PĀNUI
NEWS
A New Home for Needle Exchange in Ōtautahi.
This morning, He Waka Tapu and the Te Waipounamu Collective opened the doors of a brand new Needle Exchange Programme space at 266 Lichfield Street in central Ōtautahi.
It was a morning of warmth, waiata, and well-earned acknowledgement for the team who made it happen.
The Needle Exchange Programme is a nationally funded health initiative that has been part of Aotearoa's public health landscape since the late 1980s, established to reduce the spread of blood-borne viruses like HIV and Hepatitis C. It remains one of the country's most effective public health programmes, built on a simple and enduring truth: people use drugs, and they always have. The role of this service has never been to judge that. It has always been to make sure people stay as safe and as healthy as possible while they do.
Since October 2025, the Needle Exchange Programme across Te Waipounamu has been delivered by the Te Waipounamu Collective, four kaupapa Māori health organisations covering the full length of the South Island, from Te Tauihu all the way down to Rakiura Stewart Island and out to Rēkohu / Wharekauri. He Waka Tapu sits alongside Te Piki Oranga, Ngā Kete Matauranga Pounamu, and Poutini Waiora in that collective, with a combined workforce of over 400 kaimahi bringing decades of experience walking alongside whānau through some of life's most challenging moments.
"We are leaning into the next people who come here who will stay alive because of what this place offers. We should not underestimate that."
For He Waka Tapu Service Manager Irene Whittaker, who has led the programme through its establishment and growth, the opening of the new space was a moment to reflect on just how far the mahi has come.
Particular acknowledgement went to Property Maintenance Coordinator Isaac Fahey, who was recognised by speaker after speaker for the work he put in behind the scenes to get the building ready in a very short space of time. Colleagues from partner organisations, consumer advocates, and neighbouring services all gathered to mark the occasion, with a representitive from the Burnet Foundation noting the significance of what the new space would offer. "This is going to serve a population that is often not spoken about, but it is a population that we should not leave behind," he said.
The services available at 266 Lichfield Street are peer-led and grounded in harm reduction. People who use the service can access free, sterile injecting equipment, advice on safer use, and confidential disposal options for used items, all in a space designed to uphold the mana and privacy of everyone who walks through the door. No judgement. No questions. No barriers.
The new CBD site joins He Waka Tapu's existing network of outlets across Ōtautahi, Miruhuku,Hakatere, and Timaru.
He Waka Tapu is proud to be part of this kaupapa and to stand alongside the whānau this service exists for. We look forward to welcoming whānau through the doors and continuing to deliver on the promise that has sat at the heart of this programme from the beginning.
