Government releases draft Mental Health Bill

Mental Health patients and the broader public will gain significant increases in protection through an overhaul of the state’s Mental Health legislation proposed by Health Minister Cameron Dick.

The current legislation covering mental health in Queensland is 15 years old, and Mr Dick, who today released draft legislation for a new Mental Health Bill, said it was timely to check the legislation to see if it was serving the interests of both mental health patients and the broader community.

“The LNP botched the reform of the Mental Health Act by rushing a Bill to Parliament that was full of errors, ignored key policy areas, and hadn’t been consulted properly,” he said.

“We owe it to Queenslanders with mental illness and those who interact with them to get this right. These draft laws that we’ve proposed will strengthen the rights of mental health consumers as well as giving more of a say to family and carers.”

“Nearly half of all Australians will experience a mental health disorder at some stage in their lives so it is important that laws keep pace with modern best practise and community expectations.”

Mr Dick said the bill proposed by previous Health Minister Lawrence Springborg was rushed into Parliament without proper preparation or consultation and contained many technical errors, and this legislation contained several important changes.

“This includes reallocating the power to require a forensic patient to wear a GPS monitoring device from a bureaucrat to the Mental Health Court and the Mental Health Review Tribunal,” he said.

“We will still have that capacity to monitor forensic patients, but it will be the courts which decide who will wear those devices,” he said.

“This legislation also strengthens safeguards for the use of restrictive practices such as physical restraint, and enables the Mental Health Court to impose a non-revoke period for forensic orders of up to 10 years for the most serious offences.”

“Many of the issues can be emotionally charged and can evoke a range of views. That’s why it is important that everyone is given the opportunity to consider the legislation before it is introduced to Parliament.”

Mr Dick said the new laws were just one of several initiatives that the Government has committed to which will improve mental health services in Queensland.

Consultation on the draft Bill will occur over a two month period from May to June 2015 and will include workshops, face to face meetings.

For more information or to have your say, visit www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew Fraser (07) 3035 6119 or 0428 690 679