12 December 2018

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Tēnā koutou katoa, Talofa lava and warm Pacific greetings 

Following the release of He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry on 4 December, the Inquiry panel is now ‘functus officio’, meaning their work has been completed and their Inquiry roles have concluded. The report is now in the hands of the Government to make decisions on the proposed directions and recommendations set out in the Inquiry report. 

The Inquiry panel was committed to making access to information about its work as easy as possible. Ensuring the Inquiry report was made available in a variety of formats to meet specific needs has been an important consideration. We are pleased to advise that several formats of the report and supplementary documents are now available on our website https://www.mentalhealth.inquiry.govt.nz/inquiry-report/ 

The following versions of the Inquiry report are currently available on the website:

• Full report – pdf and html
• Animated video – English
• Animated video – te reo Māori
• Executive summary and recommendations – te reo Māori
• Executive summary and recommendations – Samoan
• Executive summary and recommendations – Audio
• Executive summary and recommendations – Large Text
• Executive summary and recommendations – Braille (available on request)
• Recommendations – Easy Read
• Video – New Zealand Sign Language

We are also making available some commissioned reports and summaries of the more than 5,200 submissions received, and over 400 meetings attended, by the Inquiry panel. These summaries contribute to the story of the Inquiry by providing an authentic record of the voices the Panel heard, rather than specific recommendations. 

The commissioned materials give an insight into other evidence that assisted the Panel in its deliberations. The comprehensive summaries of submissions will be of particular interest to academics, researchers, funders, people with lived experience, whānau and the wider community. To protect people’s privacy, extracts and quotes from submissions will be de-identified. 

The documents that will shortly be made available on the Inquiry website are: 

1. Commissioned reports

The following reports were commissioned by the Inquiry for the purposes of panel deliberations under the Inquiries Act 2013. They are being publicly released in the interests of availability of information for the public and a wide range of mental health and addiction stakeholders.

• University of Otago, Wellington: ‘Stocktake report for the Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry, July 2018’
• University of Otago, Wellington: ‘Mental Health and Addiction in Aotearoa New Zealand: Recent trends in service use, unmet need, and information gaps, July 2018’
• Social Sector Science Advisors: ‘Toward a Whole-of-Government, Whole-of-Nation Approach to Mental Health: Presentation to the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction by the Social Sector Science Advisors’, 10 May 2018
• Social Sector Science Advisors: ‘Towards an Evidence-Informed Plan of Action for Mental Health and Addiction in New Zealand: A response by the Social Sector Science Advisors to the request of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction’, 13 July 2018 
• Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui: Workforce stocktake: Final report to the Government Inquiry into Mental Health & Addiction, June 2018: New Zealand mental health and addiction workforce: challenges and solutions

1.  Summaries of submissions

Documents commissioned by the Inquiry to provide supplementary information to the Inquiry report. These documents are intended to honour the voices of people heard through individual, group and organisation submissions and meetings, while protecting privacy and confidentiality and ensuring natural justice.

• General Summary of Submissions – summarising all submissions and all themes
• Summary of submissions featuring Māori voice
• Summary of submissions featuring Pacific voice

All these documents, except for the summary of submissions featuring Māori voice, will be available on the website by 20 December. There has been a delay in completion of the Māori voice summary. It will be available from late January. 

Thank you for your interest in the Inquiry.  The Inquiry secretariat is wrapping up and will disband on 21 December. Any enquiries can be directed to info@dia.govt.nz after that date. 

Ngā mihi

Inquiry Secretariat