Media Enquiries
Please contact a communications team member listed below or see our news section for the latest from the MHF:
We can provide:
- Information about, and contacts for, Mental Health Awareness Week.
- Spokespeople for interviews and comment who are experts in the field of mental health and wellbeing, including people with experience of mental illness.
- Information, statistics and data on mental health and wellbeing, suicide and discrimination.
- Resources, guidance and support for journalists and sub-editors reporting on mental illness.
The law and suicide reporting
The Coroner’s Amendment Act 2016 – What does it mean for New Zealand media?
To help protect vulnerable people there are some restrictions in New Zealand on what can be made public about a suicide or suspected suicide. These are set out in Section 71 of the Coroners Act 2006. The Act was amended in 2016 to clarify the restrictions.
Unless you have an exemption from the chief coroner, you can’t make public:
- the method or suspected method of the death
- any detail (like the place of death) that might suggest the method or suspected method of the death
- a description of the death as a suicide before the coroner has released their findings and stated the death was a suicide (although the death can be described as a suspected suicide before then).
‘Making public’ doesn’t just mean news reports and other media – it includes things like public posts on Facebook too.
Individuals and media may apply to the chief coroner for an exemption to these restrictions.
Please note: if a death occurred before 22 July 2016, only the person’s name and age is about to be published before the coroner releases their finding. If a coroner finds the person did take their own life, only the person’s name, address, occupation and that their death was a suicide may be published.
Sometimes, the coroner will release more information if it’s in the public interest.
More resources