Child and adolescent psychiatrist / Te Reo Māori advocate.

Back in the 90’s Dr Hinemoa Elder (Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi) was a celebrity staring on her own TV show, married to the most influential man in New Zealand media and on every tabloid and magazine in the country. Fast forward 20 plus years and she finds herself under a different spotlight for her work with Māori and in mental health. This transformation has led to many accolades but it has more importantly led to a passion for supporting her language, culture and the well-being of her people. 

After graduating from the University of Auckland with an MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) in 1999 her post-graduate studies led to a PhD, completed at Massey University in 2012, focused on the development of tikanga approaches for Māori tamariki (children) who experienced traumatic brain injury.

In 2014, Hinemoa was awarded the prestigious Health Research Council of New Zealand Eru Pomare Post Doctoral Fellowship enabling her to extend the work of her doctorate. Hinemoa is a Fellow of the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, a professor of indigenous mental health research at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and on the Māori Advisory Committee of the Centre for Brain Research – Rangahau Roro Aotearoa.

In 2017 she received the Innovation and Science Award at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards and in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Dr Hinemoa Elder was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to psychiatry and Māori.

The is her story – Dr Hinemoa Elder – Indigenous 100