Get involved in transforming mental health legislation 

Kia ora koutou

Hopefully by now you will have seen that we've opened the consultation on repealing and replacing the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act.

Read more about this consultation on the Ministry of Health website.

Below is information on consultation meetings specifically for people in the wider Mental Health and Addiction sector, and we would like to invite you to register for one of these meetings. Due to COVID-19 alert levels, we are holding these hui online.

These sessions are tailored for people working in district health boards, community providers, or other health agencies, government departments or crown entities, and anyone else with a professional interest in mental health law, such as lawyers, academics, and professional bodies.

It is so important to hear what New Zealanders want from mental health legislation. Consultation will be open for three months, allowing plenty of time for you to review the information and respond with your thoughts and feedback. We also want people to be able to share their thoughts and views on how best we manage this in real time conversations.

Our team is happy to come to any existing forums and share information, or run a mini consultation with your group. Please also advise if you would like an out-of-hours or weekend session as our team are able to be flexible.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please email:
mhactreview@health.govt.nz.

Targeted meetings: wider Mental Health and Addiction sector

In order to ensure that all voices can be heard, we have limited spaces available in each session. More dates will be added if required.

General Sessions (Duration: 2 hours)

These meetings will include breakout rooms where people can submit their views on all the topics in the Discussion Document. 

Wednesday 17 November 1:00 PM 

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Thursday 25 November 3:00 PM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Thursday 2 December 8:00 AM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Tuesday 18 January 10:00 AM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Themed sessions

We have had feedback on the opportunity to engage only on specific parts of the discussion document. If you would prefer to participate in this type of session, please let us know by emailing mhactreview@health.govt.nz. 

We are also holding sessions for the general public - please feel free to share these dates with anyone who may be interested but is not currently working in the sector.

General information session: Wednesday 10 November at 2:00 PM

• Register by clicking here (open to all)

Public consultation session: Tuesday 23 November 10:00 AM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Public consultation session: Monday 29 November 3:00 PM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Public consultation session: Tuesday 7 December 9:00 AM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

How to make a submission

There will be a range of ways to be able to provide feedback, some of which are shared below, but more information will be on the Mental Health and Addiction website and ongoing updates over the next three months, as we want to make sure no-one misses out on having their voice heard.

You are invited to give feedback on the whole discussion document or just the parts you are most interested in or impacted by. You might have other views and concerns that we have not captured, and we encourage you to tell us about these.

Consultation is open until 28 January 2022 and you can get help to prepare and submit your submission.

You can provide feedback by:

• making an online submission
• answering the questions in the consultation document and emailing your responses to mhactreview@health.govt.nz
• answering the questions in the consultation document and sending a hard copy to: Consultation: Transforming mental health law in Aotearoa New Zealand, Ministry of Health, PO Box 5013, Wellington 6140
• sending us your views on a particular topic relating to the consultation by emailing mhactreview@health.govt.nz