The Chief Executive of OutLine, Emmaline Pickering-Martin, is facing a difficult decision that could force the well-established mental health service for the rainbow community to close its doors by January 13.
OutLine, a charity that has been supporting the LGBTQ+ community since 1975, offers crucial services such as a free and confidential phone line, online chat support, clinical counselling, peer support, trans peer-support groups, and advocacy for rainbow communities. But despite its essential work, the charity is struggling financially, with its bank balance dwindling and no clear pathway for securing additional government funding.
“It’s incredibly stressful,” Pickering-Martin told Stuff. “We’ve been fighting for months to find a suitable funding pool, but we’ve had no luck. We need $200,000 to stay open until April, but the government funding process is so complicated and restrictive that we can’t find any way to apply for it.”
OutLine’s funding troubles have been exacerbated by the general decline in donations to charities, especially in tough economic times. The organisation has spent months trying to meet the government’s funding criteria, but Pickering-Martin said the response from the Ministry of Health has been frustratingly dismissive.
Despite repeated attempts to meet with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey since January, Pickering-Martin was redirected to Health New Zealand (Health NZ). A letter from the agency acknowledged the good work of OutLine but stated that the organisation does not currently receive any Health NZ funding, and any future support would need to comply with strict procurement rules designed to ensure fairness and transparency.
“It feels condescending,” Pickering-Martin said. “We’ve spent hours compiling data, trying to meet the criteria, and reaching out to other agencies for support. Yet all we hear is, ‘sorry, we have no support for you.’”
Health NZ has also directed OutLine to register with the government’s electronic tendering service to be informed of any future funding opportunities. But Pickering-Martin argues that the current funding model does not accommodate services that target specific communities, like the rainbow population.
“The government’s new mental health innovation fund wants one organisation to serve the entire country, addressing all mental health needs. But we’re rainbow-specific—we can’t serve every community. The process isn’t fair to us,” Pickering-Martin said. “We need a fund that allows organisations like ours, with a specific focus and a dedicated workforce outside the publicly funded mental health system, to scale our services.”
The government has recently reported its first mental health target results, revealing mixed outcomes. While 81.7% of people accessing specialist mental health services were seen within three weeks—above the 80% target—less than two-thirds (63.5%) of mental health presentations to emergency departments were treated within six hours, well below the 95% target.
Although Health Minister Doocey acknowledges that the figures don’t capture the full picture, with significant gaps in regions like Greater Wellington and Nelson, he maintains that government funding criteria must be standardised and not tailored to specific organisations or causes.
“We can’t just reverse-engineer funding criteria based on who needs it. All funds need to have clear and consistent criteria,” Doocey said. “The coalition made an agreement to fund Gumboot Friday, and that was based on a very specific coalition commitment.”
Pickering-Martin, however, insists that it’s not about preferential treatment—it’s about fairness.
“$200,000 versus $24 million for other organisations is a huge discrepancy. We deserve support just as much as any other organisation,” she said.
As the clock ticks toward the potential shutdown of OutLine’s vital services, Pickering-Martin and others in the rainbow community are calling for a review of government funding rules to ensure that support is equitable and accessible to all, particularly those organisations focused on serving specific and vulnerable populations.
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