What We Do

The Blue Hope Foundation provides rights based care coordination for physically and mentally injured New Zealand police and paramedic workers and their families. We are independent. We support people to navigate ACC and workplace processes by coordinating access to appropriate clinical care, strengthening communication, and helping ensure decisions and rehabilitation steps are understood and actioned in a timely, lawful way.

How We Help

Our team brings lived-experience leadership and practical knowledge of the systems that shape recovery. We help people organise clinical pathways, prepare for key steps in their rehabilitation journey, and understand claimant rights and process options. We work to reduce preventable delay, confusion, and harm that can arise when systems are fragmented. Where risk escalates, we act early to connect people to urgent support and stabilising care.

Why It Matters

Police work carries unique exposure to cumulative trauma. When PTSD and other mental injuries are minimised, disputed, or handled through fragmented processes, the impacts can include heightened suicide risk, workforce exit, family strain, and long-term disability.

By translating rights into coordinated action, the Foundation supports safer outcomes for police workers and their families, strengthens public trust in the police service, and reduces downstream social and economic costs. Our approach aligns with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), including equality, non-discrimination, access to justice, and effective access to health and rehabilitation services.

Our vision is zero suicides within the New Zealand Police and Emergencies Services.

Need Urgent Help?

We are not a clinical or emergency service.

If someone is at immediate risk, call 111.

For 24/7 mental health support, call or text 1737 to talk with a trained counsellor.

You can also speak to your GP or local health provider.

Protecting Our Blue Whānau

Post-traumatic stress is a workplace injury. So is burnout, depression, and anxiety caused by traumatic exposure.

We provide practical coordination support as police workers navigate ACC and ensure fair treatment under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and the Accident Compensation Act.

We’re not here to treat you - we’re here to guide and support you through the systems.

We’re a registered charity providing early support, legal connections, and systems guidance.

“I didn’t know where to turn, until I found support that actually understood the job.”
“The Foundation helped me stand my ground and rebuild with dignity.”
Former Senior Sergeant, New Zealand Police

Our Foundation in Human Rights
We align our work with the UN Convention on the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
That means we support you to protect:

Your right to health and mental wellbeing
Your right to a fair, safe workplace
Your right to be heard, represented, and respected
Your right to live and recover free from discrimination

Our Mission

We exist to:

Connect injured police workers to ACC and legal support when needed
Strengthen safety practices inside the police service
Promote long-term mental wellbeing across all stages of a police career
Prevent suicide through early, effective support and intervention

The Ethics That Guide Us

We listen carefully and value every voice.

We act when others hesitate.

We believe effort is its own reward.

We treat everyone with dignity, always.

We act more than we speak.

We stay close to the community we serve.

This is our code. This is our work. This is the foundation.

Our Board

Allister Rose NZBS

Founder and Managing Director

Allister Rose NZBS is a former paramedic and New Zealand police officer who now leads practical support and systemic reform for police workers, paramedics and their families affected by trauma and workplace injury.

Allister worked as a paramedic in the United Kingdom before returning to New Zealand and joining New Zealand Police in 2001, where he served in uniform for 15 years.

In January 2007, Allister and another police officer confronted armed offender Graeme Burton in the hills between Wainuiomata and Lower Hutt. Their actions prevented further danger to the public and led to Burton’s capture. Allister received the New Zealand Bravery Star, one of New Zealand’s highest awards for bravery.

The incident also had a lasting psychological effect. Allister was subsequently diagnosed with service-related PTSD. His experience of navigating injury, rehabilitation and employment systems showed how an injured worker can suffer further harm when processes become fragmented, delayed or disconnected from the person and their family.

After leaving Police, Allister worked in workplace health and safety and completed training through WorkSafe in the Health and Safety at Work Act, ACC law and the practical management of workplace injury and rehabilitation. This experience gave him a detailed understanding of how employers, regulators and injury-management systems should prevent harm, support recovery and meet their legal responsibilities.

Allister founded the Blue Hope Foundation to ensure injured police workers and their families could access independent, lived-experience-led guidance and coordinated support. The Foundation is now beginning to extend this work to paramedics, recognising the shared occupational-health risks faced by frontline emergency workers.

Through the Second Injury Project, Allister is working to identify and prevent the additional harm caused when administrative systems place process ahead of recovery, dignity and suicide-risk management. The project promotes early intervention, family inclusion, lawful rehabilitation, trauma-informed communication and access to appropriate legal and clinical support.

His approach brings together lived experience, workplace health and safety, the Health and Safety at Work Act, Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation, employment rights and disability principles. It reflects the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including equality, non-discrimination, accessible services and access to justice.

His central belief is simple: injured people should not be harmed again by the systems intended to help them. Supporting the health of police workers and paramedics protects families, strengthens communities, sustains economic participation and builds public trust in the services on which society depends.

Watch Allister's Story

Michael Bush CNZM is the former Commissioner of New Zealand Police (2014–2020) and incoming Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police. A career officer who joined NZ Police in 1978, Mike served in key leadership roles, including as Liaison Officer during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, earning the MNZM and Special Service Medal. As Commissioner, he championed cultural reform through the “Prevention First” model and values of empathy and diversity.

Mike is proud of his association with the Blue Hope Foundation, where he supports the mental health of police workers. He referenced this work during his appointment process in Victoria and continues to assist the Foundation in high-level dialogue with New Zealand government officials, offering both business and operational insight. Since retiring, he has led leadership and crisis response consultancies, including an independent review of Auckland Council’s flood preparedness. In 2020, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Colleen Upton ONZM
Chair & Treasurer, Blue Hope Foundation

Director, Hutt Gas and Plumbing
President, National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)

Colleen Upton is a seasoned leader in New Zealand’s plumbing and gasfitting industry, with over 30 years as Director of Hutt Gas and Plumbing. Her governance experience spans several boards, including NZ Master Plumbers and the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board. In 2020, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to women, plumbing, and gasfitting.

Colleen's commitment to the Foundation is deeply personal. Her son is a serving police officer, and her brother served in various roles within the police service. She is dedicated to ensuring police personnel receive the support they need, recognising the unique challenges they face.

She believes that women—mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends—are often the first to notice when something is amiss. Colleen emphasises the importance of early intervention and the pivotal role families play in supporting the mental health of police workers.