Page 1125 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 April 1994
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SOCIAL POLICY - STANDING COMMITTEE
Report on Mental Welfare and Crimes
(Amendment) Exposure Draft Bills
MS ELLIS (11.29): Pursuant to order, I present the report of the Standing Committee on Social Policy on the inquiry into the Mental Welfare and Crimes (Amendment) Exposure Draft Bills, together with extracts from the minutes of proceedings. I move:
That the report be noted.
I am pleased to be able to table this report today. The report shows the way forward on how we can improve mental health legislation in the ACT - a difficult and complex area in which the ACT is lagging behind the rest of Australia. In regard to mental health, the ACT is currently governed by the Mental Health Acts of 1983 and 1962, the Insane Persons and Inebriates Act 1936, and the New South Wales Lunacy Act 1898. This legislation is failing to meet the needs of the ACT community. The Burdekin report on human rights and mental illness describes the 1983 Mental Health Act as "the least comprehensive of any mental health legislation in an Australian State or Territory".
This report is part of a long process that has been going on to reform our mental health legislation. It should be noted that the report is by no means the end of the process. Any new legislation will need to be reviewed in the light of its operation and in response to developments that are occurring nationally. The report has recommended that an amended Bill be passed as interim legislation, in recognition of the fact that the development of this legislation needs to be ongoing.
There have been calls for the reform of mental health legislation in the ACT since the beginning of self-government. In response to those calls, in 1990 the then Minister for Health, Gary Humphries, MLA, established the ACT Mental Health Review Committee to advise on legislative changes required to overcome deficiencies in the legislation and to meet community concerns. The review committee comprised 14 members from the health, legal, law enforcement and academic professions and the community. It met regularly from May to November 1990, during which time it received submissions and held public hearings. That committee brought down its report, Balancing Rights, in November 1990. Balancing Rights had 59 recommendations which set out directions for new mental health legislation in the ACT. The present Government tabled its response to Balancing Rights in February 1993.
The Government then proceeded to draft a Mental Welfare Bill and Crimes (Amendment) Bill to establish a new mental health regime in the ACT based on the recommendations of the ACT Mental Health Review Committee. The Government, through the then Minister for Health, Mr Berry, and the Attorney-General, Mr Connolly, tabled these Bills as exposure drafts in June 1993 and sought community and professional comments on them
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