Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Act 2020

1: Title
This Act is the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Act 2020.
2: Commencement
1: This Act comes into force on a date appointed by the Governor-General by Order in Council, and 1 or more Orders in Council may be made bringing different provisions into force on different dates.
2: Any provision that is not earlier brought into force under subsection (1) comes into force on 9 February 2021.
3: An order under this section is secondary legislation ( see Part 3 The following table is small in size and has 3 columns that are grouped under the heading Legislation Act 2019 requirements for secondary legislation made under this section. Legislation Act 2019 requirements for secondary legislation made under this section Publication PCO must publish it on the legislation website and notify it in the Gazette LA19 s 69(1)﻿(c) Presentation The Minister must present it to the House of Representatives LA19 s 114 cl 32(1)﻿(a) Disallowance It may be disallowed by the House of Representatives LA19 ss 115 116 This note is not part of the Act. Section 2(3) inserted 28 October 2021 section 3 Secondary Legislation Act 2021
1: Preliminary provisions
3: Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)
In order to recognise and respect the Crown’s responsibility to take appropriate account of the Treaty of Waitangi
a: section 8(2)
i: te ao Māori (Māori world view), tikanga Māori (Māori protocol and culture), and whānau-centred approaches to wellbeing; and
ii: the cultural, economic, educational, spiritual, societal, environmental, and other factors that affect people’s mental health and wellbeing; and
b: section 9(1)
i: to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)
ii: to engage with Māori and to understand perspectives of Māori; and
c: section 11(2)
i: assessing and reporting publicly on the mental health and wellbeing of people in New Zealand; and
ii: assessing and reporting publicly on factors that affect people’s mental health and wellbeing; and
iii: assessing and reporting publicly on the effectiveness, efficiency, and adequacy of approaches to mental health and wellbeing; and
iv: advocating for the collective interests of people who experience mental distress or addiction (or both), and the persons (including family and whānau) who support them; and
d: section 11(3)
i: the cultural, economic, educational, spiritual, societal, environmental, and other factors that affect people’s mental health and wellbeing; and
ii: actions undertaken that (or that could be undertaken to) identify and respond to people experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing, and the persons (including family and whānau) who support them; and
e: section 13
4: Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— board Commission section 7 Minister
5: Transitional, savings, and related provisions
The transitional, savings, and related provisions (if any) set out in Schedule 1
6: Act binds the Crown
This Act binds the Crown.
2: Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission
Establishment of Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission
7: Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission established
1: The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is established.
2: The Commission is a Crown entity for the purposes of section 7
3: The Crown Entities Act 2004
8: Board of Commission
1: The board of the Commission consists of 3 to 7 members.
2: When recommending a person for membership of the board, the Minister must have regard to the need for members to collectively—
a: have knowledge, understanding, and experience of—
i: te ao Māori (Māori world view), tikanga Māori (Māori protocol and culture), and whānau-centred approaches to wellbeing; and
ii: the cultural, economic, educational, spiritual, societal, environmental, and other factors that affect people’s mental health and wellbeing; and
iii: mental health services and addiction services; and
iv: public health approaches and population health approaches to improving health outcomes; and
v: improving overall system performance; and
b: have personal experience of mental distress; and
c: have personal experience of addiction.
3: This section does not limit section 29
9: Additional collective duty of board
1: The board must ensure that the Commission maintains systems and processes to ensure that, for the purposes of carrying out its functions under this Act, the Commission has the capability and capacity—
a: to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)
b: to engage with Māori and to understand perspectives of Māori.
2: The duty in subsection (1)—
a: applies in addition to the duties of the board in sections 49 to 52
b: is a collective duty owed to the Minister for the purposes of section 58 2019 No 50 s 11 Objective, functions, and powers of Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission
10: Objective of Commission
In performing its functions and exercising its powers under this Act, the Commission’s objective is to contribute to better and equitable mental health and wellbeing outcomes for people in New Zealand. 2004 No 115 s 14(2)
11: Functions of Commission
1: The functions of the Commission are—
a: to assess and report publicly on the mental health and wellbeing of people in New Zealand; and
b: to assess and report publicly on factors that affect people’s mental health and wellbeing; and
c: to assess and report publicly on the effectiveness, efficiency, and adequacy of approaches to mental health and wellbeing; and
d: to make recommendations to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and adequacy of approaches to mental health and wellbeing; and
e: to monitor mental health services and addiction services and to advocate improvements to those services; and
f: to promote alignment, collaboration, and communication between entities involved in mental health and wellbeing; and
g: to advocate for the collective interests of people who experience mental distress or addiction (or both), and the persons (including family and whānau) who support them.
