Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health
Section 119 of the Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017 (the Substance Addiction Act) requires the Ministry to publish the following information:
- the number of people who were detained under the Substance Addiction Act
- the length of their detention
- the number of compulsory treatment orders made
- the number of compulsory treatment orders extended
- the number of discharged patients who chose to have voluntary residential treatment and outpatient services.
Data from 1 July 2020 onwards will be included in the Ministry of Health’s Annual Report. The Ministry of Health’s Annual Report covers a financial year, whereas the Office of the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ Annual Report typically covers a calendar year, with the most recent being 2019 information. This difference means there is a ‘gap’ for the 1 January to 30 June 2020 reporting period. This report addresses that time period.
There may be cases where a person started the early stages of the Substance Addiction Act at the end of 2019 and continued through 2020, or first came under the Act in June 2020. The data in this report covers only activities that occurred from 1 January to 30 June 2020. Due to this, there are discrepancies in reporting, where a higher number of people had compulsory treatment orders made or extended than were detained under the Substance Addiction Act.
