Legislation
Legislation
Mental Health Act 2014
The mental health law in Western Australia is the Mental Health Act 2014. It relates to:
- When a person can be provided with mental health treatment.
- The criteria for referring a person for an examination by a psychiatrist.
- When a person can be made an involuntary patient on an inpatient treatment order or a community treatment order.
- How inpatient treatment orders and community treatment orders operate.
- The rights of persons with mental illness and their personal support persons.
The Mental Health Regulations 2015 prescribe, and further clarify, certain provisions in the Mental Health Act 2014.
Mental Health Act 2014 resources are available to help key groups understand and apply the law:
- Mental health professionals.
- Referrers to mental health services.
- People experiencing a mental illness.
- People supporting a person with a mental illness.
- Non-government organisations and private psychiatric hostels.
- Transport officers.
Statutory Review of the Mental Health Act 2014
As the agency principally responsible for assisting the Minister in administering the Act, the Commission was tasked with conducting the Statutory Review of the Act.
The Review commenced in 2021 and concluded in early 2024 with the Review Report and Government Response tabled by the Minister in Parliament on 16 April 2024.
Find out more about the Review Report here.
Alcohol and Other Drugs Act 1974
- The Alcohol and Other Drug law in Western Australia is the Alcohol and Other Drugs Act 1974. It relates to:
- providing treatment, management, care and rehabilitation of persons experiencing alcohol or other drug use problems or co‑occurring health issues, including persons who have or may have a mental illness; and
- promoting and subsidising research into and education on the causation, prevention, reduction and treatment of alcohol and other drug use problems and co‑occurring health issues such as mental illness; and
- establishing and maintaining a coordinated focus on alcohol and other drug use and mental illness, and for related purposes.
Other key legislation
The Commission is the agency principally assisting the Minister for Mental Health in the administration of the Mental Health Act 2014 and the Alcohol & Other Drugs Act 1974
Other key legislation which relates to the Commission's vision to achieve a community that experiences minimal alcohol and other drug-related harms and optimal mental health include:
- Auditor General Act 2006
- Carers Recognition Act 2004
- Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003
- Disability Services Act 1993
- Equal Opportunity Act 1984
- Financial Management Act 2006
- Freedom of Information Act 1992
- Health and Disability Services (Complaints) Act 1995
- Health Services Act 2016
- Industrial Relations Act 1979
- Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993
- Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984
- Private Hospitals and Health Services Act 1927
- Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003
- Public Sector Management Act 1994
- Salaries and Allowances Act 1975
- State Records Act 2000
- State Superannuation Act 2000
- State Supply Commission Act 1991
- Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981