2: When performing its functions under this Act, the Commission must have particular regard to the experience of, and outcomes for, Māori.
3: The Commission must also have regard to—
a: available evidence; and
b: the cultural, economic, educational, spiritual, societal, environmental, and other factors that affect people’s mental health and wellbeing; and
c: actions undertaken that (or that could be undertaken to)—
i: promote positive mental health and wellbeing:
ii: build resilience and prevent poor mental health and wellbeing:
iii: identify and respond to people experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing, and the persons (including family and whānau) who support them.
4: Except as expressly provided otherwise in this or another Act, the Commission must act independently in performing its statutory functions and duties, and exercising its statutory powers, under—
a: this Act; and
b: any other Act that expressly provides for the functions, duties, or powers of the Commission (other than the Crown Entities Act 2004
12: Powers of Commission
The Commission has the power to—
a: publicly report on any matters concerning the mental health and wellbeing of people in New Zealand; and
b: make recommendations to any person (including any Minister) on any matters concerning mental health and wellbeing; and
c: obtain information in accordance with sections 14 to 16 Obtaining views of specified groups
13: Obligation to have effective means of seeking views
1: In performing its functions and exercising its powers under this Act, the Commission must ensure that it has effective means of seeking the views of—
a: Māori; and
b: people who share a common identity, experience, or stage in life that increases the risk that they will experience poor mental health and wellbeing (for example, the groups identified in He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction and that are set out in Schedule 2
c: people who have experienced mental distress, and the persons (including family and whānau) who support them; and
d: people who have experienced addiction, and the persons (including family and whānau) who support them; and
e: any other group the Commission considers may help it to meet its objective ( see section 10
2: Those means may include—
a: appointing advisory committees or forming consultation forums:
b: using consultation mechanisms that have been established by other entities. 2003 No 128 s 13 Power to obtain information
14: Power of Commission to obtain information
1: The Commission may request an entity specified in subsection (6) to supply to the Commission any information that is necessary or desirable to enable the Commission to perform its functions.
2: A request—
a: must be in writing; and
b: may state the date by which, and the manner in which, the information must be provided.
3: If a date is specified, that date must be reasonable.
4: An entity to which the request is made must comply with the request.
5: Section 15
6: A request may be made to 1 or more of the following entities:
a: a department named in Part 1
i: the Government Communications Security Bureau; and
ii: the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service:
b: a departmental agency named in Part 2
c: a statutory entity named in Schedule 1
d: the New Zealand Defence Force:
e: the New Zealand Police:
f: the Māori Health Authority. 2019 No 51 s 23 Section 14(6)﻿(a) amended 7 August 2020 section 135 Public Service Act 2020 Section 14(6)﻿(b) amended 7 August 2020 section 135 Public Service Act 2020 Section 14(6)﻿(f) inserted 1 July 2022 section 104 Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022
15: Reasons for refusing to supply requested information
1: The Commission must not request, and an entity must not supply, information that is—
a: personal information as defined in section 2(1)
b: information held by the Government Statistician that was collected under the Data and Statistics Act 2022
c: information that a revenue officer must keep confidential under section 18
2: An entity may refuse a request for information if—
a: it can be properly withheld under sections 6 7 9(2)﻿(a), (b)﻿(i), (ba)﻿(ii), (c) to (h), (j), or (k)
b: the supply of the information would limit the ability of the entity, or of any of its employees, members, or office holders, to act judicially, or to carry out the statutorily independent functions of the entity, in relation to a particular matter. 2019 No 51 s 24 Section 15(1)﻿(b) amended 1 September 2022 section 107(1) Data and Statistics Act 2022
16: Publication or disclosure of information to others
The Commission must not publish or disclose any information obtained under section 14
a: the information is available to the public under any enactment or is otherwise publicly available:
b: the information is in a statistical or summary form:
c: the publication or disclosure is with the consent of the entity from which the information was obtained:
d: the publication or disclosure is made under the Official Information Act 1982 2019 No 51 s 26 Review of Commission
17: Review of Commission
1: The Minister must, as soon as practicable after the expiry of 5 years from the commencement of this Act,—
a: commence a review of the operation and effectiveness of the Commission; and
b: prepare a report on that review.
2: The Minister must present the report to the House of Representatives as soon as practicable after it has been completed. Consequential amendments
18: Consequential amendments to other enactments
Amend the enactments specified in Schedule 3 2021-02-09 Crown Entities Act 2004 Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 Official Information Act 1982 Ombudsmen Act 1975 Remuneration Authority Act 1977 refer to section 2(2)