Page 1973 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2016
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Madam Speaker, I turn to the specifics of the bill itself. I would like to acknowledge the work of the health minister and the Health Directorate in developing what reads as a very comprehensive, procedurally strong and solid piece of legislation. In fact, it reads very much like an extended practice direction, similar to those issued by the courts. This level of detail being tabled, debated and publicised via the Assembly is welcome and highlights a focus on transparency in the anticipated operations of a new and unique service on the mental health map.
It seems to strike the right balance in as much as it still allows for a rapid and flexible change through the use of subordinate instruments, referred to as directions. This model is similar also in operation to the management of the Alexander Maconochie Centre, the most comparable complex facility and one that has served us well in that space.
I will not speak to this nearly exhaustive list of clauses and sections, as in many ways this is simple legislation being used to inform the daily operations of a highly complex and challenging environment. I agree with the accompanying explanatory statement that necessarily the bill is required to consistently balance two competing demands: one, the need to ensure that secure mental health facilities are safe for all people within them; two, any restrictions that are in place are necessary, proportionate and do not unduly restrict the rights of people.
In conclusion, it will be the actual staff and patients’ engagement discussed in the bill that will be the real key to this facility’s success as a secure therapeutic and rehabilitative space. I am pleased to see that we in government are one step closer to the successful completion of this facility, which is supported in the parliamentary agreement, and I look forward to seeing its progress in coming months.
Madam Speaker, the Greens are pleased to support this bill today and I look forward to hearing the attorney’s closing remarks, as I am sure he will go into a little more detail about the specifics of this bill and the impact it will have on the operation of this new facility which, as I have outlined, is very much needed in the mental health landscape here in Canberra to ensure that we have a facility that sits between the adult mental health unit at Canberra Hospital and the corrections facility at the AMC.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Capital Metro, Minister for Health, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for the Environment and Climate Change) (5.00), in reply: I would like to thank members for their comments on the bill. This is a very important piece of legislation. It provides the framework for the delivery of a new, purpose-built capacity for mental health services in the ACT. It recognises that there is a particular group of patients who require a higher level of care and security than is currently available through the adult mental health services.
It has been a longstanding discrepancy and gap in service delivery in the ACT that we are unable to accommodate people with forensic mental health needs in a purpose-built facility and, as a result, they have had to be accommodated in the prison, in the general hospital setting or elsewhere. And that has not been a desirable or good outcome.
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