Your Rights

SF New Zealand supports the right of all individuals and families/ whanau/ aiga to access information, support, education and advocacy; and to be free from discrimination in all its forms.

If you want to know more about your human rights, or your rights as a person living in New Zealand, check out these documents and visit the websites listed below.

Code of Family Rights

An SF New Zealand guide to the rights of family/ whanau with a member experiencing a major mental illness.

Click here to order copies of the SF New Zealand Code of Family Rights pamphlet

Code of Family Rights (PDF)

The Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (1996)

The Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights applies to all health and disability services in New Zealand.

The Code is published by the Heath and Disability Commission and gives rights to all consumers (including family members), and places obligations on people and organisations providing services.

The Code (PDF)

For more information visit the Health and Disability Commission website www.hdc.org.nz

The Mental Health Act (1992)

The Mental Health Act is an important law for people who experience mental illness, their families and whanau. The Act sets out the circumstances in which people can be compulsorarily assessed or treated.

For more information visit the Ministry of Heath website www.moh.govt.nz

Info on the Mental Health Act for Family/Whanau

SF New Zealand produces a family/whanau guide to the Mental Health Act

Guide to The Mental Health Act (PDF)

Click here to order copies of the SF New Zealand guide to The Mental Health Act

The Health Information Privacy Code (1994)

The Health Information Privacy Code is a code under the The Privacy Act (1993), and it is regulated by The Privacy Commission. The Act applies to almost every person, business or organisation in New Zealand.

The Privacy Act guides how personal information can be collected, used, stored and disclosed.
The Health Information Privacy Code guides how a person's health information can be collected, used, stored and disclosed.

The fact sheets below were produced by the Privacy Commission and contain more information about the Health Information Privacy Code.

Privacy Commission Factsheets(PDF)

For more information visit the Privacy Commission website www.privacy.org.nz

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status.

Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression; and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education.

It is your human right to have a standard of living which supports health and wellbeing, and that of your family/ whanau/ aiga.
It is your human right not to be discriminated against on any grounds, including on the grounds of health or disability.