Statutory Review of the Mental Health Act (2014)

Background

The Mental Health Act (2014) (the Act) provides for the treatment, care, support and protection of people who have a mental illness; the protection of the rights of people who have a mental illness; and the recognition of the role of families and carers in providing the best possible care and support to people who have a mental illness, in the least restrictive environment.

The Statutory Review of the Mental Health Act (the Review)

The Mental Health Commission is reviewing the Act and want to hear from people who;

• Have received treatment under the Act;
• Have supported someone who received treatment under the Act;
• Work in the mental health sector, including as an advocate or volunteer;
• Have feedback about the operation and effectiveness of the Act.

The objectives of the Review are to:

• identify elements of the Act that work well;
• opportunities where the Act could be improved; and
• make recommendations to the Minister and Parliament

The review is the opportunity to have your say and help improve the Act for the Western Australian community.

Feedback is welcome on the Act as a whole, individual parts of the Act, and on issues that have arisen over the past five years.

The results of the review will inform the development of a report and recommendations that will be tabled in Parliament.

Discussion Paper

A discussion paper has been prepared as a tool to assist you in providing feedback; Statutory Review of the Mental Health Act (2014) Discussion Paper.

Extracts of the discussion paper are below

• Invitation to comment
• Tips for preparing your submission
• Chapter 2: Summary of the Mental Health Act (2014)
• Chapter 3: Previously Identified Issues
• Chapter 4: Previously Proposed Amendments

How to make a submission

Online survey

Short version (summary version)

Longer version (full discussion paper version)

Email

Your submission here

Post 

Mental Health Act Statutory Review, Mental Health Commission

GPO Box X2299

Perth Business Centre WA 6847

Telephone

Call 6553 0561 at any time and leave a voice message of up to 5 minutes (this will be transcribed)

In person

Take part in a face to face sessions facilitated in the community. The list of organisations facilitating face-to-face sessions is available here.

Grants Process for Lived Experience Feedback to the Mental Health Act Statutory Review

The Mental Health Commission has awarded thirteen grants to organisations for the facilitation of face-to-face engagements with a diverse array of stakeholders who have lived experience with treatment under the Mental Health Act in the past five (5) years in Western Australia.

The organisations are involved with consumers, carers and families from a diverse range of stakeholder groups. To get in contact and enquire about the sessions they will be conducting, download the grant recipient contact information here.

The engagement sessions can include individual and/or group sessions, and involve consumers, personal support persons, carers and family members. Demographic details of participants will be collected as part of this process.

At the completion of the engagement process, a report detailing the feedback for each engagement session conducted will be prepared by the grant recipient and submitted to the Commission. 

Resources