Mental Health Policy New Zealand Style
| Date | 01 December 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/136193222006000039 |
| Published date | 01 December 2006 |
| Pages | 28-31 |
| Author | John Hall |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Mental Health Policy
New Zealand Style
John Hall
Research Director, Health and
Social Care Advisory Service, London
Visiting Professor of Mental Healthcare,
Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
Extra Curriculum
he New Zealand population
New Zealand is as far away from the United Kingdom
as it is possible to get. Although so distant, it has
conventionally been seen as culturally very similar to
Britain, so the New Zealand mental health plan, Te
Tahuhu Improving Mental Health 2005-2015 (Ministryof
Health, 2005) is of interest, in comparison with the
English National Service Framework for Mental Health
(NSF) (Department of Health, 1999) and its
subsequent five-year review by Louis Appleby (2004).
Therearethree factors of special interest about the
population of New Zealand from a UK health policy
point of view.First, the small total population, 4.03
million, is similar to Wales at 2.90m, and Scotland at
5.06m, and these populations are very close to the
population of the average English regional health
authority until the recent reorganisations. So the
overall expected level of mental health service
provision in New Zealand is easy to understand from
aBritish perspective.
Second, the population density of New Zealand is
very low, an average of 15 persons per square
kilometrecompared with an average of 380 for
England. The densities for Wales and Scotland are 141
and 65 respectively.
The third feature of note is the proportion of the
New Zealand population from ethnic (non-European)
minorities: the 1991 and 2001 census data show that
was increasing, while the proportion of people from
European (Pakeha) origin decreased from 83.2% to
80%. In 2001 the proportion identifying as Maori was
14.7%, the Pacific Peoples ethnic group 6.5%, the
Asian ethnic group made up 6.6%, and the proportion
classified in the ‘other’category was 0.7%. The census
allows people to identify themselves as belonging to
morethan one of the five main ethnic groups
T(European, Maori, Pacific Peoples, Asian, and ‘other’),
and the proportion of people doing so has almost
doubled since 1991 to 7.9% in 2001 (Statistics New
Zealand, 2002).
These factors mean that the challenge facing New
Zealand as far as mental health policy is concerned has
three dimensions:
■the total population is small, and hence there is
limited capacity to provide specialised services
for verylow incidence conditions
■the population densities vary considerably with
some extremely low population densities (for
example, 1.4 in the least populated area of the
west coast), presenting major issues in terms of
providing rapid face-to-face access to services
■asignificant and growing proportion of the
population is of non-European origin
■The Maori citizens, the original indigenous
population, are the largest numerical ‘minority’
and have particular privileges within New
Zealand, especially in terms of land rights and
enhanced entitlement to educational and welfare
support. They also tend to access mental health
services later and present with moresevere
symptoms.
New Zealand mental health policy
The first New Zealand co-ordinated mental health
policy, Looking Forward, was developed in 1994,
followed three years later by the first mental health
plan Moving Forward(1997), both produced by the
Ministry of Health. A year later Blueprint was
published by the Mental Health Commission.
28 The Mental Health Review Volume 11 Issue 4 December 2006 ©Pavilion Jour nals (Brighton) Limited 2006
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