I want to tell you a simple story. A story of how data and information came from being a poor relation of mental health and addiction services, to being so integral even our Prime Minister champions its collection and use.

Once upon a time there were services with little or no data upon which to base clinical decisions or make comparisons. 

Along came the birth of a national collection system for mental health and addiction activity information: bednights, referrals, discharges – that kind of data. The inputs and outputs of our services. This was truly a great leap forward and the start of many a good story.

It soon became clear something important was missing. Something which all the inputs and outputs needed in order to mean something. Something to give the measures more meaning. That something was outcomes.

Outcomes became the next chapter and forms a very important part of the story. It is the story of people’s stories which has led to New Zealand being highly regarded worldwide for the national information collection which captures activities and outcomes, the special delivery of 2008 which we all know as PRIMHD. I remember that time well and helped (in a small way) with developing resources for the sector. 

Our Australian colleagues had been telling stories with their data longer than us and, for a while, we borrowed some of their stories and their ways of telling them. 

The Australasian Mental Health Outcomes and Information Conference (AMHOIC) has been, and continues to be, a great opportunity for Australians and New Zealanders to learn from each other and share stories. From those stories, we are still learning. 

The first AMHOIC conference in 2007 – ‘He Kakano’ was held in Wellington and was a great success. The theme was “planting the seeds” and focused on how to get people talking about and starting to collect and use information.

From that first planting of the trans-Tasman seed of information, the conference themes have reflected an ever-increasing growth in maturity and confidence with information.

The succession of conferences have followed this theme: “growing the seed” and “charting new pathways and territory” reflected this maturing before the fourth conference, “branching out”, focussed on broadening perception beyond outcomes to all kinds of information.

The pinnacle to date was the fifth conference in Queenstown, New Zealand: “rising to new heights”. A remarkable conference amid remarkable mountains, with an engaging and remarkable collection of delegates (pardon the puns).  The conference theme was borne of the conviction that information had really come of age.

The 6th AMHOIC conference is just around the corner and eagerly awaited - 
 ”strengthening connection with information”. The AMHOIC conference in Brisbane, Australia seeks to show that information is vital to mental health and addiction services.

The story of mental health and addiction information isn’t over. We are moving to new chapters in the story in what may well be New Zealand’s very own never ending story.  As Churchill once said, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” 

With ministerial and strategic direction, the story of people’s stories is set to continue and hold an ever-growing place in the heart of service delivery. Outcomes and information has come a very long way from its humble beginnings and holds a great future – a future for outcomes and information, the stories the information holds, and in the stories of people who receive and deliver mental health and addiction services in the years to come.