Victoria, Australia, is getting a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill

Maylea, Chris

doi:10.26181/21266499.v1

Victoria, Australia, is getting a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill

journal contribution

posted on 2023-03-23, 23:09 authored by Chris MayleaChris Maylea

French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal wroteFootnote1, of a letter, that “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter”. The drafters of the Victorian Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (the Act) may make a similar claim, having drafted Australia’s longest ever piece of mental health legislation in the shortest possible time. At 686 pages, the Act surpasses the previous Mental Health Act 2014 (Vic), which ran to 351 pages, and is five or six times as long as the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW) (at 115 pages) or the Mental Health Act 2009 (SA) (at 95 pages).

Is the Victorian Act five or six times better than its counterparts across the border? Does the considerable heft result in increased rights protections for people detained in mental health services or subject to compulsory mental health treatment in the community? The simplistic answer to this is that no, the Act does little to directly improve the experience of people subject to it. The longer, more nuanced answer is; maybe. The Act contains a range of system level changes, new bodies and provides an underpinning for a new mental health system which may, over many years, result in an improved experience. There are also some symbolic elements that are welcome, if likely to be substantially ineffective. I will first introduce the context for the new legislation, then cover the symbolic elements, before turning to the systemic changes then considering changes to the direct experience. I conclude with a discussion of the next steps in the process.

History

Publication Date

2022-12-01

Journal

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry

Volume

19

Pagination

527-532

Publisher

Springer Nature

ISSN

1176-7529

Rights Statement

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