Vanderpyl, LucieCharania, NadiaTreharne, Gareth JAl Naasan, Zeina2025-12-042025-12-042024-09-16Kotuitui, ISSN: 1177-083X (Print); 1177-083X (Online), Taylor & Francis Group, 20(4), 594-618. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2024.24040571177-083X1177-083Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/20267In accordance with international human rights commitments, individuals with a refugee background have the right to mental health services that are available, accessible, acceptable, and of good quality. However, refugee-background individuals living in Aotearoa New Zealand experience a myriad of barriers at the individual, community, and policy level that impede access to appropriate mental health services. This commentary puts forward the argument that the incorporation of a human rights-based approach to mental healthcare service at a policy level is essential for reducing barriers to care and increasing the accessibility of mental health services. The article provides key recommendations for reforming the current New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy (NZRRS) to include rights-based indicators for children and youth, to monitor accessibility relative to geographic location, to disaggregate data, to extend the 12-month monitoring period and to extend monitoring beyond one mental health visit. Further research is needed to understand how best to implement these recommendations and develop insight into how Aotearoa New Zealand can more effectively uphold the rights of refugee-background individuals with the ultimate goal of developing a mental health system that is more inclusive and responsive to their needs.© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health Sciences4206 Public Health4807 Public Law48 Law and Legal StudiesClinical ResearchHealth ServicesMental Health8.1 Organisation and delivery of services3 Good Health and Well BeingRefugee integrationmental healthpolicyhuman rightsrefugee resettlementJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1080/1177083X.2024.2404057