Every 46 minutes, a New Zealander believed to need acute mental health support goes under the Mental Health Act. This person could be you, or someone you love.
“A lot of the time, I feel like they come and they have already made up their mind about you because they have read [your clinical] notes. And then when they see you, there is not really any point in you trying to speak because they have already decided you’re going away.”
The Mental Health Act covers how we treat New Zealanders believed to need acute mental health support. It is over 30 years old, and out of keeping with modern mental health care approaches.
There are many reasons why the Mental Health Act needs urgent change. Visit rethinktheact.nz to find out more.
The Government has introduced a draft law to replace the Mental Health Act (called the 'Mental Health Bill'). Anyone in Aotearoa New Zealand can have their say on this draft law before midnight on Friday, 20 December 2024.
Changing this law is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to:
- create a safer, more empowering legal framework for acute mental health care
- advocate for mental health worker wellbeing, and
- ensure Aotearoa New Zealand upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi and international human rights conventions it has ratified.
Learn more about the Mental Health Act, including why it needs to change and what’s happening next, by reading the first page of our factsheet (see left), and downloading the full factsheet below.
Factsheet — What is the Mental Health Act? (pdf)