The Commission's objective is to contribute to better and equitable mental health and wellbeing outcomes for people in New Zealand. We will perform an enduring role in transforming Aotearoa New Zealand's approach to mental health and wellbeing.
The Commission released Te Huringa: Change and Transformation. Mental Health Service and Addiction Service Monitoring Report 2022 [PDF, 888 KB] on 22 March 2022.
Our report found that despite significant investment in mental health and addiction services through the 2019 Wellbeing Budget, improvements in services have not materialised as we had hoped for over this time. We commend the investment in additional, and much needed, primary and community services, but more is needed to address pressures on specialist services, particularly for young people.
The Commission released its Te Rau Tira Wellbeing Outcomes Report 2021 on 8 December 2021. Our report found that most communities in Aotearoa New Zealand tend to experience good wellbeing, most of the time. The report also found that a concerningly large minority of people and communities experience persistently poor wellbeing.
The Commission released its first report [PDF, 1.7 MB] on 28 October 2021 – a look at the first two years of the Access and Choice Programme(external link). It found the programme as a whole is on schedule, with the roll out of integrated primary mental health and addiction services proceeding as planned. However, the rollout of Kaupapa Māori, Pacific, and Youth services is behind what was intended by now, and it is critically important these areas are progressed.
As part of our broader wellbeing role, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has taken on the monitoring and advocacy function for mental health and addiction services from the former Mental Health Commissioner at the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner(external link) (HDC).
HDC acts as an independent watchdog for people’s rights when using health and disability services and continues to consider and assess people’s complaints relating to mental health and addiction services.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission does not handle complaints about individual or whānau experiences of using mental health and / or addiction services. These complaints are managed by the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC).
People who have concerns about the care they or others have experienced at a mental health or addiction service should still contact the Advocacy Service(external link) or make a complaint to the HDC(external link).
