Serious concerns about compulsory community treatment orders (CCTOs) should be heeded, says NZ Association of Counsellors President Sarah Maindonald.

Her comments follow the release of the Lived Experiences of Compulsory Community Treatment Orders report, by Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.

The report documents how tāngata whaiora, whānau/family, and Māori feel marginalised in processes that determine what treatment they receive.

At the heart of this treatment are CCTOs, which have increased by 8 per cent between 2017 and 2021 with almost 7,000 people under compulsory treatment throughout Aotearoa.

“We support the concerns highlighted in the Commission’s report, especially as Māori are more likely to be subject to CCTOs than other populations in Aotearoa,” Maindonald says.

“Greater collaboration is needed between whānau, clinicians and the courts that embeds Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a Te Ao Māori worldview, as recommended by the Commission.”

Maindonald acknowledges the significant stresses on mental health services currently, however, she adds that many should be concerned if CCTOs’ increases continued and became the norm.

“We support Commission Chair Hayden Wano’s calls for new mental health law and a reduction in the inequitable use of CCTOs for Māori and Pacific,” Maindonald says.

“We know psychiatrists and clinicians are under significant duress but whānau voice must be given mana in this process.

“Pharmaceutical therapies alone, potentially, exclude indigenous therapies and marginalise the importance of working more holistically – as recommended by He Ara Oranga.”

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