Page 2069 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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This bill responds to some of that review’s findings most in need of immediate remedy and ensures that those in our community in most need of care, and often at their most vulnerable, are better able to participate in their own treatment decisions. One critical way in which this has been done is through the proposed new section 77(2A), which would allow mental health consumers who have previously been non-compliant with treatment orders to change their minds and accept treatment in their home rather than be taken to an approved mental health facility.
This change will benefit a small cohort of Canberrans who are on psychiatric treatment orders, but for those individuals it reinforces and re-emphasises their ongoing right to make decisions and to engage with treatment where and when they need it. Allowing those individuals to work with their healthcare team to undergo treatment at home, where possible, gives the individuals more choices and agency about their mental health treatment pathways. This amendment is made recognising and understanding the unique and valuable role that community mental health workers have in delivering on our commitment to better health care, when and where it is needed.
Finally, we have learned throughout this global pandemic that the expert advice of health professionals is central to the delivery of good health policy. The bill recognises this through the new section 198A, providing the Chief Psychiatrist with the power to make guidelines under the act. These guidelines will be notifiable and enable the Chief Psychiatrist to be responsive to new and evolving issues in the mental health system, and will ensure best practice and consistency across the mental health system when engaging with the act. In saying that, I recognise Mrs Dunne’s comments about the process.
These legislative amendments are one part of our response to the mental health needs of the Canberra community. We are innovating with creative new ways to provide better health care when and where people need it, particularly in crisis, such as through the police, ambulance and clinician early response, known as PACER. These significant investments are commensurate with the critical role of our mental health system as part of the broader health system. The bill is a positive step forward for consumers and the mental health system, and an important mechanism to deliver on our commitment to Canberrans.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Corrections and Justice Health, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety and Minister for Mental Health) (12.00), in reply: This bill is the first step in taking action on what we heard from the Canberra community when we reviewed the Mental Health Act. It further entrenches the principle and objects of the act, which are the guiding philosophy for our mental health legislation. Our legislation recognises that mental health consumers have the same rights as any other health consumer when it comes to choosing their own treatment pathways, receiving care in ways that protect their inherent dignity and ensures that treatment is received in a way that is least restrictive or intrusive for the individual consumer.
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