8 January 2026
Hayden
[FYI request #33295 email]
Tēnā koe Hayden
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00106546
Thank you for your email on 18 December 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for
information regarding mental health under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA). Your refined
request is attached as
Appendix one.
You will receive a separate response to your request regarding Schedule 5 drug medications and
medical cannabis.
Response
On 18 December 2025, we contacted you to assist with refining your combined request of over
100 individual questions. In response, you have asked us to address the five multi-part questions
in the attached appendix. We note that this approach does not align with the refinement we
suggested (selecting two questions from your original request) and the request remains broad.
However, we can provide a high-level response that may provide value and assist you to make a
new, more manageable request. As noted the main purpose of your request is to ascertain if
Health NZ:
“ monitor whether economic policy is driving mental health demand and do you share that
info with the agencies making those policies”
Health New Zealand is responsible for the delivery of health services, while the Ministry of Health
(the Ministry) leads policy, strategy, and regulatory functions. Health New Zealand does not
monitor whether economic policy is driving mental health demand. Therefore, we do not share
such analysis with other agencies.
Accordingly, we are refusing your request under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the information you
have requested does not exist.
Regarding
question 1, Health NZ does not collect this information in a standardised or centralised
manner. In order to collate the ten years of data to the level of specificity in your request, we would
need to manually collate this data across Health NZ Districts and legacy systems. Health NZ would
need to divert personnel from each district from their core duties and allocate extra time to
complete this task. The diversion of these resources would impair our ability to carry out our other
core functions.
Therefore, your request is refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, as the information cannot be
made available without substantial collation and research.
I have considered whether fixing a charge for the supply of the information or extending the
timeframe for response would enable Health NZ to respond. I do not consider that either option
would remove the impact that supplying the information would have on our other operations.
Below are links that provide high level, national scale data and may partially address your interest
in trends and drivers:
•
Suicide Data Web Tool: A national dashboard with confirmed and suspected suicide
counts and rates by year, sex, age group, and district
Suicide data web tool – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
•
2024/25 Mental Health & Addiction Targets Performance Resources: quarterly
factsheets and slide decks covering your requested topics, such as ED timeliness metrics
and regional breakdowns
Mental health and addiction targets performance resources —
2024/25 – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
•
Ministry of Health – Mental Health & Addiction Services Data: Performance information
on service use, including community referrals and waitlists
Mental health and addiction services data | Ministry of Health NZ
Regarding
questions 2 – 5:
Health NZ does not collect financial stress related presentation data in a centralised manner nor
does it coordinate with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on mental health impacts related to
interest rate changes. Health NZ does not engage in sharing mental health cost data with
Treasury, the Reserve Bank, or other economic agencies outside of standard Budget processes.
Economic modelling is not part of Health NZ’s standard demand forecasting. Additionally,
economic factors may be referenced incidentally in some planning or briefing documents.
However, Health NZ does not hold any formal standalone analysis on links between economic
conditions and mental health in our central systems.
Therefore, these parts of your request are refused under the following sections of the OIA:
• 18(g), as the information is not held by Health NZ.
• 18(e), as the information does not exist or cannot be found.
If you wish to make a new request, we encourage you to focus on a single topic, dataset or provide
a shorter time period.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIAs) – Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Appendix one: Refined request for information received on 18 December 2025
1. Mental health service demand data over time
Can you provide monthly data from 2015-2024 on:
i.
emergency department presentations for mental health
ii.
psychiatric admissions
iii.
self harm and suicide attempt presentations to ED
iv.
community mental health referrals and waiting lists
v.
broken down by age, gender, region if that's easy to pull from your systems
note: I know you collect this data for planning, I just need it in monthly format if possible.
quarterly is ok if monthly is too hard.
2. do you track financial stress as a factor in mental health presentations?
i.
does health nz have any way of recording when someone presents with mental
health issues and financial stress/unemployment/debt/housing problems are
part of the picture
ii.
if you do track this, what proportion of presentations involve economic stress
iii.
any analysis you've done on whether economic hardship is driving demand
note: I'm NOT asking for patient records, just whether you track this in aggregate and what
it shows
3. coordination with treasury and reserve bank
Documentation showing:
i.
what mental health data you send to treasury for their budget planning
ii.
whether treasury asks you to project mental health costs
iii.
whether you coordinate with reserve bank about mental health impacts when
they change interest rates
iv.
any agreements or emails about sharing mental health cost data with economic
agencies
v.
why I need this: treasury told me they don't have documents about welfare costs
related to suicide. if you're giving them mental health data and they're not using
it, or if coordination just doesn't happen, that's a system failure
note: I'm asking about the coordination process, not the actual advice (which might be
confidential)
4. do your demand forecasts account for economic conditions?
i.
when health nz plans for future mental health demand, do you factor in
economic indicators like unemployment or interest rates or recession risk
ii.
is the current mental health budget adequate for demand driven by economic
stress
iii.
has anyone analyzed whether preventing economic hardship would be cheaper
than treating the mental health crises it causes
iv.
why I need this: I want to know if health nz is planning for economic-driven
demand and whether prevention would be more cost effective than treatment
v.
note: just asking if this analysis exists and what it says. if it doesn't exist that's
also important to know
5. unpublished analysis and whether you're allowed to talk about this
Please confirm:
i.
has health nz done any analysis on links between economic conditions and
mental health that hasn't been published
ii.
if yes, why not published and can you release it now
iii.
has anyone ever told you not to analyze or publish stuff about economic drivers
of mental health demand
I'm fine with the timeframe restarting since I've cut it down heaps. but the basic question is
still the same - does health nz monitor whether economic policy is driving mental health
demand and do you share that info with the agencies making those policies?
