Te Hiringa Mahara statement re implementation of Phase Two of Mental Health Response Changes announcement

People in acute mental health distress need access to the services and help they need in a timely way. Strengthening the health led crisis responses is the right direction to head.

We are keeping a close eye on the implementation of changes being made by NZ Police and Health NZ.

We expect the agencies leading this work (NZ Police and Health NZ) to ensure the proposed changes are well planned and implemented. The changes need to be closely monitored and any issues that arise responded to and escalated as needed. A priority must be to ensure the safety for everyone involved. We are aware the state of readiness for transition varies around the country.

The teams working at the frontline know their community and need to be trusted to respond in the best way. This lends itself to a phased, regional approach, where different parts of the country move ahead when they are ready. In areas where improvements can be introduced now, there is the opportunity for people in need to be better supported by a health response.

People need to have confidence in the plans and implementation approach. It is important that NZ Police and HealthNZ Te Whatu Ora share their plans and have good communication systems in place. We have heard concerns about communication of the proposed changes from many people. We must keep the focus on the people who access these services and continue to call for input from people with lived experience and the whānau who support them.

The Commission has completed initial work on acute options, recently hosted a webinar on this topic with a lived experience perspective, Health NZ and NZ Police representatives, and is now looking into the broader picture of an effective crisis response system. We will be reporting on this later in 2025 and expect this to inform future service design and improvements.