Page 2818 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 October 1992
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reversing the trend which occurred under the Liberals. For example, the Mental Health Advisory Committee was dismantled under the Liberals. Under Mr Humphries it was dismantled. It has been reinstated. It is a key reform in the provision of mental health services in the ACT. That was done very early after the last election.
The reforms are based on a number of premises. The most important of these are upholding human rights for the mentally ill and improving the standard of care available to psychiatrically affected people in the ACT. Reform of the ACT legislation concerning mental health is both a necessity and a priority for the Government. Many of the provisions of the current laws are both outdated and unnecessary, as has been rightly pointed out. Nobody has said that the process is not a complex one. It is indeed a complex problem as we are dealing with the development of new laws in relation to this matter, and the Government is getting on with the job.
The Government, as I have said, is committed to community consultation. We have also been involved in the development of the national mental health policy and we continue to be represented on the National Mental Health Advisory Council. That mental health policy and the money which will flow from the Commonwealth will, one would expect, be subject to the signing of the Medicare agreement. I see that Liberals in other States are horsing around with the Medicare agreement at this point and perhaps there is some risk to those mental health funds if the Medicare agreement is not appropriately addressed. It is a most important feature of the provision of health services across this country.
As I have said, we gave a promise on our intention to establish the Mental Health Advisory Council. We have said that we will address the Balancing Rights report, and we are addressing it. The council that we have appointed includes a cross-section of mental health consumers, carers and interested people. The new council will provide community input and independent advice to the ACT Government. The Mental Health Advisory Council is another important link in the coordination, but we have also provided for some additional mental health services in the last budget. In a tight budgetary situation we have provided for an intensive care team for the seriously mentally ill which will target people who do not appropriately use the existing services or require more intensive services in order to maintain them more effectively in the community.
We have also provided for an outreach service for adolescents. The service will lead to improved accessibility to mental health services for young people - something that needed to be addressed. We have provided for the establishment of a forensic service in the ACT, and that will cost about $180,000. So, across the board, we have been moving to provide better services for the mentally ill, and for Mrs Carnell to be critical of the Government in this respect, taking the too slow, too slow, too slow approach, is typical.
There also has been agreement in association with the Attorney-General's Department to establish a Mental Health Tribunal and case management scheme. That has already been announced; Mrs Carnell must have missed that one. It will make assessment and treatment orders in respect of persons suffering from mental dysfunction. That proposal seeks to enhance psychiatric assessment and treatment of mentally ill people diverted from the criminal justice system.
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