Page 3853 - Week 12 - Thursday, 30 October 2014
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In conclusion I would like to thank the people living in the ACT who have a mental illness and who have supported this work—they have been very courageous in advocating the need for change and in being prepared to work with us—and, of course, the many thousands of carers who care for their loved ones at times often of great stress, for their preparedness to work with us to try to find that balance that is so hard to achieve in real life and reflect that in the rigidity of a legislative arrangement.
The bill we are passing today comes at a historic time for this city. It greatly changes older legislation that had become out of date and shifts that balance back to people who have a mental illness, whilst respecting the rights of carers and those who are providing treatment to make decisions when they need to. I commend the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Amendment Bill to members. I present the following paper:
Revised explanatory statement to the Bill.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health, Minister for Higher Education and Minister for Regional Development) (11.46): Pursuant to standing order 182A(b) and (c), I seek leave to move amendments to this bill that are both in response to comments made by the scrutiny committee and minor and technical in nature.
Leave granted.
MS GALLAGHER: I move amendments Nos 1 to 52 circulated in my name together [see schedule 1 at page 3908]. I present a supplementary explanatory statement to the government amendments.
The government’s amendments are all considered minor and technical in nature but there are several that are worth mentioning today. They are explained in the supplementary explanatory statement and explanatory points that are provided for the information of members.
Amendment 14 is a change to section 36G(2) of the amendment bill. It requires that a person subject to an assessment order has been made aware of the order. However, an emergency assessment order can be made specifically when notifying a person is likely to result in harm to themselves or others. This amendment removes the need for notification in the case of an emergency assessment order.
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