The Mental Health Bill passed its third reading in New Zealand’s Parliament on 3 July 2026, repealing and replacing the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992. The old Act had governed compulsory psychiatric assessment and treatment for more than three decades and had been widely criticised as out of step with a rights-based, recovery-focused approach to care. Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey called it a “once in a generation reform,” and the Bill form