Substance Use Recovery & Harm Reduction Support Services (BPAGAEAO)

Keywords

• Suicide bereavement support
• Postvention therapeutic services
• Suicide loss counseling
• Culturally responsive mental health
• Whānau grief support

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government-funded therapeutic services: Aoake te Rā is a free service funded by the Ministry of Health. The organization receives public funding to provide brief therapeutic support to individuals and whānau bereaved by suicide at no cost to clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Aoake te Rā is a free brief therapeutic support service for anyone in Aotearoa New Zealand impacted by suicide loss. Trained registered health professionals (social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, nurses) deliver up to 6 hours of sessions, with additional hours available in certain circumstances, via face-to-face, online, or phone delivery. The service is co-designed with bereaved individuals, whānau, and communities and weaves together clinical expertise, mātauranga Māori, and lived experience.

Product overview

Aoake te Rā offers a single unified service focused on bereavement support for those affected by suicide loss. The core offering consists of the Aoake te Rā Service providing brief therapeutic support (6 hours of sessions), supported by digital self-service tools including a self-referral system, provider referral system, Find a Provider directory, Provider Portal for practitioners, and SurveyMonkey-based service feedback surveys. The service is part of Te Aho organization and is funded by the Ministry of Health.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aoake te Rā Brief Therapeutic Support Service

Quantifiable outcome

• Brief therapeutic support provided in 6-hour sessions with possibility for additional hours under certain circumstances
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Te AhocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAoake te Rā is part of Te Aho, an organization that supports the whole of Aotearoa to prevent suicide and reduce its impact. Te Aho weaves together lived experience, mātauranga Māori, and clinical expertise to prevent suicide, support healing, strengthen connection and uphold oranga. The Aoake te Rā team operates within the Te Aho organizational structure.
• Ministry of Health (New Zealand)coreOthersAoake te Rā is a free brief therapeutic support service funded by the Ministry of Health. The service has been informed by a co-design process including stakeholders, lived experience groups, clinical and cultural expertise in suicide prevention and postvention.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Victim Support New Zealand: NZ-wide charitable service providing emotional and practical support to people affected by crime, trauma, and bereavement — including sudden and traumatic loss. Directly comparable in mission (free, government-funded, provider-network model) and overlapping in client base (bereaved whānau, referrer ecosystem including police and Victim Support themselves refer into Aoake te Rā).
• Skylight Mental Health Trust: NZ charity providing counselling, support, and resources for people facing grief, trauma, and loss — including suicide bereavement. Comparable as a free/subsidised, nationally accessible bereavement counselling provider, though broader in scope (grief generally, not suicide-specific).
• Te Aho: NZ umbrella organisation of which Aoake te Rā is the bereavement arm — Te Aho weaves lived experience, mātauranga Māori, and clinical expertise to prevent suicide and reduce its impact. Most direct peer as Aoake te Rā's operating parent and clinical/administrative home.
• 1737 — Need to Talk?: Government-funded 24/7 mental health helpline (call/text) operated on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Comparable in funder, free-to-user model, and NZ-wide reach; differs in being crisis/early-intervention focused while Aoake te Rā is postvention/bereavement focused. The two services explicitly cross-refer.
• Grief Centre (NZ): NZ-based grief counselling and education service supporting individuals and whānau through all forms of bereavement, including suicide loss. Comparable in free/cost-relief counselling model, NZ-wide reach, and provider-network delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Suicide Prevention Office / Te Whatu Ora postvention programmes: Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) commissions broader suicide prevention and postvention activity across districts. Comparable as the public-sector commissioner of postvention services of which Aoake te Rā is one delivery vehicle.
• Lifeline Aotearoa: Established NZ helpline and counselling service supporting people in distress, including suicide-related distress. Comparable as a free, government/partnership-funded emotional-support service in Aotearoa, though it operates across a broader crisis/intervention scope rather than specialising in bereavement postvention.

Regional players

• Beyond Blue (Australia): Australian mental health organisation providing free information, counselling referrals, and postvention support, including for suicide bereavement. Comparable in mission, free-to-user model, and government/corporate funding mix; serves a different (Australian) population but operates an analogous brief-counselling and referral pathway.
• Samaritans (UK & ROI): UK/ROI charity providing 24/7 emotional support including for people bereaved by suicide. Comparable as a free, volunteer/provider-network, government and donation funded bereavement and crisis support organisation — though broader in scope than Aoake te Rā.

Emerging players

• Crisis Text Line: Free, text-based crisis intervention service operating in multiple countries. Comparable in free, multi-channel (text/online), volunteer/staff provider model; differs in being crisis-focused rather than bereavement-postvention-focused.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aoake-te-r%C4%81

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aoake te Rā