This morning, the Mental Health Foundation (the MHF) published rethinktheact.nz, a section of their website devoted to helping the public change Aotearoa New Zealand’s over-30-year-old mental health law.
The Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 can legally force people decided by a mental health clinician to be ‘mentally disordered’ – an archaic and controversial term – to receive mental health treatment. The people then receiving mental health treatment – one New Zealander every 46 minutes – have little say on what kinds of mental health treatment they receive, or where, including whether they are detained in a hospital and how long for.
On 1 October this year, the Government released a new draft law called the ‘Mental Health Bill’ (to replace the current Mental Health Act). People who have been under the Mental Health Act, their families and whānau, and many working in the mental health sector have been waiting for this new draft law since at least 2019 (when the Government accepted the recommendation in He Ara Oranga, the report of the Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction, to repeal and replace the Mental Health Act).
“It’s exciting to see a new Mental Health Bill has finally made its way to Parliament,” Giles Newton-Howes, Associate Professor at the University of Otago’s Department of Psychological Medicine, says.
“This Bill has the power to be transformative as it will mould clinical practice for years to come.
“How this new law will impact people in distress, whānau and clinicians depends on your input. I would encourage you to read it, and submit your views, whatever they are, to support the development of a Bill that works for as many New Zealanders as possible.”
Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the MHF, stresses how important this new Mental Health Bill will be for the over 47 percent of New Zealanders who will experience mental distress or illness in their lifetimes.
“Some people might look at this law and think, ‘this isn’t relevant to me or my whānau’. But it’s entirely possible that you or someone you love could be under or affected by this law one day,” Mr Robinson says.
“If you were deemed to be acutely unwell, would you like to have a say on what kinds of mental health treatment you received, and where? Would you like practices defined by the United Nations as torture to be banned in your care? Would you like the mental health workers looking after you to be better supported, so they could provide you with the best treatment? Would you like to be supported to make the best decisions for your health? These are all factors you can influence by having your say on this new draft law.”
rethinktheact.nz was created by the MHF to help New Zealanders understand what the Mental Health Act is, why it needs to change, what mental health service alternatives are available and how people can get involved in making change. It offers videos, factsheets, case studies, e-newsletters and more to help the public get involved in changing this complex, yet important, law. The campaign is also accessible by following the MHF’s social media channels – Instagram and LinkedIn in particular, but also TikTok and Facebook.
“Parliament – through a select committee process – will hold a public consultation where people can have their say on this draft law. We don’t yet know when this will be, but we really want the public to be ready for it when that time comes – because time might be scarce when it happens,” Mr Robinson says.
“That’s what rethinktheact.nz and its wider campaign is designed to do: ensure anyone has a chance to really think about how they would change this law for the better, and use their voice to influence this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for change.”
For further information, contact Mark Wilson