New Zealand Law Commission Report on Media Reporting of Suicide

The Law Commission of New Zealand has released a report entitled Suicide Reporting that recommends revisions to that country's Coroners Act 2006:

"The Report recommends that sections 71 to 73 of the Coroners Act 2006 that restrict the reporting of suicide be repealed and replaced by new provisions. Those provisions should only prohibit the reporting of the method of suicide and the fact that a death is a suicide. A person should be able to apply to the Chief Coroner for an exemption from those prohibitions. It also recommends that the Coroners Act requires the Minister of Health to prepare, in consultation with media and mental health experts, a new set of standards for reporting suicide, and to implement an ongoing programme to disseminate, promote, support and evaluate the implementation of those standards."

The report looked at the situation in other jurisdictions such as Australia and the United Kingdom.