Little AndrewMENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING COMMISSION BILLSecond ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice) on behalf of the Minister of Health: I move That the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill be now read a second time.The bill establishes the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission which is an independent Crown entity that will contribute to better and equitable mental health and wellbeing for the people of New Zealand. For those who are going through tumultuous times and stressful change it will be of extraordinary great comfort.I want to begin by thanking the chair and members of the Health Committee for their thoughtful consideration of the bill and for delivering their report in a timely fashion. I also want to acknowledge all of those who submitted. Mental health and addiction affects all of us and this was reflected in the range of submissions received. The committee received 99 submissions from all walks of life—people with lived experience of mental distress and addiction whānau and people experiencing mental stress or addiction and people bereaved by suicide. The committee also heard from mental health and addiction service providers; organisations supporting people with lived experience; academics; monitoring agencies; and a number of organisations that provided a strong voice for population groups including Māori rainbow communities rural populations children and youth disabled people and Asian peoples. I'm informed that almost all submitters on the bill supported the establishment of the commission and that the submitters provided valuable suggestions and comments. These important perspectives are reflected in the committee's report and indeed in the revised bill. The Government supports all of the changes proposed by the committee and I'll briefly touch on some of the key recommendations.The committee has recommended amendments to the functions of the commission to clarify the scope of the commission's role and how it will perform its functions. In the bill the commission's functions broadly fall into three areas: the commission will assess and report publicly on the mental health and wellbeing of people in New Zealand; it will advocate for the collective interests of people who experience mental distress and addiction; and it will promote alignment collaboration and communication between entities involved in mental health and wellbeing.The committee has added a new function to be clear that the commission will make recommendations to improve the effectiveness efficiency and adequacy of approaches to mental health and wellbeing in New Zealand. These recommendations can be made to any person including Ministers. Collectively these functions give the commission the levers it needs to maintain pressure on decision makers identify issues influence improvements and speak for people that have experience of mental health and addiction.The bill has also been amended to provide that when performing its functions the commission should have regard to certain factors. Firstly the commission must consider available evidence. This means that the commission will be expected to use evidence to support its reporting and recommendations where it's appropriate to do so. It also means that the commission may identify evidence of gaps and make recommendations for improvements to the evidence base. Secondly the commission must also consider the wider determinants of mental health and wellbeing and it will take into account the broader social determinants and the cultural economic spiritual societal environmental and other factors that affect people's mental health and wellbeing. Thirdly the bill now makes explicit that the commission must consider actions undertaken or actions that could be undertaken to improve mental health and wellbeing. Actions may be across the full spectrum of mental health and wellbeing from promotion and the prevention of mental distress and addiction through to treatment for people living with serious mental health conditions.The commission will have a particular focus on Māori. The bill is drafted throughout to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. In addition the commission must have particular regard to Māori when performing its functions.The next amendment that I want to discuss relates to the commission's requirement to seek the views of different groups when performing its functions. This is an important provision. Consultation is consistent with placing people at the centre of mental health and wellbeing systems as envisioned by He Ara Oranga and accepted by the Government in response. The bill therefore requires the commission to consider a range of perspectives when assessing and reporting on the mental health and wellbeing of people in New Zealand. As I highlighted earlier Māori mental health and wellbeing is a focus of the bill and the commission must have effective means of seeking the views of Māori.The commission must be able to consult with people who have experienced mental distress or addiction; it is important that the commission understands their perspectives including their experience of health services as well as any other support or service. The commission must also understand the perspectives of people who may need support but have been unable or have chosen not to access services. The commission must also be able to consider the perspectives of people most at risk of experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing. When my colleague the Hon David Clark first introduced the bill this clause listed a small number of groups we know experience poor mental health and wellbeing while also recognising other groups that experience poor outcomes.A focus of many submissions was that they wanted more groups to be explicitly named in the bill; this posed a challenge for the Health Committee to recognise and acknowledge groups without excluding those not named. The bill in front of us today recognises that people may share a common identity experience or stage in life that increases the risk of poor mental health and wellbeing. Firstly people who share a common identity—for example people who share a particular sexual orientation or ethnicity may experience exclusion and discrimination which are key contributors to mental distress and addiction. Secondly common experiences such as trauma isolation and disconnection contribute to mental health physical health and addiction challenges. Thirdly different stages in life such as childhood pregnancy and motherhood and transitions between stages such as entering or leaving the workforce often present specific changes that can have an effect on people's mental health and wellbeing.The bill now acknowledges groups identified in the report of the Government inquiry into mental health and addiction as examples of people at risk of poor mental health and wellbeing. These groups include those listed in the bill when it was introduced: Pacific people disabled people and children and young people. It also includes rainbow communities rural communities older people refugees and migrants—amongst others. I commend the Health Committee for finding a way to be more inclusive of all groups at an increased risk of experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing.Many submissions made recommendations about the board of the commission which the Health Committee has addressed in its recommendations. The Government supports increasing the board size from being two to five members to being three to seven members. Increasing the board size will help ensure the appointment of members that collectively cover the recommended attributes and experience.I want to turn to another area and that is the timing. Government is committed to having the commission up and running as soon as possible. We support the committee's recommendation to provide flexibility for the bill to come into force earlier than February 2021. Work is already under way to recruit a chair and board members after the bill is passed. To ensure the commission can hit the ground running the board will initially act in a designate capacity and oversee key establishment work and strategic planning for the commission until its formal commencement.In conclusion the Government is establishing the commission to perform a significant role and a challenging one. It will make sure that we and future Governments work towards better and equitable mental health and wellbeing. I'm expecting the commission to put pressure on Government and others to provide better and more culturally appropriate services and supports develop better policies build a better evidence base and put pressure on others to invest where it is needed. We ultimately want people to experience a system that works for them and we want it to achieve better and equitable mental health and wellbeing. The commission's role is vital to achieving this.I'd like to finish by again thanking the Health Committee for their work and all three parties of Government—Labour New Zealand First and the Greens—for the commitment to establishing the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. This Government continues to prioritise better mental health and wellbeing in New Zealand and the commission will play a crucial role in a transformed system. On that basis I commend this bill to the House.