On 1 October 2024 the Mental Health Bill (the Bill) was introduced to the House of Representatives. This Bill will repeal and replace the current Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.
The Bill is intended to shift legislation authorising the use of compulsory mental health care towards a more rights-based and recovery approach. The Bill will ensure we better meet the needs of people when they need urgent intervention, and that legislation is only used as a last resort.
These briefing notes were developed for the Minister for Mental Health to support the Government to prepare for the introduction and first reading of the Bill.
The briefing notes summarise background information and key aspects of the Bill, including:
- the policy objectives for the Bill
- an overview of what is in the Bill
- context information on the development of the Bill
- commencement information
- an overview of the policy areas of the Bill, including:
- a summary of the key proposals under each policy area
- key messages covering the rationale for the change.
You can find the Mental Health Bill here:
You can see how the Bill is progressing through the Parliamentary process here:
You can read more about the work that led us to this point and further information about the Bill here:
The associated Cabinet material is here:
