158. However, the process to repeal and replace the Mental Health Act is still in the early stages of policy development and no Bill has been introduced.175 159. We note that the CRPD Committee recently raised concern that new legislation may still allow for involuntary detention and compulsory treatment. The Committee recommended that the new mental health legislation should not allow for arbitrary detention or compulsory treatment and that the development process actively involves persons with disabilities.176 160. In the meantime, the use of compulsory treatment orders continues to steadily increase in Aotearoa New Zealand. According to most recent Office of the Director of Mental Health and Addictions Services Regulatory Report, the number of compulsory treatment orders (both inpatient and community) granted has steadily increased from 3,824 in 2004/5 to 5,241 in 2020/1.177 161. Māori are disproportionately represented in the mental health system. Māori make up about 17% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s population, yet in 2020/21 they accounted for 28.3% of all mental health service users. Over that same period, Māori were more likely to undergo compulsory assessment than other ethnicities.178 162. A recent report Commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation, Privileging the Focus and Voices/Voices and Focus of Tāngata Whaiora: Mental Health Act Review and Replacement focuses on tāngata whaiora (people with lived experience of mental distress), and found there is little research in Aotearoa New Zealand that puts their story at the centre. It therefore calls for future research to be led by tāngata whaiora Māori so that those who are most impacted by compulsory treatment orders are getting their stories and vision heard – particularly in the upcoming reform of the Mental Health Act.179 The Report discusses the high rates of compulsory treatment in Aotearoa New Zealand, the extreme disparities in its use, and the lack of evidence about the effectiveness of community treatment orders. It also includes insights into what some lived experience groups think about compulsory treatment. 163. The Committee may wish to make inquiries with the Government as to: (a) Progress in introducing new mental health legislation and how it will address compulsory treatment and consistency with the right to non-discrimination and equal recognition before the law as set out in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; (b) How tangata whaikaha180 and tangata whaikaha Māori have been engaged in the development and implementation of any new legislation; and 175 See Manatū Hauora “Repealing and replacing the Mental Health Act” Last updated 21 October 2022, available at https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/mental-health-and-addiction/mental-health-legislation/repealing-and-replacingmental-health-act . 176 CRPD, Concluding observations on the second and third periodic reports of New Zealand, UN Doc. CRPD/C/NZL/CO/2-3 (26 September 2022 at [25], [26]. 177 See Office of the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services Regulatory Report 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, available at https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/odmhas-regulatory-report-sep22.pdf 178 Ibid., at p 10. 179 Mental Health Foundation, Privileging the Focus and Voices/Voices and Focus of Tāngata Whaiora: Mental Health Act Review and Replacement, Undertaken and prepared by: Alison Schneller, Katey Thom, Gabrielle Jenkin, Kerri Butler, Stella Black, Susanna Every-Palmer, Giles Newton-Howes and Sarah Gordon (2022) available at https://mentalhealth.org.nz/resources/resource/tangata-whaiora-experiences-of-compulsory-treatment 180 A Māori term to descibe disabled people that is based on disabled people's strengths. 37