He Ara Oranga : Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction

The Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction was announced early in 2018. The catalyst for the inquiry was widespread concern about mental health services, within the mental health sector and the broader community, and calls for a wide-ranging inquiry from service users, their families and whānau, people affected by suicide, people working in health, media, Iwi and advocacy groups. The purpose of this Inquiry is to: • hear the voices of the community, people with lived experience of mental health and addiction problems, people affected by suicide, and people involved in preventing and responding to mental health and addiction problems, on New Zealand’s current approach to mental health and addiction and what needs to change • report on how New Zealand is preventing mental health and addiction problems and responding to the needs of people with those problems • recommend specific changes to improve New Zealand’s approach to mental health, with a particular focus on equity of access, community confidence in the mental health system and better outcomes, particularly for Māori and other groups with disproportionately poorer outcomes.