Compulsory community treatment order (CTO) use is higher in Māori, young adults and in areas of socioeconomic deprivation, according to a study of national databases from 2009 to 2018. The annualised CTO rate for New Zealand was 95.5 per 100,000 population over the study period. However, CTO rates ranged from 53 to 184 per 100,000 population across district health boards, and adjustment for sociodemographic factors could not explain this variation. CTO rates were more than three times higher for Māori than Caucasian individuals, and were also higher in males and young adults. The CTO rate increased with socioeconomic deprivation severity.