Page 1913 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 14 May 2013
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Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Amendment Bill 2013—
Exposure draft.
Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994—Mock-up, incorporating proposed amendments set out in the exposure draft of the bill.
I ask leave to make a statement in relation to the papers.
Leave granted.
MS GALLAGHER: I am pleased to table the second exposure draft of the amendment bill for the revised ACT Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994, and the mock-up of the revised act containing the proposed amendments. The review of the Mental Health Act, a joint initiative of ACT Health and the Justice and Community Safety Directorate, has benefited from several years work and the input of a wide range of community organisations, stakeholders and interest groups, including mental health consumers and carers.
I expect to introduce the amendment bill to the Legislative Assembly later in 2013. Consultation on the second exposure draft consultations began on 17 April and will continue until 28 May. The consultation documents can be viewed on the ACT government’s time to talk community engagement website.
The government has consulted on two exposure drafts to ensure adequate opportunity for community input into the proposed changes, as this is an area which attracts considerable community interest. The review of the act has been overseen by the review advisory committee, which comprises over 40 stakeholders, including consumers, carers, clinicians, emergency services and community agencies.
To allow stakeholders to fully participate in the consultation process, the consultation documents include a mock-up of the legislation incorporating the current proposed changes. Having a compiled version of the amended act puts the new provisions into context and facilitates better understanding of the provisions.
The ACT Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act, like that of several other jurisdictions, has been under review for several years, having needed to cater for significant changes in approach to treatment and care and major developments in human rights locally and internationally. The proposed amendments include a number of changes to increase the voice of people with mental illness in determining their own treatment. These provisions will put the ACT amongst the leaders of change in mental health law nationally and overseas.
The ACT Human Rights Act 2004 has had significant impact on mental health legislation, as it has on other ACT laws. Compliance with the Human Rights Act has involved a number of new measures to ensure that people with mental illness are given as much voice as possible in decisions about their treatment and care.
A proposed new set of principles and revised objective for the act have been informed by human rights changes and the recovery approach in mental health. They also
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