Page 4104 - Week 13 - Thursday, 6 December 2007
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In relation to amendments regarding interstate agreements, the understanding is that there were problems with the original law. The first example of the problems that the old law presented was encountered through the ACT Magistrates Court when a patient moved domicile from Canberra, where an ACT psychiatric treatment order had been in place, to Queanbeyan. It was outside the jurisdiction of the court to effect an involuntary order to be maintained in New South Wales. In the future, it is likely that the movement of people across the territory border will increase.
Clauses 8 to 14 seek to correct cross-border anomalies in line with the 2003 ACT-New South Wales ministerial interstate health agreement. After consultation with the mental health sector, the opposition is satisfied that these amendments are necessary and should be supported. These amendments enable various parts of the ACT and New South Wales mental health acts to be operable across the border in relation to people on involuntary orders or to ensure that patients can be transferred to in-patient facilities for specific treatment that is perhaps not available where they live. The opposition has been advised by the mental health sector that these amendments are appropriate and timely.
The headings for sections 55C and 55J read “Offence—electroconvulsive therapy on more than 10 occasions” while internally the sections read “on 10 or more occasions”. In clauses 15 and 16, the headings of these sections are amended so that the headings match the content of the sections and the clear intent of the act.
The bill also makes occupational therapists eligible to be mental health officers under the act. The departmental officers who provided a briefing along with key stakeholders in the sector have satisfied the opposition that this would be an improvement and that there is no risk that insufficiently qualified occupational therapists would be accepted. Advice to the opposition is that mental health officers have been part of the ACT mental health act since 1994. The ACT led other jurisdictions in the development of this type of function for mental health clinicians in mental health legislation. Both Queensland and New South Wales subsequently have developed similar roles to the ACT. Victoria recently added occupational therapists to a list of “prescribed persons” in the Victorian mental health regulations—”prescribed persons” having similar roles to ACT mental health officers.
Mental health officers work under the directions of the ACT Chief Psychiatrist. Their primary responsibilities are to assess mentally ill or mentally dysfunctional people and, if required, to apprehend and take them to an approved health facility for examination by a medical officer. Mental health officers may also apprehend and take a person to an approved mental health facility if the Chief Psychiatrist directs that the person has contravened a mental health order of the Mental Health Tribunal. These powers may also be used as directed by the Chief Psychiatrist under the interstate applications of mental health laws for the escorting of a mentally ill person subject to a mental health order to another jurisdiction or escorting a mentally ill person subject to a mental health order back to the ACT.
Mental health officers are appointed from senior and experienced clinicians of Mental Health ACT, following the recommendation of the team leaders. Occupational
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