Page 1581 - Week 05 - Thursday, 5 May 2016
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The main clauses in this bill I present today are designed to provide for the transfer of legal custody of the following people from ACT Corrective Services and ACT Child and Youth Protection Services to ACT Health: firstly, people on mental health orders and forensic mental health orders who are in the custody of ACT Corrective Services or ACT Child and Youth Protection Services, “Forensic mental health”; secondly, people in the custody of ACT Corrective Services or ACT Child and Youth Protection Services who require treatment for mental illness or mental disorder and who voluntarily request it. It also provides for consequential powers for the apprehension, entry, search and seizure required to re-detain people who have escaped from custody.
The transfer provisions will affect people detained, as well as corrections and children and youth protection staff who are working with them, corrections and children and youth protection managers, senior management of ACT Health, the Chief Psychiatrist and the Care Coordinator.
This bill, building on existing law, operates in an area of public policy and law which consistently requires the balancing of priorities. On one hand, there is a clear requirement to ensure the integrity and security of the lawful custody of someone detained by the government following due process. On the other, the government has a legal and moral obligation to ensure that people who are held in its custody have access to appropriate health care, equitable with that enjoyed by the broader community. It is this goal that this bill tries, in part, to address by providing for the safe and legal transfer of custody to ensure that people can access the care they need in a more suitable location.
In addition, when considering the subject of leave, the bill attempts to strike an appropriate balance in ensuring that, where appropriate, people can access the important therapeutic benefits of leave, as well as compassionate or emergency medical leave, and that the government maintains an appropriate degree of oversight of custody.
The development of the act had wide-ranging input from people with mental illness and/or disorders and their supporters. This was through the mental health review advisory group and a series of extensive public consultations.
The particular changes contained in this bill are changes that need to be made for the full operation of the act, especially around the establishment of the secure mental health unit. These changes align with the recommendations of the ACT Health Services Commissioner, following the investigation of the issue of detention in an approved mental health facility.
Finally, there are additional technical amendments proposed in the bill. These amendments affect a wider range of people involved in the ACT mental health system, including people living with mental illness or disorders, and their carers, close friends and relatives, as well as professionals providing treatment, care and support to them.
The technical amendments are designed to better support the treatment, care and support of people living with mental illness or disorder by providing information to people close to people living with mental illness or disorder to be involved in supporting them, particularly in relation to healthcare decisions.
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