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Mental Health Legislation in VictoriaThe current mental health legislation for Victoria is contained in the Mental Health Act 1986 (Vic). The original legislation, the Lunacy Statute of 1867, was based on the consolidation of the law of England as it applied in Victoria at the time. Changing approaches to the treatment of mentally ill people led to gradual amendment of the legislation, and on several occasions to the introduction of new Acts. In the early 1980s a consultative council was established to investigate the state of involuntary treatment in Victoria. A consistent theme throughout the council’s report was the need for acknowledgment of the importance of basic civil rights and the seriousness of the compromises made in the name of treatment of involuntary patients. Consequently, recommendations were made for the adoption of admission procedures which placed a greater emphasis on ensuring immediacy of specialised assessment and the necessity of ensuring safeguards in relation to treatment. Recommendation was also made for the establishment of the Mental Health Review Board to provide for specialised review of detainees and the hearing of appeals. The criteria for treatment and detention (in section 8(1) of the Act) were also introduced. The Mental Health Act 1986 (Vic) introduced provisions which reflected a commitment to deinstitutionalist policy. In keeping with this, provisions were also introduced for the making of community treatment orders (CTOs), which enable a person who meets the criteria for involuntary detention and treatment to be treated in the community instead of a psychiatric inpatient service. Countries adopting a deinstitutionalist approach faced difficulties in ensuring that those living in the community were adequately treated and cared for. A national policy was adopted and endorsed by every state and territory in order to address these difficulties while maintaining a commitment to community based care. In 1995 a Bill was introduced to provide the legislative basis for the new models of service delivery currently being implemented and to improve the Act’s consistency with national and international human rights instruments. The Bill received bipartisan support and the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 1996 (Vic) came into operation on 1 July 1996. It introduced many changes to the Act, including new objects; "principles of treatment and care"; and the removal of provisions directly relating to voluntary patients, and the power to detain patients no longer meeting the criteria for detention (in certain circumstances). The Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2003 was given Royal Assent on 21 October 2003. Except for Part 2, the Act came into operation the day after it received Royal Assent. The purpose of the amending Act is to clarify and improve the operation of the provisions for involuntary patients, and the making of community treatment ordto eners, to clarify and improve the operation of confidentiality provisions, to make miscellaneous amendments, and to amend the Coroners Act 1985 to ensure that the death of a patient who is not held in care is a reportable death. Click on text for history of the amendments to the Act since 1986, or for an overview of the main amendments. Mental Health Legislation - National Comparative Summary Click on the link provided above to view a national comparative summary of mental health legislation. |
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