Mental Health Legislation

Last update: 16 May 2011,
by Maureen Bell

Links on this page are divided into a number of sections: South Australian legislation, Interstate and Commonwealth legislation, United Kingdom legislation, Other legal and human rights documents.

Lists of books and journal articles relating to mental health legislation can be found on my bibliographies and reading lists page.

A detailed account of the genesis, passage through the Parliament, and final proclamation of the South Australian Mental Health Act of 1976-77 can be found in Bill Dibden's book A Biography of Psychiatry (chapters 10-13, and appendices).

Library members have online access to the following journals which may be of interest for this subject. You'll find them in the e-Journals A-Z list at the top right of this page.

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology
Behavioral Sciences and the Law
British Journal f Criminology
International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law
Psychology, Crime & Law
Psychology, Public Policy and Law

South Australian Legislation

Mental Health Act 1993 (S.A.)
This Act has now been repealed

Mental Health Act 2009

Search for other acts and regulations in the links below. (The lists can be searched alphabetically by the name of the act.)

South Australian Consolidated Acts

South Australian Consolidated Regulations

The South Australian Attorney-General's Department also provides electronic versions of Acts and Regulations

South Australian Legislation

The Law Handbook of South Australia

Maintained by the Legal Services Commission of South Australia, this is described as: “Your practical guide to the law in South Australia" It answers the most common legal questions in a practical, easy to read way, helps you understand and use your legal rights, tells you when you need to see a lawyer, is full of useful contact points for further help, and information has been written by experts in the field.

Paving the Way - Review of Mental Health Legislation in South Australia
Report, prepared by Ian Bidmeade on behalf of the Review Committee on Mental Health Legislation for the Mental Health Unit, S.A. Department of Health, April 2005. NOTE: This publication has now been removed from the S.A Department of Health web site, and is available only in print format.

Interstate and Commonwealth Legislation

The Law and Justice Foundation - Legislation and Parliament site is also useful.

You can search the following individual state sites for the full text of legislation:

ACT Legislation Register

New South Wales Legislation

Northern Territory Legislation

Queensland Legislation

Tasmanian Legislation

Victorian Legislation

Western Australian Legislation

Some state departments also have their current Mental Health Act and related literature on their own sites:

ACT Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act

Northern Territory. Mental Health and Related Services Act

Queensland Mental Health Act 2000

Tasmania. Mental Health Act

Victoria. Mental Health Legislation

Mental Health Review Board (Western Australia)
The full text of the Mental Health Act and the Mental Health Review Board Handbook are available at this site.

Application of Rights Analysis Instrument to Australian Mental Health Legislation
Report to Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council National Mental Health Working Group, 2000. The Rights Analysis Instrument was developed for the purpose of assessing compliance with international and national norms and standards.

The Mental Health Rights Manual
A Legal Guide to the NSW Mental Health System. Edited by Melinda Hayton. Reviewed by Rebecca Griffin. 2nd. edition. Rozelle, New South Wales, Mental Health Coordinating Council, 2004.

Mental Health Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
Report of the Mental Health Consumer Outcomes Task Force. Adopted by the Australian Health Ministers, March 2001.

National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1993. The complete report is available at this site.

Not for Service: Experiences of Injustice and Despair in Mental Health Care in Australia
Mental Health Council of Australia, Canberra, 2005. This document is the successor to the 1993 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness ('Burdekin Report'). It details personal stories of people with mental illness, and their families and carers, and the difficulties they encountered in finding appropriate care.

United Kingdom Legislation

British legislation may be searched at the HMSO site United Kingdom Legislation . You may also find the Institute of Mental Health Act Practitioners Online Mental Health Act a useful resource for understanding the British mental health act.

Mental Health Act 2007 (U.K.)

National Mental Health Services Assessment: Towards implementation of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 Final Report
Final Report, Sandra Grant.. Scottish Executive, March 2004.

Professor Anselm Aldergill
Professor Aldergill describes his site as follows. "This site is designed with two purposes in mind. Firstly, it is a way of promoting my practice and the services that I offer. Secondly, it is a way of making freely available articles, training resources and other materials that people have from time to time asked to copy." There is a wide range of free downloadable material dealing with mental health law, policy, and ethics.

Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003

Scotland - Mental Health Legislation
This site is a product of The Institute of Mental Health Act Practitioners. It contains links to a large number of documents relating to the new Scottish Mental Health Act, many of which are freely available.

Other Legal and Human Rights Documents

Our Law Library has a web page Laws of Countries other than Australia

Coming Together: Mental health, equality and human rights
A document produced by the Disability Rights Commission in the UK, June 2007.

Compulsory Psychiatric Treatment in the Community
Transcript of the the ABC Radio National Health Report, 3 June 2002.

Mental Disability Rights International - Reports and Publications
Mental Disability Rights International documents conditions, publishes reports on human rights enforcement, and promotes international oversight of the rights of people with mental disabilities.

Mental Health Action Plan and Declaration for Europe
At the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health, held in Helsinki in January 2005, The Mental Health Declaration for Europe and the Mental Health Action Plan for Europe were signed and endorsed on behalf of ministers of health of the 52 Member States in the European Region.

Mental Health Care Law: Ten Basic Principles (World Health Organization) 1996
This is an edited version of a WHO document WHO/MNH/MND/96.9 which lists and describes ten basic principles of mental health care law. It also provides annotations for their implementation in practice.

Mental health laws for involuntary admission for psychiatric treatment
Transcript of the ABC Radio National Health Report, 10 December 2007.

WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights, and Legislation
Geneva, World Health Organization, 2005